若岡拓也インタビュー「楽しさも、苦しさも、走り続けることで見えるもの」 TAKUYA WAKAOKA Interview“The enjoyment and pain of running”

Takuya Wakaoka worked as a newspaper reporter for about seven years in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, where he was born and raised. Changing jobs, he became a “long-distance runner,” who runs unnoticed in jungles and deserts. “I lived in Kanazawa from birth until high school, and then entered a university in Tokyo. I drifted for a year after graduating. I had once had a part-time job at a newspaper company, and thought it was a business I knew about.” After graduating, he had no intention of returning to his home town at the time, yet also no dream job. If anything, he wanted a job where he could use his interest in photography. With that, he chose the path of a newspaper reporter. He would go back and forth from his workplace to regional branches and spend everyday rushing about for news coverage. His thoughts began to change when he faced the age of 30, his seventh year working as a journalist. “When I was turning 30, I realized I would not progress if I kept doing the same thing. I would listen and report on stories for coverage, but I felt that there was not much left within myself.” Reflecting upon him-self, his impatience and worries only grew. Without having a plan for what to do after, he suddenly decided to quit. Released from his tempestuous work life, he finally had time to face himself, and there he suddenly remembered someone he had reported on in the past.

“I was reminded that I had reported on a runner who had ran through the desert and Arctic region. I wanted to try it for myself.” Three months after deciding to do this, he participated in a jungle marathon and ran for 250km in a Brazilian jungle, and finished the entire race. Although he had zero experience in track and field events in the past, or even running in general, he says, “I wanted to achieve a major challenge.” His dedication be-came the driving force of his running. It is not possible to tackle a week-long race spanning 250km in the Amazonian jungle half-hearted. Only 50 people gathered as participants from around the world. The fact that the completion rate for the race reaches only 60%, is testament to its rigorousness. There are also no “manuals” for jungle running on the market anywhere in the world. Under these circumstances, Takuya prepared himself relying on the scant amount of information available on the internet, and dedicated him-self to training in the limited amount of time he had.

Rather than time spent running against others, races are essentially a length of time you spend challenging yourself. Where can you go on your own two feet? It is interesting to satisfy his curiosity and desire. “Even if it’s difficult, I find it enjoyable that as long as I am going forward, I am heading towards the finish line. If I am doing the same thing, I might as well enjoy it with all my heart. That is how I feel.” Takuya, who speaks in a carefree way, is completely different once he enters the mountains to run. His expression changes in a lively way, and his feet advance step by step, naturally joining to lead him, even on the most difficult mountain paths.

“These races run through the most extreme locations, so each time I participate I go through a variety of preparations, at the same time I think how good it is that my everyday life is different to that of before. It’s comfortable just having a roof over my head.”

Takuya, who has plans to participate in various races going forward, says the major goal he wants to achieve someday is crossing a continent. He believes in the possibilities of his own feet, and continuously challenging himself is his life.

TAKUYA WAKAOKA
Born in 1984, in Kanazawa City. Former newspaper reporter. After retiring from journalism in 2014, Takuya Wakaoka entered a week-long “jungle marathon,” spanning 250km in the Amazon in Brazil. Carrying a 10kg pack of provisions and clothes on his back, he ran through the jungle and completed the race. After returning to Japan, he moved to Kouge Town, located in the easternmost part of Fukuoka Prefecture. In July 2015, he began working as a volunteer for regional migration. His second job is as a writer, and he runs while winning races in Japan and abroad and competing. In August 2017, he began to live in a mountain hut.