Shizo Kanakuri

Shizo Kanakuri was born on August 20, 1891 in Nagomi, Kumamoto, Japan. He attended the Tokyo Higher Normal School and joined the track and field club. He showed great talent in long-distance running and won several national championships. He qualified for the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, where he was one of the only two athletes that Japan could afford to send. He had a rough 18-day-long trip to Stockholm, first by ship and then by train all through the Trans-Siberian Railway. He needed five days to recover for the race, which was held in unexpected 25 °C heat. He collapsed midway through the race and was cared for by a local family. He returned to Japan without notifying the race officials, creating a humorous story in Sweden about the supposedly lost Japanese runner. In 1967, he was contacted by Swedish Television and offered the opportunity to complete his run. He accepted and finished the marathon with a time of 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds, which is the longest time to complete a marathon. He also participated in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, where he finished 16th in the marathon. He helped establish the Hakone Ekiden, a famous relay race between Tokyo and Hakone, in 1920. He also coached many young runners and contributed to the development of track and field athletics in Japan. He died on November 13, 1983 at the age of 92 in Tamana, Kumamoto, Japan. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government. He has been celebrated as the "father of marathon" in Japan and his life story has been adapted into several books, films and dramas.