Yuki Kawauchi is the talk of the town. He won the Boston Marathon 2018 in icy cold relentless winds and punishing conditions. If you aren’t familiar with Yuki, he is a racing machine. Here are 10 fun facts about the Japanese lad:-
#1 He is not a professional athlete. While many elite runners have a coach and a corporate sponsorship to allow them to train full time, Yuki trains on his own. He has no coach, no training group!
#2 He works a full-time government job. He works as a full-time government clerk for the Saitama Prefectural Government He has no corporate sponsorship. He trains before or after work and makes his home his gym. He is a true citizen runner.
#3 He is the first Japanese to win the Boston Marathon since 1987.
Photo Credits: IAAF
#4 He Owns the World Record of running 78 marathons, now 79 (after Boston Marathon 2018), all under 2 hours and 20 minutes.
#5 He races almost every weekend. Unlike most elite marathoners that run 2-3 marathons a year, Yuki Kawauchi races every weekend, ranging from half marathon distance up to ultramarathons. In 2017 alone, he ran 12 marathons.
#6 He incorporates ultra-jogging into his training. He goes out and jogs for 50 km or 100 km as part of his training.
#7 He puts everything he has got into a race. He has collapsed due to heat and exhaustion in his previous races. One thing for sure is that he will always give it all he has got and give it his best.
Photo Credits: Perth Now
#8 He failed to qualify for the London Olympics 2012. He shaved his head as an apology to the Japanese people.
#9 His personal best is 2:08:14.
#10 He believes that you don’t have to be the best to win. In Boston, on paper, it looked like he did not stand a chance. He believes that winning a marathon is about the ability to handle small pace changes mid-race and surge battles late in the race, not about running World Record pace. Often, races are won in timings of 2:08:00 – 2:09:00 with a field filled with elites who can run a sub 2:05 marathon.
Cover Photo Credits: Bangor Daily News
