Skip to main content

'There's an Incredibly Exciting World Waiting Just a Step Outside Japan'

http://ameblo.jp/1984-0220/entry-11758652352.html

translated by Mika Tokairin and Brett Larner
photo courtesy of race organizers Aravaipa Running

14:16 / 29:44 track runner Tsutomu Nagata, 29, took up ultramarathons after an accident in 2010 left his right arm permanently handicapped.  In 2013 he finished 3rd at the Lake Saroma 100 km in 6:44:33, a time that ranked him 6th in the world for the year.  

Nagata made his 100 mile and international debut Jan. 25 at the Coldwater Rumble 100 Mile Trail Run in the U.S., leading for the first two 20-mile laps before being overtaken by eventual winner Catlow Shipek (U.S.A.). Post-race he wrote about his experience.

Japanese emoticons:

(^-^)/ = happy/waving
(T-T) = crying (embarrassment)
(-_-;) = worried/stress

To begin with I'd like to thank Iwamoto-san and Rina-san from Club My Star for first suggesting this opportunity. Also to everyone in Tokirun, Igarashi-sensei, Seki-sensei, Ota-san and others who supported me, I don't know how to thank you enough.

The race started at 7:00 a.m. on the 25th.  At first there was a pack of four, but it quickly became just two of us.

Him: (^-^)/ "Hi! Blah blah blah blah."
Me: (T-T) "I don't speak English.  Sorry!  Sorry!  Sorry!"
Him: (^-^)/ "What's your name?"
Me: (T-T) "NAGATA!"
Him: (^-^)/ "Oh, NAGATA!"

We talked to each other like that but I couldn't understand his name. (-_-;)  Cat!?  He tried to imitate a cat going meow meow but...

He went to the toilet at the end of the first loop and I took the lead.  On the second lap the sun started to shine and it got so hot that I couldn't believe it was really winter.  There were three aid stations per lap with great cheering and support, and I really appreciated the staff's efforts to understand my poor English.  In the second half of the third lap I started slowing down and the guy caught back up to me (although I think I was the only one thinking of it as being caught).  When he caught up to me he asked, "Nagata!  You doing OK?"  I could tell from the difference between his positive way of thinking and mine that he was very strong, but I couldn't give up then so I chased after him.

On the fourth lap I was going as hard as I could trying to close the gap since there were people who were looking forward to seeing how I did. I was feeling like, "Hey, jackass! Wait up!" I wonder what the gap between us was at the end of the fourth lap? I was going through pain and agony I'd never tasted before while I was chasing him.

The fifth lap took an hour longer.  On the fifth lap I used a headlamp for the first time and ran through the darkness.  I crashed into cactuses, fell lots of times, took wrong turns, and the headlamp died.  I encountered a million problems, but somehow I got to the finish.

100 miles is a very long way.  If I was told to run it all by myself it'd be impossible.  Every person I lapped, saying "Good job!" to each other gave me strength.  I felt a new world in this race and became a new person again.  I find enjoyment in this through seeing my own growth and change.  That's my style.

Thanks to Rina-san's translation, after the race I was able to talk a lot to that guy I met there in the States.  I think there are great races and great race staff in Japan too, but my words are insufficient to express how much I felt that there was an incredibly exciting world waiting just a step outside Japan.

When I get back I want to talk about all this over some drinks.  I'd like to talk more to other people who are interested in ultramarathons.

Over and out.

Update: Read Catlow Shipek's account of the race here.

Coldwater Rumble 100 Mile Trail Run
Goodyear, AZ, U.S.A., 1/25/14
click here for complete results

Men
1. Catlow Shipek (U.S.A.) - 15:09:52
2. Tsutomu Nagata (Japan) - 16:14:21
3. Jeremy Bradford (U.S.A.) - 18:29:30

Women
1. Gina Dhaliwal (Canada) - 20:05:43
2. Katelyne Fischbeck (U.S.A.) - 21:00:52
3. Ema Eliason (U.S.A.) - 23:26:14

photo (c) 2014 Aravaipa Running
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Weekend Racing Roundup

  China saw a new men's national record of 2:06:57 from  Jie He  at the Wuxi Marathon Sunday, but in Japan it was a relatively quiet weekend with mostly cold and rainy amateur-level marathons across the country. At the Tokushima Marathon , club runner Yuhi Yamashita  won the men's race by almost 4 1/2 minutes in 2:17:02, the fastest Japanese men's time of the weekend, but oddly took 22 seconds to get across the starting line. The women's race saw a close finish between the top two, with Shiho Iwane  winning in 2:49:33 over Ayaka Furukawa , 2nd in 2:49:46.  At the 41st edition of the Sakura Marathon in Chiba, Yukie Matsumura  (Comodi Iida) ran the fastest Japanese women's time of the weekend, 2:42:45, to take the win. Club runner Yuki Kuroda  won the men's race in 2:20:08.  Chika Yokota  won the Saga Sakura Marathon women's race in 2:49:33.  Yuki Yamada  won the men's race in 2:21:47 after taking the lead in the final 2 km.  Naoki Inoue  won the 16th r

Japan's Olympic Marathon Team Meets the Press

With renewed confidence, Japan's Olympic marathon team will face the total 438 m elevation difference hills of Paris this summer. The members of the women's and men's marathon teams for August's Paris Olympics appeared at a press conference in Tokyo on Mar. 25 in conjunction with the Japan Marathon Championship Series III (JMC) awards gala. Women's Olympic trials winner Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) said she was riding a wave of motivation in the wake of the new women's national record. When she watched Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) set the record at January's Osaka International Women's Marathon on TV, Suzuki said she was, "absolutely stunned." Her coach Sachiko Yamashita told her afterward, "When someone breaks the NR, things change," and Suzuki found herself saying, "I want to take my shot." After training for a great run in Paris, she said, "I definitely want to break the NR in one of my marathons after that." Mao

Takeuchi Wins Niigata Half in Boston Tune-Up

Running in cold, windy and rainy conditions, Ryoma Takeuchi (ND Software) warmed up for April's Boston Marathon with a win at Wednesday's Niigata Half Marathon . Takeuchi sat behind Nittai University duo Susumu Yamazaki and Ryuga Ishikawa in the early stages, then made a series of pushes to pick up the pace. Each time he tucked in behind whoever went to the front, while behind them others dropped off. Before 15 km only Yamazaki and Riki Koike of Soka University were left, and when Takeuchi went to the front the last time after 15 km only Koike followed. By 16 he was gone too, leaving Takeuchi to solo it in to the win in 1:03:13 with a 17-second negative split. "This was my last fitness check before the Boston Marathon next month, and my time was right on-target," he said post-race. "Everything went as planned. I'm looking forward to racing some of the world's best in Boston, and my goal there is to place in the single digits." Just back from tr