Thank you to Hilary Evans and reader Joe West for pointing out this story.
2013 Kazan Universiade (World University Games) women's 5000 m gold medalist Roxana Bârcă of Romania has received a ban for testing positive at the Universiade in connection with her win on July 11.
http://www.antena3.ro/en/sport/romanian-athlete-roxana-barca-gold-medalist-in-kazan-tested-positive-for-doping-223161.html
With Bârcă's medal retracted silver medalist Olga Golovkina of Universiade host Russia is apparently elevated to gold, with Japan's bronze medalist Ayuko Suzuki (Nagoya Univ.) and 4th-placer Mai Shoji (Chukyo Univ.) moving up to silver and bronze respectively. However, Golovkina herself has received a two-year ban for testing positive for steroids in an out-of-competition test five days after the Universiade women's 5000 m.
http://en.ria.ru/sports/20131005/183957328.html
As Golovkina's positive test was subsequent to her Universiade run it appears that she will still receive the gold medal despite currently serving a drug ban rather than the medals going to Suzuki, Shoji and 5th-place Dudu Karakaya of Turkey. What a mess.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Africans Among Us: Meet Aspiring Olympian Leul Gebresilasie of Ethiopia
http://mainichi.jp/area/saitama/news/20131203ddlk11040228000c.html
translated by Brett Larner
video courtesy of Ekiden News
With Kawagoe's Tokyo Kokusai University set to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016 its ekiden team, founded in just 2011, hopes to qualify for the Hakone Ekiden for the first time that year. The driving force behind the team's rapid development is Ethiopian Leul Gebresilasie, 20. Since arriving at the school's Sakado Campus in April last year, each morning he has arisen early in the team dormitory to head out for morning training.
Morning practice kicks off each day at 5:30 a.m. Gebresilasie does light warmups together with the other 45 members of the ekiden team before leaving to run 10-15 km at a varying pace. In his specialty distane, the 5000 m he had a best of 14:06 before coming to Japan, but not long after arriving he showed that he possesses extraordinary talent when he improved this to 13:31.52. His coach Shuji Oshida, 51, has high expectations, saying, "His true growth is only just getting started. He has beautiful form and excellent balance."
At the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifier in October Tokyo Kokusai University placed 17th, outside the bracket of thirteen qualifying places for Hakone, but in individual performance Gebresilasie placed 3rd just behind two Kenyans from other universities. Coach Oshida commented, "He is adapting well to the training environment and is strongly motivated to do his best for the sake of his teammates."
At 171 cm tall, Gebresilasie weighs 56 kg. His home is in an agricultural area 300 m from the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa. His father has passed away, leaving his mother Golphe Haile, 60, to take care of both the family farm and raising Gebresilasie, his four brothers and two sisters by herself. At the age of 16 he began training as a member of the Ethiopian national team, doing the serious training necessary to become a world-class long-distance runner for the first time. Two years later came his chance to come to Japan. "My mother told me the chance to go to Japan was a great opportunity and that I should make the most of it," he says. Once a week he and his "darling mother" talk on the phone. "For the sake of my family as well," he says with determination, "I want to accomplish big things here in Japan."
After practice Gebresilasie took us on a tour of his room in the team dormitory. The room he shares with another team member is roughly 12 square meters. His bed and desk are lined up neatly next to each other, will his only possessions being a computer and clothes that fit into two bags. On the small table next to Gebresilasie's bed is a Bible written in Ethiopia's official language Amharic. A gift from his late father, it is the belonging he holds most dear. As a devout follower of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church he never fails to pray regularly many time each day.
After graduation Gebresilasie hopes to find a position with a Japanese corporate team and pursue a career as a jitsugyodan runner. He does not hesitate to put his ultimate dream into words: "To run in the Olympics."
translated by Brett Larner
video courtesy of Ekiden News
With Kawagoe's Tokyo Kokusai University set to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2016 its ekiden team, founded in just 2011, hopes to qualify for the Hakone Ekiden for the first time that year. The driving force behind the team's rapid development is Ethiopian Leul Gebresilasie, 20. Since arriving at the school's Sakado Campus in April last year, each morning he has arisen early in the team dormitory to head out for morning training.
Morning practice kicks off each day at 5:30 a.m. Gebresilasie does light warmups together with the other 45 members of the ekiden team before leaving to run 10-15 km at a varying pace. In his specialty distane, the 5000 m he had a best of 14:06 before coming to Japan, but not long after arriving he showed that he possesses extraordinary talent when he improved this to 13:31.52. His coach Shuji Oshida, 51, has high expectations, saying, "His true growth is only just getting started. He has beautiful form and excellent balance."
At the Hakone Ekiden Yosenkai qualifier in October Tokyo Kokusai University placed 17th, outside the bracket of thirteen qualifying places for Hakone, but in individual performance Gebresilasie placed 3rd just behind two Kenyans from other universities. Coach Oshida commented, "He is adapting well to the training environment and is strongly motivated to do his best for the sake of his teammates."
At 171 cm tall, Gebresilasie weighs 56 kg. His home is in an agricultural area 300 m from the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa. His father has passed away, leaving his mother Golphe Haile, 60, to take care of both the family farm and raising Gebresilasie, his four brothers and two sisters by herself. At the age of 16 he began training as a member of the Ethiopian national team, doing the serious training necessary to become a world-class long-distance runner for the first time. Two years later came his chance to come to Japan. "My mother told me the chance to go to Japan was a great opportunity and that I should make the most of it," he says. Once a week he and his "darling mother" talk on the phone. "For the sake of my family as well," he says with determination, "I want to accomplish big things here in Japan."
After practice Gebresilasie took us on a tour of his room in the team dormitory. The room he shares with another team member is roughly 12 square meters. His bed and desk are lined up neatly next to each other, will his only possessions being a computer and clothes that fit into two bags. On the small table next to Gebresilasie's bed is a Bible written in Ethiopia's official language Amharic. A gift from his late father, it is the belonging he holds most dear. As a devout follower of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church he never fails to pray regularly many time each day.
After graduation Gebresilasie hopes to find a position with a Japanese corporate team and pursue a career as a jitsugyodan runner. He does not hesitate to put his ultimate dream into words: "To run in the Olympics."
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Kitonyi, Nishihara, Takezawa and Yashin Win Pre-National Championship Weekend Action
by Brett Larner
videos courtesy of Ekiden News
The Fukuoka International Marathon was not the only major event in Japan this weekend. Across the country a string of high-level track and road races took place as high school, university and corporate league runners prepare for national championship ekiden season over the next two months. The majority of the track action came on Saturday with the Hachioji Long-Distance Time Trials meet in Tokyo, the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, and the Time Trial in Nagasaki meet further south.
