Last Sunday, approximately 36,000 runners took to the streets of the capital for the Tokyo Marathon. As Kenyan Dickson Chumba was beating his personal best, crossing the finish line first in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 42 seconds, Venezuelan Maickel Melamed had just passed the 5 km mark — in last place.
Cutting starkly different figures and moving at very different speeds, both were testing their body's potential to their absolute limit. And both, according to their own definitions of the term, were winning.
Melamed, 38, arrived in Tokyo five days before the marathon. He wasn't here just to run, but also to deliver a motivational lecture titled "Your Inspiration Inspires" to the employees of Japanese human-resources company Pasona. His presentation of his own life-affirming philosophy was very well-received, especially by those involved in the company's program for workers with physical disabilities.