Japanese student runs 2:06:07 at first and last marathon

Update:

japanrunningnews.blogspot.com

Wakabayashi Says He'll Talk to New Employer If Named to Tokyo Worlds Team

After running a debut and collegiate record of 2:06:07 at Sunday's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon as the last race of his career, Aoyama Gaku...

Link:japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2025/02/...

Hiroki Wakabayashi remains committed to taking the job offered at an insurance company yet would discuss with his employer if named to the team for Tokyo WC.

Hiroki Wakabayashi would have had great offers from corporate running teams prior to his marathon debut based on his Hakone showing alone. That lifestyle and its set of rewards were available to him when he initially made the decision to retire. Going out on a high note has a certain appeal and keeping one's word is probably more highly valued in JP than in the US anymore.

"I ran this thinking of it as the last race of my career. I think I was able to run this kind of time because I knew it was the end of the road."

Makes sense. He truly thought this was it and gave it everything he had. The ultimate last rep

Ahaha 🤣 No doubt the best post of the year.

It’s definitely a cultural thing

Sod that you don't just stop running even Geb is still running

Nice post!

Lay off HRE; he’s probably the most level headed, positive poster here on LRC … your comments weren’t warranted.

Thanks!

the japanese insurance company could sponsor the runner, and maybe some other marathon runners, in a marketing coup.

it would be a cheap proposition. an insurance job, and a couple of year sponsorship.

I second this!!!!

I wonder if the US would be more successful in the Marathon if more runners skipped the college route and went straight into roads after high school.

Gradually building mileage from the age of 18 they may be ready to run sub 2:06 at 22-25 years old.

Thank you vrey much as well.

I imagine that would happen. But you come up against the matter of how runners doing this would supprt themselves. It kind of takes us back to that post about cramped apartments and food stamps. A college aged runner is rarely going to be good enough to get a shoe contract or support him/her self comfortably by winning prize money. In Japan universities sponsor distance running and compete in Eikedens so runners begin training for marathons and halves earlier than is common here. I think that if the NCAA made the marathon a championship event in some form or other it would probably improve marathon performances here but that seems unlikely to happen.

That is the legitimate issue.

I grew up in the 1970's, young people were encouraged to take the time and follow their dreams, be it music, art, running ...

Now, it's a rush to find a career and start a retirement account.

It would be awesome if a shoe company (other than Nike) put some money into a project like this. Some houses for them to share, a stipend to supplement prize money, expenses to races, and how knows what can happen.

Now you're blaming boomers for your own life decisions? Por favor. That's pathetic.

True. I think a lot of people back then thought of their 20s as an experimental decade, a time to put off growing up while maybe trying to get an idea of what they wanted their life to be when they finally couldn't put off growing up any longer. And some managed to avoid growing up well beyond their 20s.

The thing about shoe companies putting money into a project where they'd do deals with high school runners to move to the roads and marathons rather than go to the NCAA and be on the track is that they'd be competing with colleges, assuming our present system survives what with the chages in college sports. I think the companies would need to put up a fair amount of money to get blue chip kids into their program because in the NCAA you also get a degree. I suppose the shoe company doing this could include tuition reimbursement as part of the deal. Major League Baseball sometimes does that with high school players they've drafted. Honestly, I just don't see enough interest in high level marathoning in the US for this to make economic sense for a shoe company.

How is 2:06 a "modest" result for a young athlete in his first ever marathon?

How is it bad for this guy to spend 3 years trying to win the Olympics BEFORE working 40 years in a cubicle until retirement?

Worst case scenario he retires at 65 years old instead of 62. A small price to pay for chasing your dreams. Living life to your fullest from 22-25 years old is way more rewarding than your years from 62-65.