Running in the Hakone Ekiden gave me confidence when I entered society.

Ugo: Have you found anything useful in your professional life as a result of participating in the Hakone Ekiden?

When I tell people I did track and field until Fukushima University , they often ask, "Short distance? Long distance?" and when I say long distance, they often ask, "Did you perhaps run in the Hakone Ekiden? Which leg did you run?"

Even within the company, people often say, "Tago ran in college and competed in the Hakone Ekiden."

Why did Ms. Aono Fukushima join Mitsukoshi Isetan?

My goal at Fukushima Track and Field was to compete in the Hakone Ekiden, and I achieved that dream by participating twice. I was interested in fashion, so I got a job at Mitsukoshi Isetan.

Mr. Tagofukushima is an upperclassman from Hosei University. When I was in my third year of high school, I was watching the Hakone Ekiden qualifying race on TV and saw a scene where the runners of the prestigious Hosei University team were crying after failing to qualify. Mr. Fukushima was at the center of it all. (laughs) I realized, "Hosei has such passionate and cool guys!" and through a fortunate connection, I ended up joining Hosei University.

Fukushima, that was when we didn't make it through the qualifying rounds because of me. (laughs)

Mr. Tagofukushima is like an older brother to me, someone I admire, and a senior! (sweat)

Aono: Rather than saying, "Running in Hakone gives you confidence," I think that each and every one of them has a strong sense of accomplishment from overcoming tough training and ultimately being able to participate in Hakone.

Fukushima : That's right. Work and track and field are completely different things, but instead of getting discouraged when I fail, I think that thinking "I did my best back then" is what keeps me from giving up.

As Mr. Tagofukushima said, I think I've developed patience.

Next, let's talk about the real Hakone Ekiden. To be continued in Part 2.

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