10000 m was the main focus in Hachioji, the last chance for athletes in Japan to get under 28 minutes for the year. Ethiopian Agato Yashin Hassan (Team Chuo Hatsujo) led six men into 27-minute territory, clocking 27:46.35 for the win over Kenyans Jacob Wanjuki (Team Aichi Steel) and Patrick Muendo Muwaka (Team Aisan Kogyo). 23-year-old Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei) ran 27:53.34 for 4th in his first time breaking 28 since running a then-national collegiate record of 27:44.30 in 2011. Sendai Ikuei H.S. graduate Paul Kuira (Team Konica Minolta) and 22-year-old Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) also cleared 28 minutes. National champion Komazawa University captain Shinobu Kubota came up agonizingly short of breaking his PB of 28:07.01, finishing 10th in 28:07.54.
At Nittai, Nihon University's Daniel Muiva Kitonyi just missed joining the 27-minute club as he won the men's 10000 m A-heat in a large PB of 28:02.79. Three runners from outside the stable of Hakone Ekiden-bound schools, Shuhei Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.), Taiki Yoshimura (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) and Keisuke Furukawa (Kanto Gakuin Univ.), also ran under 29 minutes, another sign of the ongoing swell in performances sweeping Japanese university men's athletics.
In the women's races at Nittai, Kasumi Nishihara and Yuika Mori of the Yamada Denki corporate team had a 1-2 finish in the 5000 m in 15:26.61 and 15:26.80 over Kenyan Rosemary Wanjiru (Aomori Yamada H.S.), 3rd in 15:30.41. Along with teammate Shiho Takechi's 15:29.85 from earlier in the year Yamada Denki runners now occupy the third through fifth-fastest times of the year by Japanese women, an indication that head coach Kenichi Morikawa, who led Bukkyo University to the National University Women's Ekiden Championships title before moving to Yamada Denki last year, is beginning to have some success at the corporate level. The women's 3000 m played out almost the same way as the 5000 m, with teammates Hanami Sekine and Yuka Hori of 2011 national champion Toyokawa H.S. battling with Kenyan pro Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) up front. Sekine took the win in 9:06.97, with Obare just holding off Hori for 2nd in 9:10.65.
Times at the Nagasaki meet were more modest in comparison but still noteworthy as Toyokawa's rival Kojokan H.S. had four girls from its team for this month's National High School Ekiden Championships run under 16 minutes to take the top four places in the women's 5000 m A-heat. Seniors Tomoyo Adachi and Maiko Okuno were fastest in 15:43.72 and 15:45.66, with sophomores Hana Omori and Sayaka Takarada just clearing 16. In the men's 10000 m, Ethiopian Melaku Aberu paced teammate Hayato Sonoda (Team Kurosaki Harima) under 29 minutes, Melaku getting the win in 28:58.00 with Sonoda 0.21 seconds behind.
Sunday's big non-Fukuoka road action came at the world's #1-ranked 10-miler, the Kumamoto Kosa Road Race. Now 27, collegiate 5000 m national record holder Kensuke Takezawa continued his comeback since moving to the new Sumitomo Denko team, winning in 46:43 in a virtual photo-finish with Yuki Oshikawa (Team Toyota Kyushu) to become Kosa's first Japanese winner since 1999. Young marathoner Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda), 7th at this year's Chicago Marathon in a PB of 2:10:29, was close behind in 3rd in 46:48. His counterpart from the New York City Marathon, Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) was only 12th in 47:23 after finishing 6th in New York in 2:10:45.
(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
videos courtesy of Ekiden News
The Fukuoka International Marathon was not the only major event in Japan this weekend. Across the country a string of high-level track and road races took place as high school, university and corporate league runners prepare for national championship ekiden season over the next two months. The majority of the track action came on Saturday with the Hachioji Long-Distance Time Trials meet in Tokyo, the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, and the Time Trial in Nagasaki meet further south.
10000 m was the main focus in Hachioji, the last chance for athletes in Japan to get under 28 minutes for the year. Ethiopian Agato Yashin Hassan (Team Chuo Hatsujo) led six men into 27-minute territory, clocking 27:46.35 for the win over Kenyans Jacob Wanjuki (Team Aichi Steel) and Patrick Muendo Muwaka (Team Aisan Kogyo). 23-year-old Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei) ran 27:53.34 for 4th in his first time breaking 28 since running a then-national collegiate record of 27:44.30 in 2011. Sendai Ikuei H.S. graduate Paul Kuira (Team Konica Minolta) and 22-year-old Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota) also cleared 28 minutes. National champion Komazawa University captain Shinobu Kubota came up agonizingly short of breaking his PB of 28:07.01, finishing 10th in 28:07.54.
At Nittai, Nihon University's Daniel Muiva Kitonyi just missed joining the 27-minute club as he won the men's 10000 m A-heat in a large PB of 28:02.79. Three runners from outside the stable of Hakone Ekiden-bound schools, Shuhei Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.), Taiki Yoshimura (Ryutsu Keizai Univ.) and Keisuke Furukawa (Kanto Gakuin Univ.), also ran under 29 minutes, another sign of the ongoing swell in performances sweeping Japanese university men's athletics.
In the women's races at Nittai, Kasumi Nishihara and Yuika Mori of the Yamada Denki corporate team had a 1-2 finish in the 5000 m in 15:26.61 and 15:26.80 over Kenyan Rosemary Wanjiru (Aomori Yamada H.S.), 3rd in 15:30.41. Along with teammate Shiho Takechi's 15:29.85 from earlier in the year Yamada Denki runners now occupy the third through fifth-fastest times of the year by Japanese women, an indication that head coach Kenichi Morikawa, who led Bukkyo University to the National University Women's Ekiden Championships title before moving to Yamada Denki last year, is beginning to have some success at the corporate level. The women's 3000 m played out almost the same way as the 5000 m, with teammates Hanami Sekine and Yuka Hori of 2011 national champion Toyokawa H.S. battling with Kenyan pro Doricah Obare (Team Hitachi) up front. Sekine took the win in 9:06.97, with Obare just holding off Hori for 2nd in 9:10.65.
