Morning is a sacred time for runners. The only sounds echoing in the quiet town are your own footsteps and breathing. Focusing on one's mind and body, one checks the daily differences. The changing of the seasons and the changing of the light are most noticeable throughout the day. This is all because I got up early to run.

The first installment of "MORNING RUN WITH," in which I will share such a special time for runners, is with Mr. Tasuke Arai, who was the captain of the Aoyama Gakuin University Track and Field Club.

Met running again.

Arai gets up early in the morning, around 6:00 a.m., to run around Inokashira Park near his home. This area, which still retains the atmosphere of Musashino, is a perfect place for a morning run, as there is a lot of greenery. There is also a track, albeit a dirt one, where Mr. Arai, who used to compete mainly in the 1,500m, has opportunities to practice his speed.

In the morning, I mainly jog because I can't move, but sometimes I run on the track," he says. During the daytime, I am also moving my body unexpectedly by coaching children, so I don't practice so intensely now (laughs). When I was competing, winning and running fast was everything. After I retired from active running, I started running with my friends, and I think I realized how much fun it is to run. It's like I've found running all over again. In his junior year at Aoyama Gakuin University, he led the first section in the Hakone Ekiden, the first time in 33 years that he had participated in the event, and in his senior year as captain, he contributed to the team's first seeding in 41 years (8th place). After graduation, he joined the JR East Running Team. After retiring, he continued to work as an employee of JR East, but has recently been busy starting up a running school for children, BEAT AC TOKYO, with his former classmate from his days with the team, Koji Gogaya.

My last job at JR East was, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the computer class business. I found it rewarding to interact with children there, and that is when I was approached by Gokatani. I hope to contribute to the world of athletics by working with children in the pre-golden and golden ages, when their nervous systems are beginning to develop significantly.