Interview Relay 42 Stories of the Tokyo Marathon
〜Connecting Hearts〜

Interview Relay: 42 Stories of the Tokyo Marathon ~ Connecting Hearts~ 

The 15th interviewee is Ms. Miyu Yoda, who runs the wellness community “THE WEEKEND WELLNESS CLUB,” with an aim to create an “opportunity” to be “Healthy, Beauty and Happy” and the best possible self.

We asked her about the appeal and value of the Tokyo Marathon from the perspective of a community organizer, the changes the Tokyo Marathon has brought to the city and running culture, and how she wants to spread the joy of running and exercise in the future, taking her participation in the Tokyo Marathon as a start.

 

I have had an increasing number of opportunities to interact with various communities.

――From the perspective of a running community organizer, how do you view the significance and value of the Tokyo Marathon?

 It is a great event to enhance the motivation of the participants. In fact, since my participation in the Tokyo Marathon has become official, I have had an overwhelmingly increasing number of opportunities to interact with various running communities apart from my own community. 

After running in the morning, we sometimes go to café or while running, we have a lively conversation over topics other than running. In addition, having a friend to participate in the Tokyo Marathon together inspires my mind toward running. Facing the stage aspired by everyone together with the friend who has the same will. I think this alone leads to the enhancement of the motivation.  

 

――As the Tokyo Marathon has started and has become one of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, what changes have you noticed in the running culture?

 Now the wellness culture has been popularized in Japan. I come across running communities on a daily basis. This may be because I actively go and get wellness-related information on a regular basis, and I realize that the number of people who start running from healthy thinking and wellness thinking is steadily growing. The Tokyo Marathon has now become really popular, taking into account the number of runners coming from overseas to participate and how competitive to get in the lottery, creating a flow for people to do daily exercise and try for a full marathon, including the Tokyo Marathon as a goal. I think that the flow brings about a positive impact on the popularization of the wellness culture in Japan. 

 

Feeling the warmth, culture and regionality of people in Japan with five senses

――What do you find appealing about the Tokyo Marathon? Why do you think runners want to run the Tokyo Marathon?

 There are many chances to run a full marathon, but this is just like high school baseball players aiming to participate in the Koshien (or the national high school baseball championships).  The Tokyo Marathon is the stage aspired by all runners, and everyone aims to run in Tokyo. It is not just about running, but also being able to run through Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, means a great opportunity to feel the warmth, culture and regionality of people in Japan with five senses. It may also be one of the reasons that the Tokyo Marathon is popular among runners from overseas, and I think it is very important that we, the Japanese people, feel the culture of our own country while running. 

 

――Please tell us about a memorable story you have related to the Tokyo Marathon

 As it is my first time participating in the Tokyo Marathon, I am super thrilled! 

 

――The Tokyo Marathon Foundation has set a vision of the “Tokyo Marathon, the best marathon in the world, held in Tokyo, the best city in the world” based on three pillars: “The safest and most secure race in the world,” “The most exciting race in the world,” and “The warmest and most friendly race in the world.” What is your view on this?

 I think they are great. I felt that because the Foundation aims to realize these three pillars, the Tokyo Marathon is popular. I hope that the Tokyo Marathon becomes one of the goals for everyone, regardless of age, gender, or any other genre, in their lives and develops into a race that enriches our lives even further. 

I especially empathize with “The most exciting race in the world.” The Tokyo Marathon is not a simple competition and is instead a place where everyone can enjoy, be moved, and get excited together ranging from professional runners to city runners, we all run together, so we can feel a sense of tension and excitement of the race. Moreover, many runners from all over the world gather, making the Tokyo Marathon a place for cross-cultural exchange, which is very exciting. We can enjoy the atmosphere of an international event that we cannot experience in our daily lives.

 

More than anything else, “to have fun” is the motto.

――What does the Tokyo Marathon mean to you?　#MyTokyoMarathon is…？

 It is a part of my life as an athlete. Since my participation in the Tokyo Marathon became official, I have been running more seriously, systematically mapping out training plans, and shifting the regular training and exercise to running. Now, I train hard on a daily basis, aiming to run about 100km per month. Previously, I used to do adequate exercise as I liked, but thanks to the Tokyo Marathon, I feel more connected to running.  As I started regarding the Tokyo Marathon as one of my big goals, I became very excited and felt like an athlete every day. I do have some concerns, but with the motto of having fun without getting injured, I want to do my best to achieve my target time to take advantage of this challenge. 

 

――Do you have any expectations for the future Tokyo Marathon? What would you like to see as a way to further promote the running culture?

 I expect that the Tokyo Marathon will offer many more people an opportunity to participate. My initial image of the Tokyo Marathon was “the race only for serious runners.” Because it is the stage aspired by runners who would want to try at least once in their life, I thought that it would be nice to have runners who do not regard the race as a competition run the Tokyo Marathon and have them experience the appeal of the running culture, and more importantly, it would be great to have initiatives which place emphasis on having fun. In addition, it would also be nice to strengthen in sharing the related information and the appeal. Sharing through media, SNS and magazines throughout the year. It would also be interesting to hear a story featuring a first-time participant and his or her journey to the race day. 

 

――Taking your participation in the Tokyo Marathon as a start, how does THE WEEKEND WELLNESS CLUB plan to spread running and what sort of activities does it plan to conduct?

 In principle, to continue to do anything, it has to be “fun.” First,      I would like to engage in an activity where I could put my all into conveying the “joy” of running through the running community. It is nice to run alone, but as running mates increase to two or three or more people, the joy will double, resulting in a stronger sense of satisfaction. The Tokyo Marathon embodies the spirit, so by taking my participation as a start, I hope to spread the joy of running to various people.