Times at the Nagasaki meet were more modest in comparison but still noteworthy as Toyokawa's rival Kojokan H.S. had four girls from its team for this month's National High School Ekiden Championships run under 16 minutes to take the top four places in the women's 5000 m A-heat. Seniors Tomoyo Adachi and Maiko Okuno were fastest in 15:43.72 and 15:45.66, with sophomores Hana Omori and Sayaka Takarada just clearing 16. In the men's 10000 m, Ethiopian Melaku Aberu paced teammate Hayato Sonoda (Team Kurosaki Harima) under 29 minutes, Melaku getting the win in 28:58.00 with Sonoda 0.21 seconds behind.
Sunday's big non-Fukuoka road action came at the world's #1-ranked 10-miler, the Kumamoto Kosa Road Race. Now 27, collegiate 5000 m national record holder Kensuke Takezawa continued his comeback since moving to the new Sumitomo Denko team, winning in 46:43 in a virtual photo-finish with Yuki Oshikawa (Team Toyota Kyushu) to become Kosa's first Japanese winner since 1999. Young marathoner Hiroaki Sano (Team Honda), 7th at this year's Chicago Marathon in a PB of 2:10:29, was close behind in 3rd in 46:48. His counterpart from the New York City Marathon, Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) was only 12th in 47:23 after finishing 6th in New York in 2:10:45.
(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Mathathi Makes Transition to Marathon in Fukuoka, Kawauchi 3rd in Third Sub-2:10 of 2013
by Brett Larner
photos courtesy Dr. Helmut Winter
click here for more photos and splits via broadcaster KBC
After giving up late in the game last year, 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) got it right Dec. 1 at the 67th Fukuoka International Marathon, going to the front at the turnaround near 31.5 km and never looking back as he took the win in 2:07:16. Defending champion Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) tried to go with him but faded in the final 5 km to finish 2nd in 2:09:00. After a stunning mid-race move in his tenth marathon so far this year, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) became the first Japanese man ever to break 2:10 three times in the same year and the sixth to break 2:10 five times in his career as he took 3rd, bearing down on Gitau in the last km but coming up just short of catching him in 2:09:05.
Aussie pacers Collis Birmingham and Ben St. Lawrence took things out on target with a large pack just off 3:01/km pace. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) was the first major casualty, off the back of the lead group before 5 km. Debuting former Nihon University ace Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza) was next, out of contention by 10 km and followed in short order by frontrunning independent Sho Matsumoto (Nikkei Business).
The first major break in the race came at a short up-down overpass just before 16 km. Heading up the steep slope the pack fractured, with Mathathi, Gitau, top-ranked Japanese man Arata Fujiwara (Miki House), Reid Coolsaet (Canada), Ayad Lamdassem (Spain) and Koji Gokaya (Team JR Higashi Nihon) hanging back as the others in the front group pushed on ahead. Fujiwara, looking uncomfortable in his first marathon since Fukuoka last year, began to slip back, then slowed to a walk, then dropped out just past 20 km. "Something wasn't right," he told JRN post-race. "It wasn't that it felt hard, my running just felt soft and disconnected, not right. It was the worst marathon I ever ran."
As Mathathi and Gitau regained contact with the leader group, Birmingham and St. Lawrence prepared to step off at halfway, hitting the line in 1:03:48. The second they did, Kawauchi shot to the lead with a surge that opened a 10-second gap on the lead group by 22 km, a stunning move that came almost exactly at the point where he lost touch with the lead group last month at the New York City Marathon. Polish national record holder Henryk Szost, 3rd last year in Fukuoka, was the only one to go after him, gaining contact at 23 km. The pair traded surges as the pack treaded water, Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) unable to hang on once the gradual push to catch up came.
Popular former Hakone Ekiden star Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) led that push after 25 km, bringing the chase pack of Mathathi, Gitau, 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) and Chiharu Takada (Team JR Higashi Nihon) in contact by 28.5 km. Despite a pre-race promise to keep his head until 35 km, Mogusu shot past Kawauchi and Szost to open a lead, Szost again attempting to go with him. The entire pack passed Kawauchi, but he quickly responded and tucked back in to the middle of the group, face locked tight in a grimace as the others looked relaxed, Mathathi most of all.
Rounding the turnaround between 31 and 32 km Mathathi went to the front for the first time. The pack quickly strung out single-file, Szost yet again in the wingman position with Gitau at the rear and Kawauchi just ahead. A sloppy water station pickup left Gitau 5 m behind, but the second he regained contact Kawauchi shot up the outside to move back toward the front of the group. Gitau followed, leaving Matsumiya drifting away behind and five in pursuit of Mathathi.
With Mathathi splitting 2:57 from 33 km to 34 km, Gitau realized the precariousness of his position and moved up next to him. Not eager for a replay of last year, Mathathi accelerated again to burn him off, dropping the rest of the group for the first time and opening 10 seconds by 35 km. At 35 km he went into still another gear, saying goodbye to Gitau for good. Kawauchi, Szost and Takada trailed Mogusu, but at the 36 km water station Szost made his own move and away. Kawauchi was right on him, hammering past at 37 km and inching away free into 3rd.
Mathathi was superb after 35 km, splitting a solo 14:39 from 35 to 40 and 6:24 from 40 to the end, the second-fastest closing split in Fukuoka history and just 7 seconds off Tsegaye Kebede's split from his course record run, for a 26-second negative split and the win in 2:07:16. After looking like he was jogging for the first 31.5 km he clearly has plenty in the bank for more. Add him to the list of people to watch out for in the spring.
Gitau, who ran poorly in fall ekiden season, slowed in the final stage. Looking back on the final corner to see Kawauchi bearing down on him e almost jumped in surprise. Rallying for a push on the track. he held on to 2nd, just missing a sub-2:09 clocking in 2:09:00. Staggering after finishing, he had obviously given the best he had on this day.
Kawauchi paid for his move halfway through the race with his slowest 5 km split of the race, 15:53, before dropping his characteristic closing speed to run 6:50 from 40 km to the finish, the second-fastest in the field behind only Mathathi. "I shouldn't have taken off like that," he told the media post-race. "I was shooting for time so I wanted to shave the pack down to five or six people, but I ended up spending everything there." Post-race he told JRN, "That was a truly painful race. I have to try harder in the future."
