Lake Biwa Results...Japanese College Kid 2;08;12

Fujiwara's 2:08 is impressive. Being unfamiliar with the Japanese system, can anyone enlighten me as to this guy's age and situation? Do the Japanese have a similiar college structure to the NCAA or a completely different talent development system? From reading interviews with David Morris I get the impression most of the runners run for corporate sponsored teams.

From what I can tell (please feel free to add comments if you have more information), the Japanese collegiate system focuses of preparation for the Corporate System post-graduation. The USA system of NCAA definitely does not do that.

The priorites in the Japanese collegiate system focus on

(1) Ekidens

(2) 5000/1000 track

(3) Other road races.

Based on the results of Fujiwara and Atsushi Fujita (2;10;07 while in college) and Atsushi Sato (2;09 while in college), we can easily come to the conclusion that athletes who aspire to compete in high level marathons are supported completely....again unlike the USA. A much better system.

NCAA is bad for our talent.WE are racing the hell out of our kids .To much of a season and to many seasons ( XC,Indoor,outdoor )

Those 2:08 japanese race only a few times a year.

We really need a club/corporate system over here.

eddy

Eddy, there has got to be a few more nut cases like I was in college, who would rather train for the marathon than XC/5km/10km.

Let's start this club, find the marathon running 20 year olds of the USA, get some corporate sponsorship and Do It Ourselves.

jason

Yes, Jason, I would rather train for a marathon now (i'm a sophomore in college), in fact, I did run a marathon last fall after the XC season and it was a very good experience. However, I just feel obligated to run on the XC and track teams as there will be no other time in my life when I can run at organized meets, etc. and have the team experience. Nevertheless, I would be interested in the kind of training you did in college while training for the marathon (weekly schedule, etc.)

Well then what you should do is just jump into a marathon during the summer, such as Gramma's Marathon or Green Bay or someplace like that. Just get the feeling for what the marathon is all about.

During my college days, I ran XC only 2 seasons and track for 3 seasons. The people at Centre College pretty much left me alone to do what I wanted.

During my Sophomore year, I ran many weeks of 120-130 miles per week. I got very tired and sore at first, but I was able to run a marathon in 2;44 without any long runs and no track workouts. Just lots of runs of 8-12 miles totalling up to 120-130 miles per week.

During my junior year I kept it about 90-100 miles per week, but I also did track workouts such as 5x1miles, 10x800, 10-20x400. The most effective workouts for me, throughout the years, seem to be the 800s and 1000s, which focus completely on VO2max. I really think that I could've gone about 2;18 in my junior year, but I had no coach. I was just making it up as I went along.

2 Weeks before the Cleveland Marathon in 1990 I ran 50km during a 40 mile ultra in Tennessee.

Jason

Free Education means more to US kids and their parents. Runners tend to be smart,discliplined kids. To make an overly broad generalization, kids who play minor league baseball or hockey, rather than attend college, can't depend on their smarts.

Jason, you'll have some takers and it would produce better than we are now. The current system doesn't work but it does give kids a free education, or access to a better education from a better school.

these Japanese tell us that development either started at a young age like the Kenyans. Or they are just nuts and do very high mi in a short span of time. A make it or break it system. I believe that there are a lot of marathon runners in Japan. These guys are the cream. The ones that don't make the cut like end up still pretty good by American standards. Like that 2:15 guy Jason talked to and scratched his head when asked about his PR. I guess it's shoot for the heaven, and if you hit stars it's better than shoot for the star and hitting rock.

I started running marathons at the end of my sophomore track season and typically ran three a year. I'd do big miles all summer, 100-150, just distance with a long weekend run of 18-24 miles. When xc season started I'd do whatever the team did, which was pretty heavily interval oriented, but I'd keep the long weekend run in, though more on the order of 15-20. Then I'd run a marathon in late November, take it easy until Christmas, then pack in the miles, maybe 100-120,just distance again, until April. I'd usually do a marathon in February and sneak off to Boston in April.

I improved more than any other runner at my school at the standard collegiate distances while doing all that and firmly believe if I hadn't trained for marathons I wouldn't have improved as much at the shorter distances.

I am all for Free, High Quality education, but I am also very much an advocate of having an NCAA Championship MARATHON.

Enuff Said.

Jason

Jason-

I think that's a great idea.

JasonInReno wrote:

I am all for Free, High Quality education, but I am also very much an advocate of having an NCAA Championship MARATHON.

Enuff Said.

Jason

Absolutely!

eddy wrote:

NCAA is bad for our talent.WE are racing the hell out of our kids .To much of a season and to many seasons ( XC,Indoor,outdoor )

Those 2:08 japanese race only a few times a year.

We really need a club/corporate system over here.

eddy

you KNOW your system is bad when eddy says you're overracing!!!

good point

....and no mamby-pamby half-marathon or 30km or 20 miles either.

FULL STONE COLD CRAZY *MARATHON* FOR ALL DIVSIONS, I, II, III AND BOTH GENDERS.

Oh yeah, and ANYBODY can run it, no matter if you are on the Track and Cross Country team or not. As long as you have academic eligibility and you attend an NCAA institution, you can run it. You might have to pay your own way to the race, but you do get to compete.

Jason

To be world class in the marathon now you have to be world class on the track, out of the top bunch of guys only khannouchi and el Mouaziz don't run under distance, its no coincidence that tergat and Geb and ramalla and Culpepper all ran good marathons. You need to be quick in the marathon now, its no longer a plodders event.

waz wrote:

To be world class in the marathon now you have to be world class on the track, out of the top bunch of guys only khannouchi and el Mouaziz don't run under distance, its no coincidence that tergat and Geb and ramalla and Culpepper all ran good marathons. You need to be quick in the marathon now, its no longer a plodders event.

Khannouchi is, arguably, the fastest marathoner ever. Perhaps you don't really need to be fast underdistance... just fast overall and naturally talented. Perhaps one of Khalid's biggest strengths is that his training is geared to the marathon and only the marathon.

It might help to be world class on the track, but it's not a prerequisite. Either way, if you're talented enough to be as good as Khalid in the 'thon, you're going to be fast on the track anyway. I just think it's not necessary to say that one must be world class on the track to compete in the marathon.

Did Abera ever run on the track? What about the Japanese studs?

Back in the 80s, there were lots of marathon specialists. Pete Pfitzenger, Dick Beardsley, Bob Hodge, Rodgers, etc., etc., etc., all ran pretty damn fast (2:08-2:11) but didn't have stellar track performances. Beardsley in particular busted a 2:08 and 2:09 and I don't think he ever broke 29 in the 10K. So, 208, 209 isn't 2:05 and 2:06, but I think we'd be happy to have lots of dudes running that fast, again.

Having said that, I would be all for an NCAA marathon. Being in college, I would love to be training for that. NAIA does it, why not the NCAA?

Don't get to excited over these times as the course was about .6 mi short (think they have problems over there converting miles to kilometers). They had a lot of wind at their back and an easy downhill course like that down in Austin Texas.