The year was 1912, Shizo Kanakuri was running for Japan’s very first Olympic team at the Stockholm games. During the race, Shizo dropped out from heat exhaustion and spent the next hour in a nearby garden enjoying refreshments and visiting wih the owners. Embarrassed, he never completed the race and disappeared back to Japan. In 1966, Swedish television tracked him down in Japan and invited him to return and complete his marathon. Shizo graciously accepted, and 54 years after his first Olympics, he went to the garden where he had previously quit the race and finally finished the marathon.

In the years between starting and completing the race Shizo Kanakuri had managed to get married, sire six children and 10 grandchildren. He died in 1984, the proud holder of a record unlikely ever to be broken.