Nevertheless, with ten marathons in him so far this year Fukuoka earned him a place in the Japanese history books and, maybe, a place on the Japanese team for next year's Asian Games. Kawauchi had publicly said before the race that if he failed to make the Asian Games team in Fukuoka he would remove himself from consideration from all future World Championships and Olympic teams after running poorly at two straight World Championships and one World Half. Having come up far short of his 2:07:30 goal and visibly crushed post-race, it would not be a surprise to see him stick to his guns and turn down a place on the team despite running one of the gutsiest races of his career and again bettering the best the corporate leagues can offer. For their part, Federation officials were unambiguous about their opinions of his performance. Executive director Mitsugi Ogata said, "I was deeply moved. Kawauchi showed absolute spiritual and physical strength. He was superb. He may become Japan's greatest marathoner." Director of men's marathoning Takeshi Soh commented, "He has shown consummate professionalism as a marathoner." Either way, look for him to take a shot at tying national record holder Toshinari Takaoka's career record of six sub-2:10 marathons two weeks from today in Hofu.
Szost held on to 4th, sub-2:10 for the third time in Japan in 2:09:37 with Takada just over a minute back in a sizeable PB of 2:10:39 for 5th. One of the surprises in the race came next as Canada's Coolsaet kept calm after losing touch with pack at the 16 km uphill, running steadily alone and picking off faders one at a time. Passing Mogusu with a kilometer to go he took 6th in 2:11:24, the third-best time of his career. "I'm happy with 6th," he wrote post-race on his blog. "I have no regrets [about] going with the lead pack even if it wasn't the best move in hindsight." Mogusu's move between 25 and 30 km cost him dearly as he shuffled in 39 seconds back from Coolsaet in 7th.
Cragg made it to the finish line for the first time, 26th in 2:23:05 just ahead of Kawauchi's youngest brother Koki Kawauchi (Takasaki Keizai Univ.) who clocked a PB 2:24:13. Back among the masses, half marathon national record holder and all-time #4 Japanese marathoner Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) finished the final marathon of his career in 2:33:00. Having set his best of 2:07:13 six years ago in Fukuoka against a debuting Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu), Sato's run marked the end of one era of Japanese marathoning.
67th Fukuoka International Marathon
Fukuoka, 12/1/13
click here for complete results
1. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:07:16 - PB
2. Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 2:09:00
3. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:09:05
4. Henryk Szost (Poland) - 2:09:37
5. Chiharu Takada (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:10:39 - PB
6. Reid Coolsaet (Canada) - 2:11:24
7. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:12:03
8. Ayad Lamdassem (Spain) - 2:12:31
9. Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:13:12
10. Bobby Curtis (U.S.A.) - 2:13:24 - PB
11. Ben Moreau (Great Britain) - 2:15:52 - PB
12. Hironori Arai (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:16:04
13. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:16:16
14. Carlos Trujillo (U.S.A.) - 2:17:48
15. Sho Matsumoto (Nikkei Business) - 2:18:13
16. Takaki Mori (Montblanc) - 2:18:17 - PB
17. Brendan Martin (U.S.A.) - 2:18:28 - PB
18. Takaya Sakamoto (Tokushima T&F Assoc.) - 2:19:34 - PB
19. Yasuyuki Yamamoto (Team JFE Steel) - 2:20:51
20. Koji Hayasaki (Ishinomaki RC) - 2:21:45
-----
22. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 2:21:47
26. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 2:23:05 - PB
32. Koki Kawauchi (Takasaki Keizai Univ.) - 2:24:13 - PB
142. Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:33:00
-----
DNF - Arata Fujiwara (Miki House)
DNF - Mark Kenneally (Ireland)
DNF - Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza)
(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
photos (c) 2013 Dr. Helmut Winter
all rights reserved
photos courtesy Dr. Helmut Winter
click here for more photos and splits via broadcaster KBC
After giving up late in the game last year, 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) got it right Dec. 1 at the 67th Fukuoka International Marathon, going to the front at the turnaround near 31.5 km and never looking back as he took the win in 2:07:16. Defending champion Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) tried to go with him but faded in the final 5 km to finish 2nd in 2:09:00. After a stunning mid-race move in his tenth marathon so far this year, Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) became the first Japanese man ever to break 2:10 three times in the same year and the sixth to break 2:10 five times in his career as he took 3rd, bearing down on Gitau in the last km but coming up just short of catching him in 2:09:05.
The first major break in the race came at a short up-down overpass just before 16 km. Heading up the steep slope the pack fractured, with Mathathi, Gitau, top-ranked Japanese man Arata Fujiwara (Miki House), Reid Coolsaet (Canada), Ayad Lamdassem (Spain) and Koji Gokaya (Team JR Higashi Nihon) hanging back as the others in the front group pushed on ahead. Fujiwara, looking uncomfortable in his first marathon since Fukuoka last year, began to slip back, then slowed to a walk, then dropped out just past 20 km. "Something wasn't right," he told JRN post-race. "It wasn't that it felt hard, my running just felt soft and disconnected, not right. It was the worst marathon I ever ran."
As Mathathi and Gitau regained contact with the leader group, Birmingham and St. Lawrence prepared to step off at halfway, hitting the line in 1:03:48. The second they did, Kawauchi shot to the lead with a surge that opened a 10-second gap on the lead group by 22 km, a stunning move that came almost exactly at the point where he lost touch with the lead group last month at the New York City Marathon. Polish national record holder Henryk Szost, 3rd last year in Fukuoka, was the only one to go after him, gaining contact at 23 km. The pair traded surges as the pack treaded water, Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) unable to hang on once the gradual push to catch up came.
Popular former Hakone Ekiden star Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) led that push after 25 km, bringing the chase pack of Mathathi, Gitau, 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) and Chiharu Takada (Team JR Higashi Nihon) in contact by 28.5 km. Despite a pre-race promise to keep his head until 35 km, Mogusu shot past Kawauchi and Szost to open a lead, Szost again attempting to go with him. The entire pack passed Kawauchi, but he quickly responded and tucked back in to the middle of the group, face locked tight in a grimace as the others looked relaxed, Mathathi most of all.
With Mathathi splitting 2:57 from 33 km to 34 km, Gitau realized the precariousness of his position and moved up next to him. Not eager for a replay of last year, Mathathi accelerated again to burn him off, dropping the rest of the group for the first time and opening 10 seconds by 35 km. At 35 km he went into still another gear, saying goodbye to Gitau for good. Kawauchi, Szost and Takada trailed Mogusu, but at the 36 km water station Szost made his own move and away. Kawauchi was right on him, hammering past at 37 km and inching away free into 3rd.
