Japanese men’s marathon team
K. Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Besides Koji Murofushi in the men’s Hammer throw, the best chance for a medal by Japanese is in the marathon. I have already written a short bio of the best Japanese male marathon runner in Edmonton - Atsushi Fujita. Here are very brief bios of other men’s marathon runners. Unfortunately, Fujita is not 100%; he is having problem with his right leg. However, Fujita is known to perform in adversity, as he did in the 1999 Worlds in Sevilla where he finished sixth despite injury. Two runners who seem to be in superb shape are Shigeru Aburaya and Takayuki Nishida.
Takayuki Nishida: Takayuki Nishida started running track in junior high school because with track & field, unlike team sports, one’s own efforts will reflect on the competitions. He continued to run track in high school, but the results were not impressive. Although he went out of the heat in the national inter-high school championships, he was recruited by Komazawa University. In Komazawa, Nishida was one year younger than Atsushi Fujita, from whom Nishida learned a lot. Because Nishida was troubled by anemia during the summer season, he could not distinguish himself on the track.
By the end of his junior season, Nishida decided to specialize in road racing.
In his junior year, Nishida was selected as a training partner for Atsushi Fujita who was preparing to break a collegiate marathon record at the 1999 Lake Biwa marathon. Hating to waste good training, Nishida entered a 30Km road race in Kumamoto. Surprisingly, Nishida ran 1:30:09, breaking a national collegiate record held by none other than Atsushi Fujita.
On a whim, he also entered the collegiate marathon championships.
In March of 1999, Nishida made his marathon debut in Sasayama, where he finished second in 2:17:43. With this performance, he was selected for the World University Games’ half marathon team. In Spain, Nishida won a silver medal.
The following year, for his final race as a collegian, he ran his second marathon in the 2000 Lake Biwa marathon. Although he stayed with the leaders until 30Km, he finished a disappointing 13th in 2:13:46. Upon graduation, Nishida joined S&B Food track team and is currently coached by Toshihiko Seko, a legendary marathon runner in the late 70’s to mid 80’s.
For his third marathon, Nishida choose to run the Beppu-Oita Mainichi marathon. Leaving the early pace setter Gert Thys of South Africa at 32.5Km, Takayuki Nishida ran alone in the final 10Km and won in 2:08:45.
For his fourth marathon, he will be running the world championships in Edmonton. “I want to run another 2:08, so my race in Beppu won’t be labeled as a fluke,” says Nishida. Katsuhiko Hanada, a teammate of Nishida at S&B Foods track club said, “Nishida is training well. I expect him to run well in Edmonton.”
Shigeru Aburaya:
Shigeru Aburaya is a fiercely competitive runner. When Atsushi Fujita set a new
Asian record for the marathon in the 2000 Fukuoka marathon, Aburaya refused to
read the newspaper. Although Aburaya did not make the final of the national
inter-high school track & field championships at the 5000m, he was recruited by
Chugoku Electric Power track team, because the coach of the track team Yasushi
Sakaguchi had enough insight to see that Aburaya will make a great marathon
runner.
After joining the Chugoku Electric Power track team, Aburaya made steady progress, improving his 10,000m personal best from 28:47.01 in 1997 to 28:13.76 in 2000.
Aburaya first received national attention when he finished second at the Japanese corporate half marathon championships with 1:02:16. Selected for the World Half marathon championships, Aburaya finished 23rd with 1:03:23.
Although he only trained for a month and a half before his marathon debut, Aburaya stayed with the leaders until 30Km and recorded a very respectable 2:10:48 in at the 2000 Lake Biwa marathon for the seventh place. However, he was hardly noticed.
A year later, he started to train for the February’s Tokyo marathon in November of 2000. However, knee injury struck him twice - in December of 2000 and again in January of 2001. Because he was falling behind his schedule, Aburaya had to change his plans, and enter March’s Lake Biwa marathon instead. In his second marathon, at the 2001 Lake Biwa marathon, Aburaya was third with 2:07:52. It was the fifth fastest time in the Japanese all-time list.
“My training went better than before the Lake Biwa marathon (where he ran 2:07:52). I can handle either fast or slow pace, because I trained for it,” told Aburaya to Tatsuo Terada.
Yoshiteru Morishita:
A member of the marathon powerhouse Asahi Kasei track team, 30 years old
Yoshiteru Morishita is coached by Shigeru and Takeshi Soh, legendary marathon
runners in the late-seventies to mid-eighties.
Although he shared the last name with the 1992 Olympic marathon silver medallist Koichi Morishita who also ran for Asahi Kasei track team, they are not related.
In high school, Morishita was a middle distance runner concentrating on 800m and 1500m. In the 1989 national inter-high school championships, he finished fourth at the 1500m. After joining the Asahi Kasei track team, Morishita first distinguished himself in the 5000m. He finished seventh, and fourth at the 5000m in the national championships in 1994 and 1995 respectively.
Like many runners in Asahi Kasei track team, Morishita’s marathon debut was at the Nobeoka marathon. It was 1995. He won his debut with 2:14:44, which stayed as his personal best until the 1999 Beppu-Oita Mainichi marathon.
He has run two more marathons after Nobeoka, in July of 1995 and March of 1996, but both times he failed to improve his personal best. Then for the next two years, his career was plagued with injury.
Finally, in 1999, Morishita distinguished himself in the Beppu-Oita Marathon where he was second in 2:10:13.
On his next marathon, the 1999 Fukuoka marathon which doubled as an Olympic marathon trial, Morishita improved his marathon PR to 2:09:36. In 2000, he entered two marathons, but because of illness, Morishita failed to start both races. In the 2001 Lake Biwa marathon, he was finally able to start the race. Running aggressively and taking the lead at 37.3Km, Morishita finished fourth in 2:07:59, thus joining an exclusive sub-2:08 club, which was good enough to be selected for the World Championships marathon team.
Ken-ichi Takahashi:
Ken-ichi Takahashi, an Asian record holder at the half marathon - 1:00:30, is
almost unbeatable in road races between 15Km and 30Km. Takahashi is known to
start out the marathon in near suicidal pace. In the 1999 Tokyo marathon,
Takahashi passed 10Km in 29:14, and 20Km in 58:30 before dropping out at 33Km.
In the 2001 Tokyo marathon, Takahashi ran little more reasonable pace, but he
still passed the half way in 1:03:01.
Unfortunately, like his Fujitsu track team teammate Fujita, Takahashi is far from 100%, and not expected to push the pace in Edmonton.
