Skip to main content

Tokyo-Bound Maeda Shooting for Sub-2:10 Debut

http://www.nishinippon.co.jp/nsp/item/75735

translated by Brett Larner


2007 Osaka World Championships men's 10000 m runner Kazuhiro Maeda (27, Team Kyudenko) is about to tackle 42.195 km for the first time. Maeda hopes to make the Berlin World Championships marathon team when he runs the Mar. 22 Tokyo Marathon. Only six Japanese men have ever broken 2:10 in their debut, but Maeda hopes to add his name to this exclusive list as he books his ticket out into the world.

It's a highly anticipated debut. Maeda has been up against the world's best on the track, but for Berlin he is targeting the marathon. "That's what I want to go for this time," he nods. To make the team he'll have to take at least the top Japanese position in Tokyo, a flashy debut to be sure. "I want to break 2:10," he says enthusiastically, "and if things go well, under [2 hours] 9:30." Of all the Japanese marathoners in history, only six have run under 2:10. A 2:09:30 would put him in 4th on the all-time Japanese debut list, ahead of national record holder Toshinari Takaoka (Team Kanebo).

The barrier is pretty high. Nevertheless, the road to Berlin leads that way and to follow Maeda will have to run that kind of time. At last December's Fukuoka International Marathon, top Japanese finisher Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo) was 2nd overall in 2:09:23, securing the first spot on the World Championships team. 3rd place finisher Arata Fujiwara (Team JR Higashi Nihon) followed close behind in 2:09:47. A 2:09:30 would give Maeda a realistic chance of being named to one of the open places on the team ahead of Fujiwara.

Maeda ran the 10000 m in the 2007 World Championships. He failed to make the Beijing Olympics team, but last year he ran new PBs for both 1500 m and 5000 m. Satisfied with his improvement and having polished his speed, he is ready for the next challenge. "I've found out what I'm made of over 5000 m and 10000 m, so the reasons I had inside for not running [the marathon] have all disappeared," he explains.

The Japanese marathon world has high hopes for this speed runner. In one step he could move to its leading edge. "I haven't done a marathon before so I don't know what's going to happen, but I've got the will to succeed and I think that at the end I'll be able to use my speed," he says. Fueled by his belief in his own potential, Maeda will run for the win.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that  Sis
Post a Comment
Read more

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n
1 comment
Read more

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

  In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el
Post a Comment
Read more