Gitau, who ran poorly in fall ekiden season, slowed in the final stage. Looking back on the final corner to see Kawauchi bearing down on him e almost jumped in surprise. Rallying for a push on the track. he held on to 2nd, just missing a sub-2:09 clocking in 2:09:00. Staggering after finishing, he had obviously given the best he had on this day.
Nevertheless, with ten marathons in him so far this year Fukuoka earned him a place in the Japanese history books and, maybe, a place on the Japanese team for next year's Asian Games. Kawauchi had publicly said before the race that if he failed to make the Asian Games team in Fukuoka he would remove himself from consideration from all future World Championships and Olympic teams after running poorly at two straight World Championships and one World Half. Having come up far short of his 2:07:30 goal and visibly crushed post-race, it would not be a surprise to see him stick to his guns and turn down a place on the team despite running one of the gutsiest races of his career and again bettering the best the corporate leagues can offer. For their part, Federation officials were unambiguous about their opinions of his performance. Executive director Mitsugi Ogata said, "I was deeply moved. Kawauchi showed absolute spiritual and physical strength. He was superb. He may become Japan's greatest marathoner." Director of men's marathoning Takeshi Soh commented, "He has shown consummate professionalism as a marathoner." Either way, look for him to take a shot at tying national record holder Toshinari Takaoka's career record of six sub-2:10 marathons two weeks from today in Hofu.
Cragg made it to the finish line for the first time, 26th in 2:23:05 just ahead of Kawauchi's youngest brother Koki Kawauchi (Takasaki Keizai Univ.) who clocked a PB 2:24:13. Back among the masses, half marathon national record holder and all-time #4 Japanese marathoner Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) finished the final marathon of his career in 2:33:00. Having set his best of 2:07:13 six years ago in Fukuoka against a debuting Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu), Sato's run marked the end of one era of Japanese marathoning.
67th Fukuoka International Marathon
Fukuoka, 12/1/13
click here for complete results
1. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:07:16 - PB
2. Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 2:09:00
3. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:09:05
4. Henryk Szost (Poland) - 2:09:37
5. Chiharu Takada (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:10:39 - PB
6. Reid Coolsaet (Canada) - 2:11:24
7. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:12:03
8. Ayad Lamdassem (Spain) - 2:12:31
9. Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:13:12
10. Bobby Curtis (U.S.A.) - 2:13:24 - PB
11. Ben Moreau (Great Britain) - 2:15:52 - PB
12. Hironori Arai (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:16:04
13. Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:16:16
14. Carlos Trujillo (U.S.A.) - 2:17:48
15. Sho Matsumoto (Nikkei Business) - 2:18:13
16. Takaki Mori (Montblanc) - 2:18:17 - PB
17. Brendan Martin (U.S.A.) - 2:18:28 - PB
18. Takaya Sakamoto (Tokushima T&F Assoc.) - 2:19:34 - PB
19. Yasuyuki Yamamoto (Team JFE Steel) - 2:20:51
20. Koji Hayasaki (Ishinomaki RC) - 2:21:45
-----
22. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 2:21:47
26. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 2:23:05 - PB
32. Koki Kawauchi (Takasaki Keizai Univ.) - 2:24:13 - PB
142. Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:33:00
-----
DNF - Arata Fujiwara (Miki House)
DNF - Mark Kenneally (Ireland)
DNF - Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza)
(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
photos (c) 2013 Dr. Helmut Winter
all rights reserved
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Akaba, Davila and Watanabe Headline 32nd Running of Sanyo Women's Road Race
http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/feature/sports/other/2013/11/30/20131130225458.html
translated and edited by Brett Larner
The invited athlete list for Japan's last major road race of the year, the 32nd Sanyo Women's Road Race on Dec. 23 in Okayama, was released by race organisers on Nov. 30. Coinciding with main sponsor Sanyo Newspapers' 135th anniversary, the Yuko Arimori Cup half marathon division at the Sanyo Women's Road Race will for the first time be a selection race for the World Half Marathon Championships national team, with next year's World Half due to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark next March.
Targeting the first three-peat in Sanyo history, 2013 National Corporate Half Marathon champion Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) heads the invited field along with 2013 Hokkaido Marathon winner Yuko Watanabe (Team Edion) and, from overseas, London Olympian Desiree Davila (U.S.A.). Others in the half marathon include past World Championships marathoners Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and Azusa Nojiri (Hiratsuka Lease), 23-year-old local Tenmaya corporate team runners Aki Odagiri and Rei Ohara and veterans Yuri Kano (Team Shiseido) and Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz).
In the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km division, Felista Wanjugu (Kenya/Team Universal Entertainment) lends international quality to help make this year one of the most competitive on record. Facing here are Tenmaya's 19-year-old great hope, Akari Ota, local Kojokan H.S. graduate Katsuki Suga (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) and former national champion Ritsumeikan University ace Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido).
Akaba has announced that she will retire following January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, making Sanyo one of her final races. In her absence, other top-placing Japanese athletes in Sanyo will have a chance to earn one of the five places available on the World Half team. Along with Sanyo, top finishers in last summer's National Championships 10000 m and next February's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships will be given consideration for team nomination.
The race starts and finishes at Concourse Stadium in Okayama. The half marathon gets underway at 10:00 a.m., with the 10 km division starting at 10:15.
translated and edited by Brett Larner
The invited athlete list for Japan's last major road race of the year, the 32nd Sanyo Women's Road Race on Dec. 23 in Okayama, was released by race organisers on Nov. 30. Coinciding with main sponsor Sanyo Newspapers' 135th anniversary, the Yuko Arimori Cup half marathon division at the Sanyo Women's Road Race will for the first time be a selection race for the World Half Marathon Championships national team, with next year's World Half due to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark next March.
Targeting the first three-peat in Sanyo history, 2013 National Corporate Half Marathon champion Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) heads the invited field along with 2013 Hokkaido Marathon winner Yuko Watanabe (Team Edion) and, from overseas, London Olympian Desiree Davila (U.S.A.). Others in the half marathon include past World Championships marathoners Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) and Azusa Nojiri (Hiratsuka Lease), 23-year-old local Tenmaya corporate team runners Aki Odagiri and Rei Ohara and veterans Yuri Kano (Team Shiseido) and Mari Ozaki (Team Noritz).
In the Kinue Hitomi Cup 10 km division, Felista Wanjugu (Kenya/Team Universal Entertainment) lends international quality to help make this year one of the most competitive on record. Facing here are Tenmaya's 19-year-old great hope, Akari Ota, local Kojokan H.S. graduate Katsuki Suga (Team Toyota Jidoshokki) and former national champion Ritsumeikan University ace Risa Takenaka (Team Shiseido).
