Boston Marathon : Nakayama Hopes That He Can Keep His Distance

Takeyuki Nakayama of Japan is the strong, silent type. The marathon runner prefers to let his dentist do the talking.

Nakayama, who was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1987, met reporters to discuss his chances in Monday’s 93rd Boston Marathon.

Sort of. Nakayama, 29, actually said little that did not first filter through Minoru Horiuchi, Nakayama’s interpreter and a dentist from Lexington, Mass. While Nakayama, running’s bad boy, was studiously ignoring the Japanese media, Horiuchi was busy inventing answers Nakayama might have given had the dentist actually asked the questions.

Nakayama is one of the favorites in the men’s field, with a personal best of 2 hours 8 minutes 15 seconds. He was fourth in the Seoul Olympics, his only marathon of 1988. After the Olympic race, Nakayama made it known that he could have placed as high as second but said it wasn’t worth the effort.

“There is no difference between second place and last place,” Nakayama said. “I am concerned only with first.

It was shocking behavior to the Japanese, who reacted strongly. “That is showing poor spirit,” said Hanji Aoki, chairman of the Japanese Amateur Athletic Federation. “An athlete must always try his best even if he does not win.”

Nakayama is quickly gaining a reputation for criticizing opponents--he has been feuding with Japan’s hero, marathoner Toshihiko Seko.

And the few remarks he did let fly this week may not go far to enhance his image.

“Winning is all,” he said. “Maybe I can beat these people in Boston, but I can’t tell if I can beat them next week. If I don’t win this race, it’s nothing. I run to win for myself. Winning for myself is most important.”

He’s beginning to sound more American all the time.

Marathon Notes

There are some big names in Monday’s race, but some of the sport’s biggest names will be laboring in a different arena--in front of cameras. Three Boston television stations will televise the marathon live, along with SportsChannel, a national cable system. Channel 4 has Frank Shorter, Grete Waitz and Kathy Switzer. Channel 5 has runners Marty Liquori and Nancy Ditz and Channel 7 has Gayle Barron, who ran at Boston 11 years ago. SportsChannel has Bill Rodgers, Craig Virgin and that impeccable running expert . . . Bud Collins. . . . Add TV: Three helicopters are standing by to cover the race. But if bad weather grounds the helicopters, as happened in 1987, viewers will see only glimpses of the race. Commentators will have to carry on, picture or no picture. “It was like doing radio,” said one veteran of the 1987 broadcast.