A direct hit on a heretic in the long-distance world! Hibiki Yoshida, “The man with power tape all over his body,” “I will be the first Japanese to run the marathon in 2 hours and 3 minutes!

Outstanding race and character

The response was amazing,” he said. I even received a call from a friend in Indonesia saying, ‘I was featured in an article. I think they nicknamed me ‘Dot Kids’ (polka-dot boy) overseas.

At the Osaka Marathon in February this year, Hibiki Yoshida (23, San Velux) stood at the start line in a bizarre outfit with black power tape round his body from his ankles to his face, and from 8 km before the start, he left his pacemaker behind and ran solo (see photo above). He continued at a high pace until the halfway point, far surpassing the Japanese record (2 hours, 4 minutes, and 55 seconds), and became the star of the race.

Yoshida is not just a runner who is the talk of the town. In the 25th Hakone Ekiden, he ran the second section as the ace of Soka University and set a new Japanese record of 1 hour, 5 minutes, 43 seconds. He also set a new sectional record in the New Year Ekiden (All-Japan Businessmen’s Ekiden) on New Year’s Day this year, running 22 ahead of the field.

In her first marathon in Osaka, Yoshida was aiming for a “goal within 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 59 seconds” (MGC Fast Pass), the shortest time to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2008.

Initially, he was planning to set up around 25km while conserving his strength behind a pacemaker. Yoshida revealed this.

However, I felt that the pacemaker was moving too slowly. I felt that forcing the pacemaker to brake would have drained my energy. So, rather than jumping out with the record in mind, I felt like it came naturally to me. I was very calm.

As a result, Yoshida lost a lot of steam in the last 5km, finishing 34th in 2 hours, 9 minutes, and 35 seconds, but her daring style of “running off the limiter” showed her potential.

Yoshida said, “I was on pace to set a Japanese record up to 35km, so now I just have to see how I can push through the remaining 7km. Looking at the Tokyo Marathon the other day, foreign athletes were running in the 2 hours and 3 minutes range, which is normal. We need to evolve as well.

It is understandable that the theory is to hold back until around the 30km mark and then win the second half of the race. However, if I can jump out and run at the top of the race until the end, as I did in Osaka, I think I can get closer to the world. I have a strong desire to be the first in Japan to do so.

Yoshida’s “out of the norm” is not limited to his race development. When asked about her “full-body power tape,” which was the talk of the town in Osaka, she laughed and said, “When I look back at the pictures, I’m a little scared myself.

I worked too hard at the training camp before the race, and there was still tension around my upper body and face. I put it on to relieve that. I think the Phiten tape, which I have used since my school days, was effective. However, Masaya Tsurukawa (23), a former Aoyama Gakuin student who now runs for the GMO Internet Group, and Aioi Ota (23) also asked me, “Why did you put so much tape on your face? They asked me, ‘Why did you put it on like that?

A heretic who continues to evolve

Although he will refrain from wearing full-body power tape from now on, Yoshida’s ideas and steps do not fit into conventional frameworks, such as transferring from Tokai University to Soka University, turning pro immediately after graduation, and taking on the dual challenge of running a marathon and trail running.

Yoshida says, “Industrial athletes would never run on trails (unpaved roads with many ups and downs) because of the risk of injury. But I usually train with Coach Daichi Takigawa while flexibly changing training locations.

At the time of the interview, the training location was Yamashita Park in Yokohama, which was crowded with many tourists on holidays. It was impressive to see Yoshida enjoying “running itself” (second photo).

She says she is sometimes approached by runners during practice, and she is glad that they care about her.

I don’t get nervous at all during races, but at the fan meeting my heart nearly jumped out of my chest (laughs). But there is a part of me that is motivated by interacting with fans. I was dizzy at the end of the Osaka Marathon, but I was able to run to the end of the race because of the encouragement of the fans who said, “Hibiki, hang in there! I was able to run to the end.

His first year as a professional was a time for building a foundation for the future. He has already set his sights on the future. His goal is to break 2 hours 3 minutes and win a medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2008.

The L.A. Olympics are only about two years away. I will not make it in time unless I grow at a tremendous pace with a considerable amount of passion and determination. In this year’s Hakone Ekiden, Kuroda (Asahi, 22) of Aoyama Gakuin ran an amazing race in the 5th section, breaking the section record by 1 minute 55 seconds.

He will be joining a business team (GMO Internet Group) this spring, and I think that the younger generation will be coming up more and more, so I want to evolve so that I don’t lose out. My theme has always been to run in a way that exceeds the expectations of the audience, and I will continue to do so in the future as well.

Will the heretic of the Japanese long-distance world be able to transcend both common sense and the barriers of the world?

From the April 17/24, 2026 issue of FRIDAY