Skip to main content

'Morocco's Adil Annani Wins Beppu-Oita Marathon'

http://iaaf.org/LRR09/news/newsid=49180.html

Ken Nakamura's excellent IAAF report on the 2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, linked above, covers much of what I would otherwise say. One small error in his report is that Seiji Kobayashi's PB performance gives him 'little chance' of being selected for the Berlin World Championships, not 'a little chance.' Kobayashi ran Beppu-Oita, aka Betsudai, after finishing 20th in Fukuoka this past December in 2:20:46.

Adil Annani has apparently been coached by the great Moroccan marathoner Abdelkader El Mouaziz since 2007. At the 11 km water station Annani missed his special drink. Looking back over his shoulder he crashed straight on into the next table, falling forward onto the table. It evidently didn't take much out of him.

Another detail worth mentioning was the strong marathon debut by Yuki Kawauchi (Gakushuin Univ.), one of the top runners on this year's Hakone Ekiden 6th stage and the 3rd place finisher at the 2008 Ageo City Half Marathon. Kawauchi was 20th in 2:19:26, but he ran a nearly 5-minute negative split with a first half of 1:12:28 after starting in the back of the field with only a half marathon qualifying time. Kawauchi's splits from 35 km to 40 km and from 40 km to the finish were the fastest in the field, faster than winner Annani's. Although Ryosuke Fukuyama garnered far more attention for his debut, he finished in 19th less than a minute ahead of Kawauchi after running a 1:05:07 first half.

This year's Beppu-Oita was also the final run for the holder of the fastest time ever on the Betsudai course by a Japanese runner, Takayuki Nishida. Nishida won the 2001 Betsudai in 2:08:45 to qualify for the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton, but he never again ran even remotely close to this performance. Following his 2:23:09 25th-place finish yesterday he announced that it would be his last marathon before his retirement at the end of the Japanese fiscal year next month.

Click here for complete results of the 2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon.
Labels:

Comments

by7 said…
and your race??
February 2, 2009 at 6:06 PM
Brett Larner said…
Not really worth mentioning, thanks. I felt fine but started getting blisters on both feet after 14 km, then stomach cramps after 16 km. Not sure what happened. All the blisters popped by 25 km and the cramps finally faded around 27 km, so I was able to get more or less back on pace but had lost too much time and missed the 30 km checkpoint by a few seconds. I guess this means I'll be doing Tokyo as a 'serious' race.
February 2, 2009 at 6:22 PM
Brett Larner said…
Adizero LT. I ran my last two marathons, three half marathons and a 30 km race in this model, including my last two halves in this pair, without problems. I don't know what happened. I had bad blistering the last time I ran Beppu too, but that was in a pair of Asics.

The stomach problems were more the main issue this time, I think.
February 4, 2009 at 3:10 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...
1 comment
Read more

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more