Amateur-status, selling cars and Rio calling
Of the two dozen or so professional athletes invited to compete in the 2015 Sanlam Cape Town Marathon, Yuki Kawauchi stands out.
Granted, his personal best marathon time of 2:08:14 underlines his quality. Factor in a respectable performance at the 2013 IAAF World Championships and one could be forgiven in classing the Japanese athlete as a top-class marathoner capable of turning in consistent performances year after year. Yet there is far more to the diminutive Kawauchi than a respectable palmares alone.
In Kawauchi's world, the term "professional athlete" is a misnomer. Working full time for the Japanese government, the man from Tokyo is the quintessential amateur, although purely out of choice. Rarely competing outside of Japan, Kawauchi has no sponsors, accepts no appearance fees or prize money and is self-coached, training by himself each day before or after work. He even buys his own running shoes. And while he voluntarily eschews all forms of remuneration and endorsements that most professional athletes would call their livelihood, Kawauchi is a national hero in his home country.
"Yuki flies in the face of authority," says Brett Larner (pictured above), friend and mentor to Kawauchi. "He is almost an anti-hero. The public adore him, and he stays true to his ideals. Japan has an extremely well-organised and lucrative professional running circuit but Yuki just does his own thing and continues to excel."
Independence and outspokenness are qualities not normally associated with Japanese culture, but Kawauchi has both in spades. He also exhibits a type of grit and determination that allows him to go to the well when the chips of down.
Case in point his breakthrough race, the 2011 Tokyo Marathon where he clocked a 2:08:37 to claim third place. Running down his competitors one by one, Kawauchi ran the last few miles with his eyes literally closed, collapsing on the finishing line. As the first Japanese runner home, he earned World Championship selection and won a luxury motor car to boot. But in keeping with his morals, the benevolent Kawauchi sold the vehicle and donated the proceeds the to the victims of the massive earthquake that rocked his country that year.
National selection proved tricky though, but more for the federation than the athlete in question.
"The national team officials had no way of contacting Yuki," recalls Larner with a smile of the humble Kawauchi's post-race disappearing act. "He went back to work the very next day and they had to actually go to his office to ask him to consider selection. He really is not at all interested in any form of corporate system."
Which begs the question: what is Kawauchi doing in Cape Town?
"The organisers here are great fans of Yuki and he has always been intrigued by South Africa," explains Larner.
"With his sights set on Rio, this event provides the perfect dress rehearsal given its Southern Hemisphere location, similar travelling time and zone change, as well as the absence of designated pace makers.
"All these factors add to the realism that he is bound to face in Brazil next year."
