Marathon runner Yuki Kawauchi received a certificate from Guinness World Records in his hometown on Sunday recognizing him for completing the highest number of marathons in under 2 hours, 20 minutes.
"I'm very happy but this is still a passing point," said Kawauchi, known as the "public servant runner," who has achieved 78 sub-2:20 marathons. "I'm now aiming to reach 100 (sub-2:20s) to be called the hard-bitten Kawauchi."
Kawauchi, 31, works full time as a civil servant in Saitama Prefecture. He first achieved a sub-2:20 time in his first marathon in February 2009 when he ran the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon.
While most marathon runners usually compete in two to three races a year, Kawauchi has entered around 10 races annually, believing that "running races is quality training."
On New Year's Day this year, he marked his 76th sub-2:20 at a marathon in the United States, the highest number in history, and has achieved two more since.
His personal best is 2:08:14 clocked in the Seoul international marathon in 2013.
