By HIDEAKI KATO/ Staff Writer
May 24, 2021 at 07:00 JST
Kenichi Wada has never been a track and field athlete, but he didn’t need to when he could learn from Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man.
He took what he learned from Bolt at a Jamaican track club and brought it home to start his own training program for those wanting to run faster.
“The first thing people think they are not talented and give up in life is running fast,” said Wada, 33, who founded the Hashiri no Gakko school in August.
“Still, being quick on one’s feet is not a natural gift. Anyone can do anything if they train themselves properly.”
Wada began competing in Beach Flags events, in which competitors race to flags, or batons, on sandy beaches, while he was a university student.
Wada won a national competition in 2012, only three years after he started working out. He finished second in the Australian championships, where top athletes from around the world compete, in 2014.
Wada could start from a prone position as quickly as his competitors, but he was unable to keep up with them in the 20-meter course toward the flags.
Wada asked the track and field clubs of universities and companies to allow him to train together to learn how to run faster, but none accepted him.
He eventually contacted Racers Track Club, a sprint training team in Jamaica to which Bolt, the world record holder in the men’s 100-meter sprint, belongs.
Wada explained how he wanted to “learn from the world’s best sprinters to become the fastest in the world.” The club gave permission for him to refine his skills there.
Wada spent three months with Bolt and other top sprinters at the club.
Wada learned athletes run differently in short- and long-distance races and the techniques required for spring and running events are totally different. He would dash behind Bolt, thinking what set the world’s fastest man apart from him.
Three months later, Wada ran a 100-meter sprint a second faster than before.
Upon his return to Japan, Wada shared his skills at a university rugby club, improving the players’ average time by 0.15 second in the 10-meter sprint. His reputation spread and requests for lessons poured in.
Wada gives lessons to his students, from children to professional baseball players, on the tracks and online.
Two hundred members belong to his Hashiri no Gakko, which is based in Awaji, Hyogo Prefecture. In addition, 190 people have learned skills from Wada and become running trainers.
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Kenichi Wada, founder of Hashiri no Gakko and Beach Flags competitor, trains in Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward in April. (Hideaki Kato)
