Yuki Kawauchi won the pacemaker nine years ago-We Love Sports

At the Osaka International Ladies Marathon (Nagai Park-Yanmar Stadium Nagai) on January 31, pacemaker Yuki Kawauchi (33 = Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance) completed the race in 2 hours 21 minutes 58 seconds, which has become a topic glowing. Speaking of pacemakers, it is customary to stop the race after about 30 kilometers, but Kawauchi kept assisting until the end. Unconventional as always. I suddenly remembered what happened nine years ago.

On April 15, 2012, Kawauchi participated in the Kasumigaura Marathon (Ibaraki / Tsuchiura) as a pacemaker for his younger brother Kouki (at the time, a student at Takasaki City University of Economics). My younger brother was aiming for the A Standard Record (within 2 hours 27 minutes) participation for the Fukuoka International participation in December. As the oldest son of three siblings, he set a pace of 2 hours and 25 minutes at a pace of 1km, 3 minutes and 25 seconds in order for his younger brother to break the record. However, although he should be dedicating himself to the role of assistant, it seems that his own fighting spirit was ignited when he started running.

According to Mr. Kouki, “they shook me about 23 km.” After that, Kawauchi furiously chased the American player running in front of him. The lap from 5km to 25km was in the range of 17 minutes 10 seconds, but after that the pace increased to 16 minutes 48 seconds, 16 minutes 48 seconds and 16 minutes 10 seconds. When I turned around in the final stages, I went back to the stadium.

The last straight line is a fierce run like a cheetah finding prey. I cut the ribbon with a radiant face. When covered with a laurel tree, he raises both hands to respond to the cheers of the fans. The role of the pacemaker in the first half echoed, and the time was mediocre at 2 hours 22 minutes 38 seconds, but there was a big difference of 2 minutes 21 seconds to second place. Also, it was a memorable race to win the 12th full marathon for the first time.

When I finished running, I felt like I hadn’t had a younger brother from the start. “It was good practice and I felt good.” It was almost insane. Wasn’t it your little brother’s pacemaker in the first place? When asked, Kawauchi said, “I didn’t want to look back down the road. When this happened, I thought about pulling other citizen corridors and making them all take less than 2 hours and 30 minutes.” On the other hand, his younger brother was under 1 minute 36 seconds (7th place at 2 hours 28 minutes 36 seconds), and he even got a joke that he couldn’t compete at Fukuoka International. I couldn’t help but laugh.

On the other hand, this Osaka International Ladies Marathon. Kawauchi kept pace for 1 km 3 minutes 18 seconds and helped Mao Ichiyama (23 = Wacoal) to achieve the Japanese record (2 hours 19 minutes 12 seconds = 2005 Mizuki Noguchi). When Ichiyama, who was expected, slowed down in the second half, he called out and cheered him on. How far do you run? The fixed distance will have passed. Still, I didn’t stop and headed for the stadium.

This is really … I was secretly hoping he would score a goal at the top. However, I did not do that. At the stadium, I stepped aside and came out cleanly from the beginning. It was a wonderful pacemaker. Behind the scenes, he ran to the finish and completed the 108th full marathon.

Once, “I can’t abstain from the race they called me in. I’ll finish even if I crawl (even if I hurt my leg).” Seriousness reminiscent of a samurai. It is polite to move on. Stopping the race in the middle went against Kawauchi’s aesthetic.

As a side note, I passed through the Yamanashi / Dangozaka service area on the Chuo Expressway about a year and a half ago. It turned out to be Kawauchi’s younger brother, Kouki, who got out of the car that pulled up next to him. He was away from track and field personnel for a long time, but immediately called. With a constant smile, he responded to the chat saying, “There was a race in Yamanashi and I came to run with my friends.” The younger brother who ate his brother that day is now a member of the Saitama / Kuki local council and a business owner. When I saw him in good shape, I thought it was too early.

The Osaka International Ladies Marathon has become a circuit in Nagai Park due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. Kawauchi was excited about “I want to bring a brilliant song to Japan” and faced the race feeling obstructed. Kuroko’s dignified and powerful career. I saw the big letters “JAPAN” on the hat he was wearing.

“Do your best Japan.” I read that. I want to give value to the world. I felt the spirit of Kawauchi.

Although I couldn’t see the convergence of the crown, my heart warmed.[Takashi Sato](Nikkan Sports.com / “We Love Sports” sports column)