田中希実選手が渋谷の公道を激走　女子中高生ランナーと真剣勝負

Read the article here → https://www.sankei.com/article/202211... On the 13th, Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Industries Corporation), a leading female middle- and long-distance runner, competed in a one-mile (1,609m) road race held on public roads in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, beating out junior and senior high school female runners and sprinting through the streets of downtown Tokyo. Tanaka is Japan's ace runner, having placed eighth in the 1,500m at last year's Tokyo Olympics, and holds the Japanese records for the 1,000m, 1,500m, and 3,000m. She also recently set a new Japanese record for the 5k road race at a meet held in Fukuoka City on the 12th. On this day, Tanaka took part in the "NOZOMIRAI MILE," an event where female junior and senior high school runners challenged Tanaka as part of the "Kita Shibuya Mile," Japan's first one-mile public road race held on public roads, held around Hatsudai, Shibuya Ward. The 15 junior high school students and 5 high school students who participated were middle- and long-distance runners who had applied for the event because they admired Tanaka. The junior and senior high school students started first, and 10 seconds later, Tanaka began running with explosive momentum. The course was an L-shaped route that turned around, and Tanaka dodged the junior runners one by one. However, the junior and senior high school runners also hung on to Tanaka, putting up a serious challenge. In the end, Tanaka showed her dignity, overtaking everyone and crossing the finish line in first place. After the race, Tanaka reflected on the junior and senior high school runners, saying, "I could feel their determination to stay ahead of me for as long as possible. I ran with the feeling that I had to compete seriously and set a good example." She also praised the strength of the (junior and senior high school) runners, saying, "After we turned around, it was hard to close the gap with the runners in front of us. That's the strength of the (junior and senior high school) runners." The junior and senior high school runners who ran with Tanaka commented, "I felt their speed was different in the final sprint," and were impressed by their world-class strength. One-mile races on public roads are popular in the United States and are held all over the country. Tanaka herself competed in the world's most famous one-mile road race, the Fifth Avenue Mile, held on Fifth Avenue in New York City in September of this year, where she competed against top runners and placed fifth in the women's division. Tanaka was enthusiastic, saying, "The Fifth Avenue Mile is a famous road race that everyone knows in America. I want to make this race (Kita-Shibu Mile) just like that." In Japan, long-distance road races, such as full marathons, are popular, but middle-distance races have traditionally been overlooked. However, Tanaka continues to attract attention, not only by placing in the Tokyo Olympics but also by competing in three events—the 800, 1500, and 5000 meters—at the IAAF World Championships held in Oregon in June of this year. Many young athletes are inspired by Tanaka's success and are looking to compete in middle-distance races. Tanaka's success has spurred excitement in the middle-distance world, leading to the creation of middle-distance road races like the Kita-Shibu Mile. Sporting goods manufacturers are also promoting middle-distance races. New Balance, which supports Tanaka, will release a new racing shoe for middle-distance races in January of next year. Compared to long-distance races, the appeal of middle-distance races lies in the intensity of maintaining a consistently high speed over the short few minutes of competition and competing against rivals at their own limits. After completing the Kita-Shibu Mile, Tanaka concluded, "It feels great to be able to charge at top speed on public roads. Being able to do that in Shibuya is a rare experience." #Nozomi Tanaka #Nozomi #1Mile #KitaShibu Mile #KitaShibu RunRun Festa #Hatsudai #NOZOMIRAIMILE #NewBalance