Eriko Asai

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Eriko Asai ( Japanese 浅井 え り 子 , Asai Eriko ; born October 20, 1959 in Adachi , Tokyo ) is a former Japanese marathon runner .

Athletic career

Already in 1980, while studying at Bunkyo University, she ran her first 42.195 km competition in the Tokyo International Women's Marathon and finished twelfth in 3:00:32 h. In 1982 she became a member of the corporate team at NEC Home Electronics , where she was trained by Isao Sasaki. In 1983 she was third in the Vancouver Marathon in 2:50:36 h and fifth in Tokyo in 2:39:47 h with personal bests . The following year she climbed again in fourth place in the Nagoya Marathon to 2:38:31 h and as second in Tokyo to 2:33:43 h. In 1985 she was ninth in the IAAF World Cup marathon in Hiroshima. Second in the 1986 Osaka Women's Marathon , she was nominated for the Asian Games in Seoul , where she won the gold medal. At the World Athletics Championships in Rome in 1987 , she came in 26th place. In 1988 she qualified with a fourth place in Osaka for the Olympic Games in Seoul , where she finished 25th. In 1989 she was fourth in the Boston Marathon , in 1990 eleventh in Osaka and third in Nagoya and in the Hokkaidō Marathon . In 1991 she set the current course record at the pilot marathon in Betsukai ( sub-prefecture Nemuro ) with 2:35:29 h. The following season, she was third in Nagoya and won the Sapporo Half Marathon , in which she had been victorious in 1987. Seventh in the 1992 South Shields World Half Marathon Championships , she contributed to winning the gold medal for the Japanese team, and third in Tokyo. In 1993 she stayed under two and a half hours twice: in Nagoya she finished fourth in 2:28:22 h, and at the Gold Coast Marathon she set the current course record with 2:29:29 h. She finished fifth in Tokyo. In 1994 she won the Ōme marathon over 30 km and in Nagoya.

In August, her trainer and partner Isao Sasaki was diagnosed with malignant melanoma . The couple married shortly thereafter, and when therapy initially appeared to be successful, they drove to the Honolulu Marathon , where Eriko Asai finished second. However, at the beginning of the year his condition worsened and he passed away on March 3, 1995, exactly one year after Eriko's triumph in Nagoya. A year later, Eriko Asai came 14th in Nagoya. In the top-class Japanese women's races, she was no longer able to occupy front places. However, when she was over 40, she was fifth in Honolulu in 1999 and eighth in 2000, and in 2001 she came third in the Gold Coast Marathon and ninth in Honolulu.

Training method

Isao Sasaki's preferred training method was, similar to Ernst van Aaken , long runs at a slow pace (long slow distance). He wrote a book about it as early as 1984 with the title ゆ っ く り 走 れ ば 速 く な る ( Yukkuri hashireba hayaku naru, "Run slowly, and you will be fast"). Eriko Asai continues this legacy as a trainer, running instructor and book author.

Personal bests

Publications

  • も う い ち ど 二人 で 走 り た い (Mō ichido futari de hashiritai). Tokuma Shoten, Tokyo 1995, ISBN 4-19-860391-X
  • 新 ・ ゆ っ く り 走 れ ば 速 く な る (Shin yukkuri hashireba hayaku naru). Runners, 1997, ISBN 4-947537-48-5 ; New edition ibid. 2005, ISBN 4-947537-63-9

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Asai, Eriko
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 浅井 え り 子 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese marathon runner
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Adachi , Tokyo