Yuki Kawauchi is going to turn Pro and leave his day job

Yuki Kawauchi runs a lot of races and in fact placed 12th at the Gifu Half Marathon on Sunday clocking 1:04:35. Not bad for the runner who just won this year’s Boston Marathon six days ago. He has been racing despite having to train around his full-time work as a civil servant. He is finally going to quit his day job and turn professional. “I want to join races around the globe,” the 31-year-old runner told reporters at Narita Airport upon his return from the United States. “I have less than 10 years left to run to the best of my ability. I don’t want to have any regrets when I die.” Kawauchi said he would leave his job with the Saitama government in March 2019, the end of the fiscal year. He said he had hinted to his close friends that he wanted to quit work and become a full-time athlete, but the $150,000 (15.9 million yen) in prize money for winning the April 16 Boston Marathon cemented his decision. “I will become a professional runner, and I will use (the prize money) as a support fund for my training,” he said. Top-level runners in Japan are usually funded through corporate sponsorships or are hired by companies to join their corporate sports teams. As a civil servant, Kawauchi has had no sponsors. And although he can receive prize money, he cannot accept fees from race organizers even if he is invited as a guest runner.

posted Sunday April 22nd