Do you know Miura Yahei? Miura Yahei was the first Olympics participant
from Fukushima. In 1981 Yahei was born in Yanagawa-machi. Yanagawa is a
castle town in the north of Fukushima prefecture.He went to Shiroishi High School in Miyagi prefecture. It is said that he ran about 30 kilometers from home to school every day. After high school, he entered Waseda University. When he was a student, he won the marathon race at the inter-college track-and-field meet in 1919. Next year he was chosen as an Antwerp Olympics competitor in the marathon race along with Kanaguri Shirou. He could participate in the next Paris Olympics. In 1929 he built a training center, called Olympic Village in his hometown. He tried hard to train young people. But because of the war, he had to close the village. In 1971 he died at the age of 80.
Today in memory of the great runner "Miura Yahei Yanagawa-machi Road Race" is held every October. When I was a high school student, I took part in the road race.