Interview with Takayuki Matsumiya

By Pat Goodwin

Takayuki Matsumiya, 28, who runs for the Konica-Minolta team out of Japan, competed in the United States at the Oregon Relays on April 25 and the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University on May 4. He’s no stranger to either event; he won the 10,000-meter race at Cardinal in 2005. This year he was looking for his Olympic “A” qualifier in the 10,000 (27:50 or faster). He succeeded with a 27:41.75, good for fourth place. It was also a personal best, breaking his previous best of 27:50.20.

Matsumiya holds the Japanese record for 5000 meters (13:13.20) and the world road record for 30K (1:28:00). He has posted 7:53.52 for 3000 meters, 1:01:32 for half-marathon, and 2:10:04 in the marathon. He is coached by Katsumi Sakai and Daisuke Isomatsu.

Along with his twin brother, Yuko, Matsumiya grew up in Akita, Japan, and began running at age 13. The twins became professional runners at age 19 and began running for the Konica-Minolta team. Yuko has a marathon best of 2:09:18.

New York Road Runners spoke to Matsumiya both before and after his Cardinal 10,000.

New York Road Runners: Do you hope to represent Japan at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and in what event?
Takayuki Matsumiya: If I make the “A” standard for the 10,000 meters in Stanford [he did], I will have marks for the 5000 and 10,000. So I’ll be happy to run either event in Beijing.

NYRR: Has your twin brother, Yuko, been selected for the Olympic team?
TM: No, he tried for the marathon, but came up short.

NYRR: Is it a shared goal to appear on the Olympic stage together?
TM: Yes, our dream would be to both represent Japan in the marathon in 2012 at London. We’d also like to run the ING New York City Marathon together one year.

NYRR: Your best in the marathon is 2:10:04, set in 2007 at the Rotterdam Marathon in extreme heat. You finished second. Did this race give you confidence that you could run even faster in the marathon if conditions are better?
TM: The run last year in Rotterdam was a great experience. It gave me a lot of confidence to finish in second place in a big international marathon. Yes, it was hot! My goal for the marathon is to break the national record [Toshinari Takaoka’s 2:06:16 from the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in 2002], but for the next 15 months through the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, I will concentrate on the track without any marathons.

NYRR: You are able to race a range of distances – from the 5000 meters up through the marathon. Do you have a favorite distance?
TM: I like all of them. I like the racing and running. Track or roads, I like them equally. But if I had to choose a distance, I would say the marathon, because it is the event in which I might have a chance for a medal some day.

NYRR: How many world teams have you been on? And was your 15th-place finish at the 2007 Worlds in the 5000 meters a disappointment?
TM: I have represented Japan twice at the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships and once at the IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which was last summer. My finish there, in 13:54.95, was a big disappointment. The problem was that after winning the Japan Championships, I still had to find races to make the IAAF qualifying mark. This meant I was racing into July and I could not make good preparation for the World Championships in August.

NYRR: Your run at Cardinal was successful, but you had dropped out of the 5000 meters at the Oregon Relays. What happened at that event?
TM: To be honest, I just wanted to run a fast 3000 meters, not 5000 meters, so that is why I stopped after 3000 meters at the Oregon Relays.

NYRR: What will be your next competition?
TM: I will go to Sugadaira in Japan for about a month of training and then run a 5000 meters in Hokkaido in June. Then at the end of June will be the Japan National Championships.

NYRR: Where do you usually train and who are your training partners?
TM: The Konica-Minolta team is based in Hachioji, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Most of our training is there, but we do some intensive training camps in Hokkaido and also at about 1,100 meters [about 3,600 feet] in a town called Sugadaira in Nagano Prefecture. There are 15 guys on my team, including a pair of athletes from Kenya. One of the Kenyan guys I train with has run 13:13 and 27:20. I also train with my brother most days but it depends on what our goals are.

NYRR: What other interests do you have besides running?
TM: I love baseball. In Japan, my favorite team is the Hiroshima Carp, and in America, I am a New York Yankees fan. I’d love to go to Yankee Stadium someday or at least see the Yankees play in America.

Interview conducted May 2, and May 5, 2008, and posted May 9, 2008.