Skip to main content

DeNA Team Holds Press Conference Announcing Seko's Comeback and Plans to Make 2020 Olympic Marathon



On March 30, the Tokyo-based DeNA corporate team held a press conference to announce new members Kenta Murozuka and Hiroki Sugawa.  Team management also announced that legend Toshihiko Seko will make a comeback to competitive marathoning after a 26-year absence in hopes of making the 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon team, switching roles from his current position as the team's head coach to becoming one of its twelve athletes.

With the start of the new fiscal year today the team's roster page was updated to include the new team members and reflected Seko's new position on the team.

Seko's athlete profile includes the following:

Profile
Born July 15, 1956 in Kuwana, Mie.  During his career he won ten out of his fifteen domestic and international marathons.  On the track he was also dominant, giving the Japanese national records a beating over an impressive range from 5000 m to the marathon and setting then-world records over 25,000 m and 30,000 m.

 In April, 2013 he became head coach of the DeNA Running Club corporate team, but, resolving to "make Japanese marathoning #1 in the world again," he has chosen to return to competitive running.  His goal is to make the 2020 Tokyo Olympics team.

 Height, weight: 170.6 cm, 73.5 kg
Blood type: O
Favorite word: passion
Hobby: golf
Most redeeming characteristic: I'll be friends with anybody.
Message to fans: It's going to take a while, but please cheer me on over the long haul.  I will definitely be ready in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

 PBs
5000 m: 13:24.29
10000 m: 27:42.17
30 km: 1:28:52
marathon: 2:08:27

 Achievements
Ten wins in fifteen marathon starts
Four-time Fukuoka International Marathon winner, 1978-1980, 1983
Two-time Boston Marathon winner, 1981, 1987
Tokyo International Marathon winner, 1983
London Marathon winner, 1986
Chicago Marathon winner, 1986
Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon winner, 1988
Two-time Olympic marathoner, Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988
Labels:

Comments

Karl W said…
I like your work!
April 1, 2014 at 5:15 PM
Anonymous said…
Good one! Question: Do Japanese do April Fools?
April 1, 2014 at 5:46 PM
Brett Larner said…
No joke on my part. This is translated as presented on the DeNA website.
April 1, 2014 at 9:36 PM
Unknown said…
FANTASTIC !!! Running the Olympic marathon at 64 would be amazing. Just do it, impossible is nothing.
April 1, 2014 at 9:54 PM
TokyoRacer said…
Ha ha ha....

I guess that answers the question of whether the Japanese do April Fool's jokes.
April 1, 2014 at 11:59 PM
Unknown said…
Glad to see Japan Inc., maintaining some sense of humor :)
ちょっとDeNAへの好感度アップ。
April 2, 2014 at 8:47 AM
Metts said…
And in Korea too. University students wore their old high school uniforms for April Fool's day.
April 2, 2014 at 10:09 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that  Sis
Post a Comment
Read more

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43
Post a Comment
Read more

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half
Post a Comment
Read more