Akaba has announced that she will retire following January's Osaka International Women's Marathon, making Sanyo one of her final races. In her absence, other top-placing Japanese athletes in Sanyo will have a chance to earn one of the five places available on the World Half team. Along with Sanyo, top finishers in last summer's National Championships 10000 m and next February's National Corporate Half Marathon Championships will be given consideration for team nomination.
The race starts and finishes at Concourse Stadium in Okayama. The half marathon gets underway at 10:00 a.m., with the 10 km division starting at 10:15.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
2013 Fukuoka International Marathon Preview
by Brett Larner
Japan’s last top-level marathon of the year takes place this Sunday with the 67th running of the historic Fukuoka International Marathon. In recent weeks Fukuoka has been hit by some high-level withdrawals including 2010 New York City Marathon winner Gebre Gebremariam (Ethiopia), last year’s Fukuoka runner-up Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) and 2008 Tokyo Marathon winner Viktor Rothlin (Switzerland), but with four of last year's top six returning it looks set to be a very close-matched and exciting race up front.
Defending champion Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) returns as the fastest man in the field with the 2:06:58 time he set last year. In his only recent race, the Oct. 27 Hiroshima Corporate Ekiden, Gitau ran 19:21 for 6.60 km to finish only 4th on the stage nearly a minute behind the winner, and with little else to go on he has to be viewed as a question mark coming in to Fukuoka. His strongest competition should be 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC). Mathathi made an abortive marathon debut in Fukuoka last year, looking fine but abruptly dropping out late in the race when he was unable to cope with the momentum of the surge thrown in by Horibata and carried by Gitau. With another year behind him he should be in it for 1st place. Polish national record holder Henryk Szost is the next-best man on the list with his 2:07:39 at last year’s Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, and with a 2:08:42 for 3rd in Fukuoka last year he should be a solid podium contender. But if Japan’s big two have anything to say about it that won't be enough for the win.
Those big two are the star independents who have double-handedly revitalized Japanese men's marathoning, Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t). Fujiwara has not run a marathon since jumping into last year’s Fukuoka on a month’s training and subsequently getting injured, but following altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland over the summer he was a strong 4th at the Great North Run followed two weeks later by a win at the Hakodate Half Marathon. After Hakodate he suffered some overtraining issues, but since the beginning of November his training has been flawless and he is optimistically predicting a time under his PB of 2:07:48. If he does it he will be only the second Japanese man to break 2:08 more than once and may well have the chance to become the first Japanese man to win Fukuoka since 2005 World Championships bronze medalist Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku) back in 2004.
Kawauchi has been off more than on since a disappointing run in the Moscow World Championships marathon, but bracketing a so-so 2:12:29 for 11th at the New York City Marathon were a 59:17 clocking for 20 km, equivalent to the second-fastest half marathon time of his career, and a 1:03:06 half marathon, the fourth-best of his career. Kawauchi has said since the summer that his goal in Fukuoka, his tenth marathon so far this year, is to make the Japanese team for next year’s Asian Games and that he will remove himself from consideration for future World Championships and Olympics teams if he fails. He believes a 2:07:30 will be necessary to get there and has spoken confidently this week of reaching that time. To make the team he will also have to beat Fujiwara, something he has only ever done twice in his career and only once in a marathon. Let's hope for a replay of Kawauchi vs. Fujiwara's college roommate Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) at Beppu-Oita last February but one second per km faster.
If there is another Japanese man likely to challenge them it is 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta). Despite holding the then-world record of 1:28:00 for 30 km, Matsumiya struggled in numerous attempts at the marathon between 2006 and 2011, not breaking 2:10 until Tokyo last year where he ran 2:09:28. At this year’s Tokyo Marathon he improved that to 2:09:14, and if he has really learned to put it together he should on paper at least be able to handle Fujiwara and Kawauchi’s mid-2:07 pace and score one for the corporate league's pride.
Skipping last weekend’s Spanish national championships to get into a faster race, Ayad Lamdassem rounds out the sub-2:10 men having set a best of 2:09:28 in London this year after a failed debut attempt in the cold rain of last year’s Lake Biwa. Other possible front-pace contenders include former Nihon University ace Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza), who beat Kawauchi at October’s Takashimadaira 20 km, and Ireland’s Alistair Cragg who looks to complete his first marathon after a string of DNFs.
The Fujiwara-Kawauchi showdown aside, this particular front-pack lineup may not have the star power to excite the marathon world’s fashionistas, but the second pack has enough intrigue to be the kind of well-balanced, multi-faceted race that the Japanese seem to be just about the only ones to have realized makes for something that will appeal to the average TV viewer. Olympian Reid Coolsaet is back from a broken collarbone to take a shot at the Canadian national record of 2:10:09 set 38 years ago in Fukuoka by the great Jerome Drayton. Half-marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) will run his last marathon before retiring, returning to the site where he ran his best of 2:07:13 against the late Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) and a then-unknown Deriba Merga (Ethiopia) in 2007. A solid pack of 2:11-2:14 men including Wanjiru's great high school-era rival Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin), teammates Takaaki Koda and Satoru Sasaki of Asahi Kasei and Chiharu Takada and Koji Gokaya of Fujiwara's former corporate team JR Higashi Nihon, 2:13 independents Sho Matsumoto and Etsu Miyata who emerged this year from the corporate system to join the growing numbers of marathoners inspired by Fujiwara and Kawauchi to pursue their own careers, and international quartet Andrew Lemoncello (Great Britain), Mark Kenneally (Ireland), Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) and Carlos Trujillo (U.S.A.) will be looking to make the jump up to the golden A-list. All told it looks like a great race for anyone who appreciates something more than just the latest -est.
The Fukuoka International Marathon will be broadcast live on TV Asahi starting at noon Japan time on Sunday, Dec. 1. Although the race can be seen live with English commentary in some locations, most overseas fans will have to take their chances with watching the race live on Keyhole TV. Some Japanese-language updates may be available via local broadcaster KBC. JRN will also once again cover Fukuoka live via Twitter @JRNLive.
