Japanese Olympians comment on Host City Marathon course
10th May 2000In the Host City marathon on April 30, four Japanese covered the Olympic marathon course - two of them, Takayuki Inubushi and Eri Yamaguchi - for the first time. The Japanese men finished 3rd, 9th and 10th behind winner Rod de Heiden who won in a slow time of 2:16:36, but they only ran to experience the Olympic course.
Shinji Kawashima, who was second in the Lake Biwa marathon (2:09:04) last month, was third in 2:17:16.
Commenting on the Olympic course, Kawashima said: "The hilly part of the course from 25Km to 27Km should be considered as the second start of the race."
World championship bronze medallist, Nobuyuki Sato, who finished ninth in 2:21:12 said: "It is a tough course, but I like it. I think I can do well on this course."
The third member of the team, Takayuki Inubushi, the national marathon record holder at 2:06:57 said: "The surface of the course is not ideal. I think it was good to run over the course."
Eri Yamaguchi the only Japanese women's Olympic marathon team to participate in the Host City marathon was second in 2:36:48 behind Australia's Susan Hobson. After the race, Yamaguchi, who has not run over 40Km even in training since her victory in the Tokyo Marathon last November told a Japanese newspaper: "I thought it was a tough course, and indeed it was."
Hiromi Taniguchi, the 1991 World Marathon champion who coaches both Sato and Kawashima, also competed. "In the last half of the course, which is mostly rolling hills, one should be constantly aware of other runners who might make a move," said Taniguchi, who is considered a master tactician by some marathon experts.
