Shizo Kanakuri took 54 years to finish an Olympic Marathon

July 31, 2024 692 1

Born in Japan in 1891, Shizo Kanakuri was a promising athlete, known for his remarkable speed and endurance.

It all earned him a spot to represent Japan in the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. But, what happened on the day of the marathon would become the stuff of legend.

Despite his impressive record and rigorous training regimen, he faced so many challenges, from his travelling, to being sick from food and more.

After the race started in major heat, Shizo found himself battling not just the elements, but also the limitations of his footwear and the unfamiliar terrain.

Halfway into the marathon, battling with exhaustion and heatstroke, he went off course for some rest. He ended up coming across a house that was in the middle of a garden party. The host were the nicest people, offering him food and drinks, and after talking with the family for about an hour, he ended up falling asleep. Embarrassed by his failure, he silently returned to Japan without notifying any of the race officials.

He ended up being considered a missing person in Sweden as no one knew where he went.

Back in Japan, he continued to compete in marathons and qualified for the 1916 Olympics in Berlin, which was eventually canceled due to the outbreak of World War I.

At the 1920 Games in Antwerp, he completed his first ever Olympic marathon, finishing in 16th place. He qualified again four years later for the event in Paris but failed to complete it. This time, though, he informed officials he was returning to Japan.

Shizo’s Olympic appearances and his role in establishing the famous Hakone Ekiden relay marathon — which is still going strong today — meant he was arguably Japan’s most well-known athlete in the first few decades of the 20th century.

In Sweden, however, he was still considered a missing person. In the late 1960s, a Swedish reporter discovered that he was working as a geography teacher in Tamana city, Kumamoto Prefecture.

Shizo was then invited by a television station in Stockholm to return to the city and complete the marathon. He jumped at the chance.

So officially, on March 20, 1967, a 75-year-old Shizo Kanakuri finally finished the race, logging in a time of 54 years 8 months 6 days 5 hours 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds, earning himself the Guiness World Record for Longest Time To Finish A Marathon.