Fukuoka is not the only noteworthy distance racing in Japan. Also on Sunday in Kyushu is the world's deepest 10 miler, the 38th Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race where the best of the corporate leagues not running Fukuoka tune up for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national corporate men's championships. Further north in the general environs of Tokyo is this year's last full edition of the celebrated Nittai University Time Trials track meet, where more top high school, university and corporate men and women will be getting ready for championship ekiden season. The biggest event outside Fukuoka, though, is Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance Time Trials meet in Tokyo's western suburbs sponsored by the 2013 New Year Ekiden national champion team Konica Minolta. Hachioji features six heats of 10000 m and one 5000 m heat, with the 10000 m A-heat boasting fifteen of the top Japanese-based Africans led by Olympian Bidan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA RC) and eight Japanese men looking to go under 27:50, most notably all-time Japanese #7 Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota; 27:41.57), former collegiate national record holder Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei; 27:44.30) and, looking to join the list of Japanese collegiates to run 27 minutes this year, 2013 National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University aces Shinobu Kubota and Kenta Murayama. Check back throughout the weekend for coverage of these top-level events alongside Fukuoka.
67th Fukuoka International Marathon
Fukuoka, Dec. 1, 2013
click here for complete field listing
21. Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 2:06:58 (Fukuoka 2012)
68. Atsushi Sato (Japan/Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:07:13 (Fukuoka 2007)
3. Henryk Szost (Poland) - 2:07:39 (Biwako 2012)
22. Arata Fujiwara (Japan/Miki House) - 2:07:48 (Tokyo 2012)
23. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:08:14 (Seoul Int'l 2013)
25. Takayuki Matsumiya (Japan/Team Konica Minolta) - 2:09:14 (Tokyo 2013)
4. Ayad Lamdassem (Spain) - 2:09:28 (London 2013)
5. Reid Coolsaet (Canada) - 2:10:55 (Toronto Waterfront 2011)
26. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:11:02 (Tokyo 2013)
62. Takaaki Koda (Japan/Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:08 (Tokyo 2011)
28. Satoru Sasaki (Japan/Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:28 (Tokyo 2013)
29. Chiharu Takada (Japan/Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:11:53 (Tokyo 2013)
66. Koji Gokaya (Japan/Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:12:07 (Biwako 2011)
71. Hironori Arai (Japan/Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:12:27 (Biwako 2011)
61. Yuki Nakamura (Japan/Team Kanebo) - 2:12:52 (Tokyo 2012)
64. Etsu Miyata (Japan/unattached) - 2:13:19 (Nagano 2010)
63. Sho Matsumoto (Japan/Nikkei Business) - 2:13:38 (Nobeoka 2013)
59. Andrew Lemoncello (Great Britain) - 2:13:40 (London 2010)
54. Mark Kenneally (Ireland) - 2:13:55 (Amsterdam 2011)
57. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 2:14:10 (New York 2011)
55. Clint Verran (U.S.A.) - 2:14:17 (Chicago 2002)
51. Carlos Trujillo (U.S.A.) - 2:14:21 (Chicago 2012)
65. Yasuyuki Yamamoto (Japan/Team JFE Steel) - 2:14:21 (Biwako 2012)
53. Chia-Che Chang (Taiwan) - 2:16:06 (Pyongyang 2012)
58. Bobby Curtis (U.S.A.) - 2:16:46 (New York 2011)
52. Ben Moreau (Great Britain) - 2:16:46 (London 2010)
56. Brendan Martin (U.S.A.) - 2:22:32a (Boston 2013)
Debut / Shooting for first marathon completion
72. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 58:56a (Great North Run 2011)
7. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 1:00:49a (New York Half 2011)
73. Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza) - 1:01:06 (Marugame Half 2012)
(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Japan’s last top-level marathon of the year takes place this Sunday with the 67th running of the historic Fukuoka International Marathon. In recent weeks Fukuoka has been hit by some high-level withdrawals including 2010 New York City Marathon winner Gebre Gebremariam (Ethiopia), last year’s Fukuoka runner-up Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) and 2008 Tokyo Marathon winner Viktor Rothlin (Switzerland), but with four of last year's top six returning it looks set to be a very close-matched and exciting race up front.
Defending champion Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) returns as the fastest man in the field with the 2:06:58 time he set last year. In his only recent race, the Oct. 27 Hiroshima Corporate Ekiden, Gitau ran 19:21 for 6.60 km to finish only 4th on the stage nearly a minute behind the winner, and with little else to go on he has to be viewed as a question mark coming in to Fukuoka. His strongest competition should be 2007 World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC). Mathathi made an abortive marathon debut in Fukuoka last year, looking fine but abruptly dropping out late in the race when he was unable to cope with the momentum of the surge thrown in by Horibata and carried by Gitau. With another year behind him he should be in it for 1st place. Polish national record holder Henryk Szost is the next-best man on the list with his 2:07:39 at last year’s Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, and with a 2:08:42 for 3rd in Fukuoka last year he should be a solid podium contender. But if Japan’s big two have anything to say about it that won't be enough for the win.
Those big two are the star independents who have double-handedly revitalized Japanese men's marathoning, Arata Fujiwara (Miki House) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov’t). Fujiwara has not run a marathon since jumping into last year’s Fukuoka on a month’s training and subsequently getting injured, but following altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland over the summer he was a strong 4th at the Great North Run followed two weeks later by a win at the Hakodate Half Marathon. After Hakodate he suffered some overtraining issues, but since the beginning of November his training has been flawless and he is optimistically predicting a time under his PB of 2:07:48. If he does it he will be only the second Japanese man to break 2:08 more than once and may well have the chance to become the first Japanese man to win Fukuoka since 2005 World Championships bronze medalist Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku) back in 2004.
Kawauchi has been off more than on since a disappointing run in the Moscow World Championships marathon, but bracketing a so-so 2:12:29 for 11th at the New York City Marathon were a 59:17 clocking for 20 km, equivalent to the second-fastest half marathon time of his career, and a 1:03:06 half marathon, the fourth-best of his career. Kawauchi has said since the summer that his goal in Fukuoka, his tenth marathon so far this year, is to make the Japanese team for next year’s Asian Games and that he will remove himself from consideration for future World Championships and Olympics teams if he fails. He believes a 2:07:30 will be necessary to get there and has spoken confidently this week of reaching that time. To make the team he will also have to beat Fujiwara, something he has only ever done twice in his career and only once in a marathon. Let's hope for a replay of Kawauchi vs. Fujiwara's college roommate Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) at Beppu-Oita last February but one second per km faster.
If there is another Japanese man likely to challenge them it is 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta). Despite holding the then-world record of 1:28:00 for 30 km, Matsumiya struggled in numerous attempts at the marathon between 2006 and 2011, not breaking 2:10 until Tokyo last year where he ran 2:09:28. At this year’s Tokyo Marathon he improved that to 2:09:14, and if he has really learned to put it together he should on paper at least be able to handle Fujiwara and Kawauchi’s mid-2:07 pace and score one for the corporate league's pride.
