Truemors
Tatsuo Okawara was the oldest finisher from Japan in the December 9th,
2007 Honolulu Marathon. At 90 years old, he completed the 42.19 kilometers
(26.2 mile) course in 8 hours, 11 minutes. He walked briskly and jogged the
entire way and reports passing an estimated 100 runners in the last 800 meters
of the race.
Mr. Okawara lives in Annaka City in Gunma Prefecture, two hours by
train from Tokyo. Gunma Prefecture is known for its mountainous natural beauty
and the heartiness of the people who live there.
This 90 year old marathon runner was glad to share his health secrets:
plenty of exercise, no tobacco and moderate alcohol intake. He encourages those
that are unable to run to simply walk, daily if possible. He has a wall full of
medals and plaques from his participation in distance running events around
Japan including the Senior Olympics. His accomplishments include business
success as well; he founded and ran a well-known dry cleaning business for 50
years.
Mr. Okawara is also a World War II veteran. He was part of large
contingent of soldiers, primarily from Gunma Prefecture that were sent to fight
in Papua New Guinea. He remembers that almost
immediately upon arrival the Japanese supply lines were cut and soldiers were
very low on rations, medicine and ammunition. He received a terrible wound to
his right leg that involved a tremendous amount of bleeding and loss of a toe.
Without medical attention of any kind he was forced to run several hours in
that condition to avoid capture or death. "I had no choice, no matter how
much it hurt, I could not give up; doing so would have meant certain death." He
and his fellow soldiers persevered from August 1945 until their surrender in
January of 1946. During that time they lost 85% of their number in battle. He
says, "There were those that ran off into the jungle never to be heard
from again. When we were forced to surrender our uniforms to the American and
Australian troops we thought for sure that we would be killed and never see our
families again." Mr. Okawara continues,
"To our great surprise, not only were we given three meals a day but we were
treated with kindness and fairness. I have never had the opportunity to express
my gratitude to those soldiers. I hope that my words of thanks reach the ears
of some of those men. Thank you very, very much". He also added, "Why
do we fight these wars?"
Although he does find preparing for and completing races and marathons
challenging, he says, "Running marathons is easy compared to being a
soldier, there is no comparison."
This marathon and war veteran is already looking forward to running
next year's Honolulu Marathon with his best friend and running buddy who
happens to be a bit younger, only 85 years old.
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