Tokyo Marathon post race press conference – By Ken Nakamura

Dennis Kimetto (winner):
“After the lead pack broken up at 30Km, by 35Km I was running alone. At that point I was confident I can win.  I felt the pace makers were little slow for me. I thought of leaving them behind at one time, but at the end I decided to stay behind them for now.  Yes, wind was very strong.  Sometimes I felt the wind pounding on my chest to the point it was painful.  As for the next marathon, if I was selected for the World Championships marathon team, I would like to run in Moskva.  If not then I would like to run in the Berlin Marathon and go after the world record.”

Kazuhiro Maeda (first Japanese):
“My goal today was to stay with the pace makers all the way and if I had anything left at the end, I was planning to make my move. In the first half of the race, I made sure to conserve my energy.  After 30Km I was planning to run together with anybody who is around me which I think I was successful.  As for the time, I was disappointed that I could not run 2:07 marathon.

However, I am happy that I was able to record personal best in such a windy condition.  As for my finishing position, I did not think I was running such a high position, so I am bit surprised.”
When he was asked to compare this year’s race and the last year’s race where he did not cover the move by Fujiwara, Maeda said, “This year I was determined to chase the leader as long as it is not an outrageous pace.” Note: Maeda covered 30 to 35Km in 14:39, compared to Kimetto’s 14:20, Michael Kipyego’s 14:25 etc.  

When asked about 14:39 from 30 to 35Km, Maeda said, “It was quite tough. Perhaps because of this I slowed in the next 5Km (15:18).”   But then you run 6:40 the question continued: “During the training for the previous marathons, I failed to complete the hard training sessions, but for the training for this marathon, I was able to complete all the hard sessions. I think that was the difference today, both physically and mentally. After a breakaway at 30Km, I noticed I was running along side of my former team-mate (note: Bernard Kipyego use to run for Kyudenko and Maeda is a member of Kyuenko team), I was wondering if I can stay with him.  It was a confidence builder that I was able to stay with him for a while.”

When he was asked to explain what does he mean when he said he was not able to complete the hard training session, Maeda said, “For example, I could not keep up with the pre-determined pace or could not complete the number of sets in the repetition work out previously.”

“I was disappointed last year for not making the Olympic team, so I trained thinking I don’t want to be disappointed again.  That had positive effect.”
On making World Championships team: “In 2009, the World Championships was my second marathon of my career so I had no experience. In the intervening four years, I gained much experience including racing oversea, so if I was selected, I think I can do much better this year.”  

Yoshimi Ozaki: (first Japanese in the race but she will take a long break after this race)
“I was planning to stay with the pace maker running at 3:24 per Km. I was able to stay with the pace maker in the first part of the race, but in the later part of the race it became quite tough, so I had to let them go.  Yes, wind was quite hard. If there was no wind, I think I could have run faster. I am relieved that I was able to complete the marathon.  If I was in better shape, perhaps I could go with the leaders, but I was not in such a shape today. I was disappointed that I was not in the best of my shape.

However, I was not in bad shape either. I am happy that I did not hit the wall. Before starting today’s race, I regretted for not running major marathons abroad before, but today’s race was quite tough, so I don’t want to run another marathon for a while.  I passed Nojiri (her former team-mate), little beyond 30Km. I was thinking that I did not want to lose against Nojiri.  In the early part of the race, I noticed that she was running quite aggressively, and I was thinking, would she fall off the pace?  I was happy to be the first Japanese in the race.  Before the race I was stretching with Nojiri but was not talking anything about the race, but just chatting.”

Looking back at her career:
“After I started to race marathons, although I had some tough moments, generally speaking, I enjoyed my running career. It was my last marathon, but I did not feel like this is my last marathon.  I would like to thank my coach Sachiko Yamashita.”

My observation: When I was talking with Ozaki at the post race party, Naoko Takahashi came up to Ozaki and handed a piece of paper to Ozaki and said, “e-mail me. Let’s get together sometimes.  You like to drink, don’t you? I have good collection of wines.  When you are active runners, I did not think it was proper to talk privately because I commentate for the TV.  Now that you are in semi-retirement, I think it is OK for me to invite you to my house.”

Aberu Kebede: (winner)
“I am happy to win today here in Tokyo. Yes, it was very windy, so I tried to keep a steady pace.”
When asked about missing the course record by six seconds: “Yes, I was thinking about the course record, but wind was just too strong. So although the course record was in my mind, I could not do it because the wind was too tough.  It was very tough at 37Km and 41Km, because of the wind as well as uphill. I am thinking about the World Championships, but I have not run the time worthy of World Championships team yet.”

My observation: I noticed that Aberu Kebede was celebrating her victory during the last 200m of the race. Had she run really hard she might have run 7 seconds faster.

Ken Nakamura