Skipping last weekend’s Spanish national championships to get into a faster race, Ayad Lamdassem rounds out the sub-2:10 men having set a best of 2:09:28 in London this year after a failed debut attempt in the cold rain of last year’s Lake Biwa. Other possible front-pace contenders include former Nihon University ace Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza), who beat Kawauchi at October’s Takashimadaira 20 km, and Ireland’s Alistair Cragg who looks to complete his first marathon after a string of DNFs.
The Fujiwara-Kawauchi showdown aside, this particular front-pack lineup may not have the star power to excite the marathon world’s fashionistas, but the second pack has enough intrigue to be the kind of well-balanced, multi-faceted race that the Japanese seem to be just about the only ones to have realized makes for something that will appeal to the average TV viewer. Olympian Reid Coolsaet is back from a broken collarbone to take a shot at the Canadian national record of 2:10:09 set 38 years ago in Fukuoka by the great Jerome Drayton. Half-marathon national record holder Atsushi Sato (Team Chugoku Denryoku) will run his last marathon before retiring, returning to the site where he ran his best of 2:07:13 against the late Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya/Team Toyota Kyushu) and a then-unknown Deriba Merga (Ethiopia) in 2007. A solid pack of 2:11-2:14 men including Wanjiru's great high school-era rival Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin), teammates Takaaki Koda and Satoru Sasaki of Asahi Kasei and Chiharu Takada and Koji Gokaya of Fujiwara's former corporate team JR Higashi Nihon, 2:13 independents Sho Matsumoto and Etsu Miyata who emerged this year from the corporate system to join the growing numbers of marathoners inspired by Fujiwara and Kawauchi to pursue their own careers, and international quartet Andrew Lemoncello (Great Britain), Mark Kenneally (Ireland), Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) and Carlos Trujillo (U.S.A.) will be looking to make the jump up to the golden A-list. All told it looks like a great race for anyone who appreciates something more than just the latest -est.
The Fukuoka International Marathon will be broadcast live on TV Asahi starting at noon Japan time on Sunday, Dec. 1. Although the race can be seen live with English commentary in some locations, most overseas fans will have to take their chances with watching the race live on Keyhole TV. Some Japanese-language updates may be available via local broadcaster KBC. JRN will also once again cover Fukuoka live via Twitter @JRNLive.
Fukuoka is not the only noteworthy distance racing in Japan. Also on Sunday in Kyushu is the world's deepest 10 miler, the 38th Kumamoto Kosa 10 Mile Road Race where the best of the corporate leagues not running Fukuoka tune up for the Jan. 1 New Year Ekiden national corporate men's championships. Further north in the general environs of Tokyo is this year's last full edition of the celebrated Nittai University Time Trials track meet, where more top high school, university and corporate men and women will be getting ready for championship ekiden season. The biggest event outside Fukuoka, though, is Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance Time Trials meet in Tokyo's western suburbs sponsored by the 2013 New Year Ekiden national champion team Konica Minolta. Hachioji features six heats of 10000 m and one 5000 m heat, with the 10000 m A-heat boasting fifteen of the top Japanese-based Africans led by Olympian Bidan Karoki (Kenya/DeNA RC) and eight Japanese men looking to go under 27:50, most notably all-time Japanese #7 Chihiro Miyawaki (Team Toyota; 27:41.57), former collegiate national record holder Tetsuya Yoroizaka (Team Asahi Kasei; 27:44.30) and, looking to join the list of Japanese collegiates to run 27 minutes this year, 2013 National University Ekiden champion Komazawa University aces Shinobu Kubota and Kenta Murayama. Check back throughout the weekend for coverage of these top-level events alongside Fukuoka.
67th Fukuoka International Marathon
Fukuoka, Dec. 1, 2013
click here for complete field listing
21. Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) - 2:06:58 (Fukuoka 2012)
68. Atsushi Sato (Japan/Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:07:13 (Fukuoka 2007)
3. Henryk Szost (Poland) - 2:07:39 (Biwako 2012)
22. Arata Fujiwara (Japan/Miki House) - 2:07:48 (Tokyo 2012)
23. Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:08:14 (Seoul Int'l 2013)
25. Takayuki Matsumiya (Japan/Team Konica Minolta) - 2:09:14 (Tokyo 2013)
4. Ayad Lamdassem (Spain) - 2:09:28 (London 2013)
5. Reid Coolsaet (Canada) - 2:10:55 (Toronto Waterfront 2011)
26. Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:11:02 (Tokyo 2013)
62. Takaaki Koda (Japan/Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:08 (Tokyo 2011)
28. Satoru Sasaki (Japan/Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:28 (Tokyo 2013)
29. Chiharu Takada (Japan/Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:11:53 (Tokyo 2013)
66. Koji Gokaya (Japan/Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:12:07 (Biwako 2011)
71. Hironori Arai (Japan/Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:12:27 (Biwako 2011)
61. Yuki Nakamura (Japan/Team Kanebo) - 2:12:52 (Tokyo 2012)
64. Etsu Miyata (Japan/unattached) - 2:13:19 (Nagano 2010)
63. Sho Matsumoto (Japan/Nikkei Business) - 2:13:38 (Nobeoka 2013)
59. Andrew Lemoncello (Great Britain) - 2:13:40 (London 2010)
54. Mark Kenneally (Ireland) - 2:13:55 (Amsterdam 2011)
57. Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) - 2:14:10 (New York 2011)
55. Clint Verran (U.S.A.) - 2:14:17 (Chicago 2002)
51. Carlos Trujillo (U.S.A.) - 2:14:21 (Chicago 2012)
65. Yasuyuki Yamamoto (Japan/Team JFE Steel) - 2:14:21 (Biwako 2012)
53. Chia-Che Chang (Taiwan) - 2:16:06 (Pyongyang 2012)
58. Bobby Curtis (U.S.A.) - 2:16:46 (New York 2011)
52. Ben Moreau (Great Britain) - 2:16:46 (London 2010)
56. Brendan Martin (U.S.A.) - 2:22:32a (Boston 2013)
Debut / Shooting for first marathon completion
72. Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 58:56a (Great North Run 2011)
7. Alistair Cragg (Ireland) - 1:00:49a (New York Half 2011)
73. Benjamin Ngandu (Kenya/Team Monteroza) - 1:01:06 (Marugame Half 2012)
(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
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