Could a US runner be successful on a Japanese Corporate Running Team?

I seem to recall that Canadian Jeff Schiebler joined one of these teams. He's not an American, true, but Canadians are probably as close to Americans are you're likely to find in terms of temperament and general cultural milieu.

Ever heard of David Morris?

I heard of him until he left their system. Then he fell of the globe. OK that's 1 runner. Schiebler doesn't count. He's not American. No debate.

If Nobby comes abroad he may be able to shed some light on the subject. As for myself I never even considered it because of the language barrier- my loss.

Absolutely, they could do very well. They have talent to do well. I don't believe the story that Americans are lazy and don't train hard--they train very hard. In my opinion, however, they train wrongly (but I won't go there here).

True, there are much fewer opportunity. Japanese corporate teams are tough--some of them want sub 27 10k runner. They'll sponsor you, they'll support you, they'll pay you to be a runner; so they don't want to invest in someone who can't bring the result; especially, for the outsider, the quicker the results the better. If they have to take time to develop runners, there are tons they can do just that in Japan itself.

In my opinion, what American runners lack more than anything else is committment to actually do just that. Douglas Wakiihuri wrote a letter to coach Nakamura, left his home country, joined the group, without knowing any Japanese... Different life style, different food... I visited coach Nakamura in 1985. He was with the group for 2 years by then but he was still very much at the bottom of the group. It took him two more years before he won the world championships then the silver medal the following year. S&B didn't recriut him. Nakamura didn't invite him. It was Wakiihuri's decicion. Coach Koide has a house in Colorado but i don't see any American runner knocking his door.

I tell ya, if some youngster with reasonable promising talent wants to really commit himself/herself to train in Japan, I'd be more than happy to assist in any way I can.

Vladimir:

I was writing my post while you posted yours. I didn't mean to direct my comment on the language at your comment! Believe me, I know it ain't easy.

Nobby, you say "youngster", but all our "youngsters" are in the NCAA and then afterwards, trying to advance their careers. Plus, don't see a lot of them courting our runners. Just no interest from this side. I would think that the Japanese (zenophobic and ethnocentric) would rather like to put the Americans in their place and show them that they could train an American to beat Americans. They kind of did with Morris, but then Kannouchi got citizenship. And that was only for a race or two.

Exactly my point...

If many of the teams are looking for 27 min guys than that would be a pretty good deal for a Kenyan who's 50th in their country and can't get a shoe deal, but why would a 27 min American go to Japan. If he's already that fast. That can get him a pretty good shoe deal, probably enough to get a house and live and train in Boulder.

Nobby, I was just pointing out one of my many downfalls. I let the language barrier stand in my way- even thought I never got within a minute and a half of a 27:00 10k. I agree that in Americans or any other talented individual were to commit to training the results would be excellent.

Interestingly, however, those are NOT the kind of runners come from Kenya and run for Japanese team. Most of them came when they were in high school, studied at Japanese high school and the language, some move on to university, some (fewer) join the corporate team as they graduate. Most of Kenyan runners around their 50th ranking would come to the US for quick check and quickly disappear.

But I think the point is this: Have any of these local groups put forward a deep list of successful runners? Not really, not yet.

I think it comes down to what the original poster was getting at. Not too many Americans with potential want to make the sacrafice for a few years in order to become international powerhouses.

I loved the one training log of a Japanese runner who had tremendous range. His volume was insane, often three runs per day. On easy days he even spent hours walking! What made him a powerhouse was just the raw amount of time on his feet each day.

Nobby is dead on, we train incorrectly over here for the most part.

I don't think it has anything to do with being lazy maybe the cultural differences are too great. Probably not a lot of US people want to up and move to Japan. There are some, but I would never want to do it even if I was an elite runner.

Most elite runners I have met don't revolve their life around running.

Then they most likely aren't really elite. Look at Paula. Her life revolves around her running. It has too if you want to be the best. That doesn't mean she is constantly thinking about it, but does what she needs to do and nothing that is detrimental to her running.

Nobby, do you think you could help aspiring marathoners to get on a team? All these connections/help you said you would/could give someone... I really doubt it. Guess if our own country or someone else won't give us a chance we are really screwed.

I didn't say it if I won't try (least I can do). If you're serious and if you think you can offer something, contact me directly.

I've just read this post over and thought I would comment. I think that with the right mindset, Americans could excel in such an environment. Having lived in Japan for 5+ years, I always dreamed of joining a corporate team there.

Nobby:

I know that I have contacted you about this previously, however it was a real busy time for you. I'm headed to Japan in March to run Biwako. Will be there the whole month. Think I'll have a breakthrough race if training has anything to do with it. Thanks in advance.

Since when is Japanese a distance running power. I don't think anyone from Japan has ever broken 3:35 for the 1500 or 13:15 for the 5000. Japan maybe good on the roads but they have not done much on the track. Have you ever seem a Japanese runner in an Olympic 1500 meter final?

I think that is the point of this thread. They don't nearly have the talent pool of the U.S. in terms of middle distance success, but they kick our ass, in terms of depth, at everything longer than a 10k.

The reason for this? The proper LONG distance training regime coupled with an intense focus and work ethic. This just means to me that while we may have more runners with more natural talent and leg speed, we certainly are not developing them in the best way possible.