Q-chan Wins the Tokyo International Marathon
11 /21/2005 13:10
Takahashi Naoko (aka "Q-chan") just won the Tokyo International Marathon with a time of 2:24:39. What an incredibly moving race! She pulled away from Alemu and Balciunaite just before the 36K mark and ran strong to the finish. It's hard for people outside of Japan to understand, but Takahashi is one of the most loved athletes in the country. The race was broadcast live on a Sunday afternoon and will certainly have extremely high ratings. Hard to imagine in the States, isn't it? What's more, you can GUARANTEE that this will be the front page news in every newspaper in the country tomorrow. The post-race interview was also quite moving with Q-chan thanking the millions of supporters throughout the country, her teamates, and her former coach Koide. Of course, Koide was there in the crowd, too--all smiles and pumping his fist in victory. Q-chan, as is the case win or lose, had a big smile and was completely humble about her performance. As you know, it's been a long and difficult comeback for Q-chan, and nobody was expecting her to pull it off. This was the same race that had eliminated her from the Japanese Olympic team two years ago, and her spurt came shortly before the hill that had destroyed her in that previous race. On top of that, she was nursing three injuries, and her doctor had urged her to drop out of the race. In the post-race interview, Q-chan also had words of encouragement for us lesser runners: "Whether it's for a day, a week, or years, the important thing is to have a goal and dream that you are striving for." I've been a Q-chan fan for years, but she won my heart today. The coverage brought tears to my eyes and made me proud to be a runner here in Japan. Don't count her out for a Beijing gold in 2008!

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