Oh la la
I've been reading a lot of running articles for inspiration lately. My favorite so far is Runnersworld.com. It's a great starting point for runners and those just embarking on the runner's journey. Most recently they published an article about Eliud Kipchoge. He set a new world record for a marathon with a time of 2:01:39. This is 1 minute 18 seconds faster than the previous record! In running time, that's A LOT! Even from a man who has won the London marathon three times. For his astounding performance, he was awarded the Laureus Academy Exceptional Achievement. In his acceptance speech he spoke words that make my heart smile. He said, "I would like to thank my fans around the world for all their support. I believe that a running world is a peaceful world, a sporting world is a healthy world and that a sporting world is an enjoyable world. (...)".
That is the kind of world I want to live in. The enjoyable, healthy, peaceful kind. I better put on my running shoes and get to it!
Eliud Kipchoge isn't the only one breaking records. In 2018, Japan's Yuki Kawauchi became the first Japanese man to win the Boston Marathon since 1987! While in 2017, Yuki Kawauchi won 15 marathons straight! In fact, Japanese runners have completed more marathons than any other nationality since 2015 (Association of Road Racing Statisticians). While Japan maybe taking the world record on the most marathon completed since 2015, marathon running is a new phenomena for Japan. According to Justin Higginbottom in, "Run, Tokyo, Run: How Japan Became Marathon Capital of the World"the first Tokyo marathon was hosted in 2007.
Our flight is only four weeks away and I'm getting stoked learning about Japanese culture and the history of running in Japan.
For those interested in supporting my trip to Japan please consider donating at GoFundMe