FOOTPRINT Lake Grapevine Runners & Walkers
May - June 2010
www.runnersandwalkers.com
RAW’s Marathon Century Man By Kathryn Gleghorn
A
t the 2010 Ft. Worth Cowtown Marathon, Thomas “T.O.” Okazaki achieved a milestone running goal that many marathon runners never even imagine, let alone achieve. T.O. completed his 100th marathon / ultramarathon this past February and he did so in impressive style with a new personal record (PR) and his second Boston Qualifying (BQ) time of 2010. T.O.’s 2010 Marathon Times Houston Chevron Marathon 3:32:20 (BQ/PR) Ft. Worth Cowtown Marathon 3:30:55 (BQ/PR) Arbuckles to Ardmore A2A Marathon 3:24:22 (BQ/PR)
T.O. has been running since 1972. Well, not non-stop, but he has been a runner for the last 38 years. While T.O. is not new to running, he is somewhat new to the marathon distance, having run his first marathon at the 2002 Dallas White Rock Marathon. At his inaugural marathon, he ran a 5:16:17 and has been steadily improving and lowering his marathon time.
time frame (www.marathonmaniacs.com). He also joined the 50 States Marathon Club, where the members’ goal is to complete a marathon in all 50 states. Runners must have a minimum of 10 states completed to join, (www.50statesmarathonclub.com). With 20 states completed to date, if T.O. can average 6 states per year, he will reach the 50-state goal by 2015. There is definitely wisdom in this Socrates quote and it is a favorite of T.O.’s: “There is no possession more valuable than a good and faithful friend.” T.O. is truly a “friend’s friend.” When word got out that Cowtown would be his 100th marathon, many RAW friends, led by Kelly “K2” Richards, swung into action planning a post-race celebration to honor T.O. and his accomplishment. K2 and fellow club members planned a postCowtown celebration and encouraged club members to attend race day festivities. Elizabeth and Jeff Lawrence graciously hosted 40-plus RAW friends who turned out to celebrate with T.O. RAW has benefitted greatly from T.O.’s generosity and dedication to the club and the running community at large. T.O. has served multiple terms on the RAW board and served a term as RAW President.
100 marathons in just over seven years averages out to 14 marathons a year, every year. That number in itself is impressive, but when you look at the results, you see not only has T.O. been out there logging the miles, he’s also been getting faster, which makes the 100th marathon/new BQ PR achievement more awesome. During the last eight years of running these 100 marathons, T.O. has improved his marathon time by more than 30%, trimming nearly two hours off his time! On his journey to 100 marathons, T.O. joined several running groups which helped support his quest to log the marathon miles. He is a member of Marathon Maniacs™, where qualifiers must complete a minimum number of marathons within a specified
T.O. runs through a celebratory tunnel by his RAW friends.
This post-race celebration was a great way for the RAW community to give back to one of its own who has given so much to
the club. I think it is because T.O. has done so much for RAW and has been an encouraging friend to so many members that many club members, even those who weren’t running Cowtown, were excited to share in T.O.’s accomplishment. Always a humble man, T.O. commented about the postrace celebration T.O. waves to saying, “It was a his fans at his 100th very magical and marathon. exhilarating day and I’m glad so many in our wonderful running club were able to share in the thrill and excitement of the occasion.” RAW member Christine Bassano had this to say about our Marathon Century Man, “T.O. is always so kind to recognize others in their athletic triumphs…no matter how small they may be in the scheme of things. T.O. makes us all feel successful no matter what the end result.” So what’s the next challenge for our Marathon Maniac T.O.? This summer he plans to head back to Colorado for the Pike’s Peak Marathon and to Wyoming for the Big Horn Mountain 50K Trail Run. He’d like to pick up a couple of more “Doublers” en route to completing his 50 States quest. A “Doubler” is running a marathon in two different states on consecutive weekend days. T.O. likes the challenge of the “Doubler” and the fact that it’s a great way to save money on travel expenses. Oh yeah, there’s the other goal of running a marathon on all seven continents. I have no doubt T.O. will achieve all his running goals – one step at a time.