A commemorative stone in the shape of the foot of marathon runner Yuki Kawauchi will be dedicated to a shrine in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, and on the 9th, Kawauchi visited the shrine and took the mold.
Minbu Inari Shrine, located in the precincts of Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine in the center of Kawagoe City, is said to be beneficial for the health of the legs and waist, and marathon athletes and others come to worship.
This time, a commemorative stone in the shape of the foot of Yuki Kawauchi, a former civil servant runner who worked for the Saitama Prefectural Government and later became a professional, will be dedicated, and Kawauchi visited the shrine on the 9th.
After visiting the shrine, Kawauchi sat in a chair, put his feet in the clay-like material, waited for it to harden for about 10 minutes, and poured plaster into it to make a mold.
In addition, a stone engraved with the motto of the right person will also be dedicated, so Kawauchi showed it by writing "Break the status quo" on colored paper.
Kawauchi said, "I took the shape of my feet with the hope that people who are interested in marathons would see it and that future children would take on the challenge of running marathons."
Yoshimitsu Sakakibara of Kawagoe Hachimangu Shrine said, "This shrine is visited by many citizen runners, so I would like everyone involved in the marathon to see it."
The stone in the shape of Kawauchi's foot is scheduled to be unveiled in mid-July, and visitors can put their feet together.