Skip to main content

Naoko Takahashi in Kunming: Running On to Her Beijing Dream (with photos)

http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/feature/niwm/CK2008020902086438.html

Click link above for photos of Takahashi training in China.

translated by Brett Larner

"Your dream will come true if you don't give up." This is what Naoko Takahashi (35, Team Phiten) wants to tell people through her running. Takahashi, the Sydney Olympics marathon gold medalist, has been in high-altitude training in Kunming, China since last year in preparation for the Mar. 9 Nagoya International Women's Marathon, sponsored in part by the Chunichi Newspapers Group.

Takahashi failed to qualify for the Athens Olympics 4 years ago, but "Beijing is my last challenge." She is completely focused on making the last slot for the Beijing Olympic team. Kuming rests at an altitude of 1900 m. It is the Chinese New Year now and in Kunming the atmosphere has the merry feeling of a festival, but Takahashi's mood is deadly serious and concentrated on the next month of training.

"Captain Naoko" daily follows her self-designed training program "Q's Boot Camp" to strengthen her entire body. As usual, she has been eating and drinking 3 times as much as a normal person. Her beloved toy poodle Lappy is still in Japan, but she says, "Of course, we're always together...," unzipping her vest to show off her custom t-shirt printed with Lappy's picture.

photo caption 1: Q-chan is always smiley, but once her training starts her face changes into race mode. Kunming, Yunan Province, China.
photo caption 2: Early morning jogging while listening to her favorite music on headphones. On the right is Team Q trainer Ko Nishimura. Anning, Yunan Province, China.
photo caption 3: Working out with her self-designed weight training program "Q's Boot Camp." Kunming, Yunan Province, China.
photo caption 4: Eating enough for 3 people at breakfast after morning training. Kunming, Yunan Province, China.
photo caption 5: Always together, Q-chan shows her t-shirt printed with pictures of her dog Lappy. Kunming, Yunan Province, China.

Comments

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

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

Three Japanese Men Running 128th Boston Marathon

Back in Japan's golden years Boston was a big draw for its top talent in the marathon, but for a long time it was off the list of first-choice marathons as the preoccupation shifted to times. That started changing again in 2017 when 5000 m NR holder Suguru Osako made his debut there with a 2:10:28 for 3rd, following in the footsteps of other Waseda University alum who ran well in Boston including two-time winner Toshihiko Seko and the late Tomoyuki Taniguchi . Osako was 3rd at October's Paris Olympic marathon trials, putting him in position to be on the Paris team unless someone runs 2:05:50 or better at February's Osaka Marathon or March's Tokyo Marathon. Having run 2:06:13 in Tokyo last year but beaten by two Japanese men who both went under 2:06, there wasn't really any upside to Osako doing Tokyo this time. Osaka seemed like the logical choice, but like he has for most of his life Osako is following his own motivations and opting to return to the 128th Boston