Amateurism not quite dead

ecoli

Loads of great stories came from World Championships but one that slipped under the radar for alot of people is the Japaneese silver in the Mens Marathon World Cup (team event). Japan are known for their extensive marathon running so this is no great shock however looking through their roster their third scorer, Yuki Kawauchi and his story make this a great achievement.

A 2.08 marathon runner is impressive enough but the big difference between him and many athletes who toed the line in this race is he is what we would call a "hobby runner". This guy holds down a full time job (8-9 hours a day five days a week) as well as his family commitments. He is not sponsored and pays all his race expenses out of his pocket and uses holiday time to book off for races

TheRoadRunner

ecoli wrote: »

A 2.08 marathon runner is impressive enough but the big difference between him and many athletes who toed the line in this race is he is what we would call a "hobby runner". This guy holds down a full time job (8-9 hours a day five days a week) as well as his family commitments. He is not sponsored and pays all his race expenses out of his pocket and uses holiday time to book off for races

ecoli you bastard, are you having a go at families again?

ecoli

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

ecoli you bastard, are you having a go at families again?

Ah damn they are already on to me i thought I would get atleast a few posts before the copped it:D

But seriously great achievement from the guy moreso because he gets less recovery from his miles than the elites (rather than saying we all should be running 2.08 regardless of kids and jobs:p)

BeepBeep67

ecoli wrote: »

Ah damn they are already on to me i thought I would get atleast a few posts before the copped it:D

But seriously great achievement from the guy moreso because he gets less recovery from his miles than the elites (rather than saying we all should be running 2.08 regardless of kids and jobs:p)

ecoli wrote: »

A 2.08 marathon runner is impressive enough but the big difference between him and many athletes who toed the line in this race is he is what we would call a "hobby runner". This guy holds down a full time job (8-9 hours a day five days a week) as well as his family commitments. He is not sponsored and pays all his race expenses out of his pocket and uses holiday time to book off for races

Where did he get such a cushy job in Japan?

huskerdu

ecoli wrote: »

Ah damn they are already on to me i thought I would get atleast a few posts before the copped it:D

But seriously great achievement from the guy moreso because he gets less recovery from his miles than the elites (rather than saying we all should be running 2.08 regardless of kids and jobs:p)

That is such an achievement.

I wonder how much he could achieve if he did have the money to go full time.

tunney

huskerdu wrote: »

That is such an achievement.

I wonder how much he could achieve if he did have the money to go full time.

Perhaps less, alot of amateurs turn pro, over do it and get injured/ill/jaded.

rainbow kirby

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Where did he get such a cushy job in Japan?

Civil service. Cushy jobs the world over. :pac:

TheRoadRunner

tunney wrote: »

Perhaps less, alot of amateurs turn pro, over do it and get injured/ill/jaded.

True, I think I remember reading Gerry Kiernan went pro the year before the LA olympics and he reckoned he over did it.

Pisco Sour

Amateurism is far from dead...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkvI6XJtdJI&feature=related

TheRoadRunner

04072511 wrote: »

Amateurism is far from dead...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkvI6XJtdJI&feature=related

mental stuff. The winner of that wouldn't be within a second of Bolt :eek:

Your man was mighty out of the blocks in fairness. The commentators were well and truly ripping the piss

Clearlier

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Where did he get such a cushy job in Japan?

He's a civil servant (ducks and runs for cover). IIRC his hours work out pretty well for him too in that he works from noon until 8pm giving him plenty of time to train in the morning. He also has a slightly suicidal attitude towards racing and was carried off the course of an ultra he did as a training run in the lead up the world championships. I can't remember how close he was to the finish but it was very close.

I think (could be wrong on this) that some runners in the 70's would have had a similar or tougher lifestyle and run times that weren't too far off that. Derek Clayton, Ron Hill and Mike Gratton come to mind. That's not to try and take away from Yuki's achievement which are exceptional but to point out that he's not a massive outlier.

tunguska

Yeah I remember seeing the Tokyo marathon where he destroyed himself to come 3rd. Amazing stuff alright. And with that run he qualified to represent Japan in the world championships marathon, which took place last sunday morning at 1am(our time). He was right up there for a good whack of the race but then the kenyans cranked it up a few notches and he dropped off the pace. Kind of blew himself out by trying to stay with the kenyans, ended up 18th place in 2:16. Did the same job as in the Tokyo marathon, collapses over the line in a heap. After the tokyo marathon he said in an interview that he runs with no fear of death.........I'd well believe it.

numorouno

They're mad about him on the marathon talk podcast. They often report on his races. What a legend

TFBubendorfer

tunguska wrote: »

Yeah I remember seeing the Tokyo marathon where he destroyed himself to come 3rd. Amazing stuff alright. And with that run he qualified to represent Japan in the world championships marathon, which took place last sunday morning at 1am(our time). He was right up there for a good whack of the race but then the kenyans cranked it up a few notches and he dropped off the pace. Kind of blew himself out by trying to stay with the kenyans, ended up 18th place in 2:16. Did the same job as in the Tokyo marathon, collapses over the line in a heap. After the tokyo marathon he said in an interview that he runs with no fear of death.........I'd well believe it.

I must have watched that video at least a dozen times by now. Legend!
Whenever I hurt in a workout, I think of this. It's the most inspirational running I've ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StGekhxY-qg

Krusty_Clown

huskerdu wrote: »

That is such an achievement.

I wonder how much he could achieve if he did have the money to go full time.

He was offered countless opportunities to turn pro and join the big commercial teams, but he turned them down. It's not a money thing, it's a choice thing.
Maybe he believes that if he turns pro, he'll lose that edge.. That fighting spirit..

BeepBeep67

TheRoadRunner wrote: »

mental stuff. The winner of that wouldn't be within a second of Bolt :eek:

Your man was mighty out of the blocks in fairness. The commentators were well and truly ripping the piss

I'd be happy with 15.6 :P