Excellent NY Times article on Yuki Kawauchi: Yuki Kawauchi Is Distance Running’s Elite Oddball

It's interesting how his genetics have been studied by various scientists in an effort to understand how his body can handle such a high race load. It definitely enhances the article.

NYT seems to have a number of good writers on staff who can write about runners respectfully and informatively.

The whole article was great, but I found his comments about the 2020 Olympics very interesting. You'd think that, being Japanese, that would be the most important race to him, but he says it's not.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are approaching, but ever the contrarian, Kawauchi said he was not interested. He has struggled running in heat and humidity. It would be a waste, he said, to prepare for the brutal conditions expected in August in Tokyo.

“The Olympics aren’t the only destination an athlete should go for,” Kawauchi said.

He has broader ambitions: To run another personal best in the marathon. To win a medal at the 2021 world track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., where the weather figures to be more accommodating. To run as many marathons in as many countries as possible. Unbound by a civil servant’s job, he will be free to go off and see the world as he pleases.

I assumed that because Kawauchi is good at one set of extreme conditions (cold, wind, rain) that he'd want a really hot race in Tokyo to give him a chance against guys he may not otherwise beat. But he knows he's not good in the heat so he's not even going to bother with the Olympics (though he'd obviously have to make the team, which is tough in Japan).

It's also just interesting to hear a runner say that the Olympics aren't the be-all end-all -- especially one from Japan in a year Japan is hosting. For most runners, just getting to the Olympics is a big deal but Kawauchi isn't interested because he knows he wouldn't be able to run well in the race.

Jonathan Gault wrote:

I assumed that because Kawauchi is good at one set of extreme conditions (cold, wind, rain) that he'd want a really hot race in Tokyo to give him a chance against guys he may not otherwise beat. But he knows he's not good in the heat so he's not even going to bother with the Olympics (though he'd obviously have to make the team, which is tough in Japan).

It's also just interesting to hear a runner say that the Olympics aren't the be-all end-all -- especially one from Japan in a year Japan is hosting. For most runners, just getting to the Olympics is a big deal but Kawauchi isn't interested because he knows he wouldn't be able to run well in the race.

That's smart of him to know what his limits are.

And, needing a quiet place, he went into the bathroom and phoned the principal of Kuki High School. The formal news conference for the winners would not be held until the next morning. It would require a change of his flight home.

“Sorry, but I won the Boston Marathon,” Kawauchi told his boss. “Is it possible to have another day off?”

I was about to start a thread mentioning the Tokyo thing as well and then I found this thread.

Tokyo marathon is going to be nuts. Rupp might be favorite if it's super hot.

Great article, crap title.

Bump

Thanks for posting this, might have missed it otherwise. Yuki is a living legend, can't wait for him to crush Rupp and Farah in Chicago on Sunday. (LOL but really).