Felix Limo, Tsegaye Kebede and Tsuyoshi Ogata Headline 2008 Fukuoka International Marathon

Felix Limo, Tsegaye Kebede and Tsuyoshi Ogata Headline 2008 Fukuoka International Marathon - updated

by Brett Larner

The Fukuoka International Marathon announced on Nov. 18 the elite field for this year's race, scheduled for Dec. 7. The first of the four domestic selection races for the 2009 Berlin World Championships men's marathon team, the domestic field features 2005 World Championships bronze medalist and 2008 Beijing Olympics marathoner Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku), 2004 Athens Olympics marathon 5th place finisher Shigeru Aburaya (Team Chugoku Denryoku), and 2008 Tokyo Marathon runner up and Beijing Olympic team alternate Arata Fujiwara (Team JR Higashi Nihon), along with a variety of other sub-2:10 countrymen.

The competitive foreign field stars Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia), London, Chicago and Rotterdam winner Felix Limo (Kenya), and two-time Olympic 4th-place finisher Jon Brown (Canada). Kebede and Limo's appearances continue Fukuoka's re-emergence as a world-class race, the 2006, 2007 and 2008 races having featured the top four finishers from the Beijing Olympics, gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru (1st, 2007), silver medalist Jaouad Gharib (3rd, 2006), bronze medalist Kebede (to run 2008), and 4th place finisher Deriba Merga (2nd, 2007), along with two-time world record holder Haile Gebrselassie (1st, 2006) and previous world record holder Paul Tergat (withdrew at last moment, 2007).

As a World Championships selection race, the domestic Japanese component of Fukuoka promises to be extremely competitive. Of particular interest will be the performances of Ogata and Fujiwara. Ogata, an aging veteran nearing the end of his career, ran a thoroughly mediocre race in Beijing, afterwards promising that his next marathon would be fast from the start, a suicidal crash and burn speed race. It has been years since Ogata ran his best times and it is unlikely he could really follow through on his post-Olympic words, but the prospect of seeing such an established figure run a risky, dangerous race is exciting. Fujiwara had a stunning breakthrough in Tokyo this past February, running a memorable 2:08:40 performance but missing the Olympic team. He ran Chicago in October in an attempt to make a big international debut but shuffled in to a 2:26 finish. It's a surprise to see him turn around quickly and attempt Fukuoka, but the sting to his pride is no doubt still fresh and he will be one of the most aggressive runners in the field.

The Fukuoka International Marathon takes place Sunday, Dec. 7 at 12:10 p.m. The race will be broadcast nationwide on TV Asahi beginning at 12:00 noon. A complete listing of this year's field is available here.

2008 Fukuoka International Marathon
Elite Field
Felix Limo (Kenya) - 2:06:14 (2004)
Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) - 2:06:40 (2008)
Shigeru Aburaya (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:07:52 (2001)
Jose Manuel Martinez (Spain) - 2:08:09 (2003)
Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:08:37 (2003)
Arata Fujiwara (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:08:40 (2008)
David Makori (Kenya) - 2:08:49 (2002)
Aleksey Sokolov (Russia) - 2:09:07 (2007)
Yuko Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:09:18 (2005)
Jon Brown (Canada) - 2:09:31 (2005)
Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo) - 2:09:40 (2008)
Tomoyuki Sato (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:09:43 (2004)
Yuriy Hychun (Ukraine) - 2:10:59 (2008)
Seiji Kobayashi (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 2:11:02 (2008)
Dan Robinson (U.K.) - 2:13:10 (2008)
Daniel Mwangi (Kenya) - 2:14:28 (2008)
Martin Dent (Australia) - 2:15:12 (2004)
Mark Tucker (Australia) - 2:17:45 (2008)

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that Sis

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el

japan running news

Search This Blog