by Brett Larner
Click photo for video highlights courtesy of NHK.
Windy conditions kept times slow overall, but aging former world record holder Paul Tergat (Kenya) overcame his opponents in an international group of five to win the 2009 Biwako Mainichi Marathon in a time of 2:10:22, his first marathon win since the 2005 New York City Marathon and only the third marathon win of his career. Tergat dropped two-time Biwako winner Jose Rios (Spain) at the 41 km mark to seal his win after sitting in the pack for 29 km and then running with Rios, Yared Asmerom (Eritrea), Masaya Shimizu (Japan) and Abiyot Guta (Ethiopia) for 12 km. Rios finished 2nd in 2:10:36, with Asmerom just outkicking Shimizu for 3rd in 2:10:49.
In his post-race interview Tergat was pleased with his performance and showed his keen political sense as he commented, "I'm happy I won the race. It was a great competition with great athletes, and incredible that until 35 km we were about six athletes. Amazing was the young Japanese man [M. Shimizu], very strong, and I believe that he is the future. I don't want to say it was too slow because this was my first marathon of the year, and to be able to come all the way [from Kenya] I was very tired from the jetlag. There was some wind when we turned coming this way, a lot of wind coming toward us, but all in all it was a great competition."
As a domestic selection race for this summer's World Championships in Berlin, the top Japanese finisher in Biwako, also known as the Lake Biwa and Otsu marathon, was guaranteed a spot on the men's marathon team. With his 2:10:50 4th place finish, a PB by 1 minute and 41 seconds, Masaya Shimizu (Team Asahi Kasei) secured his place on the national team. Shimizu led most of the way after the three African pacemakers dropped out at 30 km, sparring with Asmerom all the way to the finish. "I'm happy I got a place for the World Championships, but I'm happier that I beat my brother since I'm the older one," he laughed after the race. Shimizu's twin Tomoya (Team Sagawa Express), who ran 2:09:23 in his debut marathon at last year's Biwako, was 6th in 2:12:30.
Asked about leading the windy last quarter of the race, Masaya Shimizu said, "I won Nobeoka a year ago in strong wind so I knew that I can run will in that type of condition. More than trying to be the top runner I was afraid of being caught by my brother, though, so that's why I led. I was tired but I don't like to show my fatigue so I just kept attacking. It was a great opportunity for me to go up against world-class runners. I knew their last spurts were coming but I think I hung on pretty well, and it gave me something to work with for next time."
Complete results with splits are available in English here.
2009 Biwako Mainichi Marathon - Top Finishers
1. Paul Tergat (Kenya) - 2:10:22
2. Jose Rios (Spain) - 2:10:36
3. Yared Asmerom (Eritrea) - 2:10:49
4. Masaya Shimizu (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:10:50 - PB
5. Abiyot Guta (Ethiopia) - 2:11:18
6. Tomoya Shimizu (Team Sagawa Kasei) - 2:12:30
7. Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:14:00 - debut
8. Takeshi Makabe (Team Kanebo) - 2:14:34 - debut
9. Koichiro Fukuoka (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 2:16:17
10. Shingo Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:16:50
Detailed Report
Excellent conditions at the start gradually worsened as the wind picked up throughout the early afternoon. A group of four pacemakers, one Japanese, two Kenyan and one Tanzanian, took a large pack through an uneventful first 15 km in 45:22, clocking 5 km splits of 15:11, 15:03 and 15:08. All the major players, including the five overseas elites, last year's 4th place finisher Yuzo Onishi (Team Nissin Shokuhin), the Shimizu brothers and Masaya Shimizu's teammate Satoru Sasaki in his much-hyped marathon debut, were at the front of the pack of 35, which whittled down to 21 by the time pacemaker Naosato Yoshimura (Team Toyota) dropped out at 15 km.
Following Yoshimura's departure the pace slowed dramatically as the lead pack went through 20 km in 1:00:53, a 5 km split of 15:32, without losing a single runner. Halfway came in 1:04:18. Shortly afterwards runners began to lose contact, first a group of seven including Sasaki, then 2:08 men Kazutoshi Takatsuka (Team Komori Corp.) and Onishi. By 25 km there were nine competitors in the lead pack, the five overseas elites, the Shimizus, Takashi Ota (Team Konica Minolta), and Takeshi Makabe (Team Kanebo). While Ota was trying again to make the Berlin team after dropping out of last month's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Makabe, a 27-minute 10000 m runner and teammate of marathon national record holder Toshinari Takaoka, was running his debut.
As in Beppu-Oita, Ota lost contact just before 27 km. Tomoya Shimizu was the next to go, followed by Moroccan Abderrahim Bouramdane who dropped out at 30 km. Makabe drifted away at 29 km but stayed within sight until the very final section of the race. 30 km came in 1:31:18, a 5 km split of 15:16. When the three remaining pacemakers dropped out at this point there were five left in the lead pack, Masaya Shimizu, Asmerom, Rios, Tergat and Guta.
Shimizu immediately took the lead, beginning a chess game which lasted over the next 10 km. During this time the lead changed hands no less than 14 times, with Shimizu and Asmerom doing most of the work up front while the other three largely sat back. Surprisingly, although the pace appeared to have quickened during all the feints and parries the runners' times slowed dramatically. Announcers blamed a headwind as the group hit 35 km in 1:47:26, a split of 16:08, and 40 km in 2:03:36, an even slower mark of 16:10.
At 39.2 km Rios had had enough, making his claim for a third Biwako win as he abruptly pulled away. Asmerom quickly responded, with Tergat a little slower to catch up and Shimizu and Guta unable to handle the higher pace. Tergat overtook Asmerom and Rios at 39.7 km, Rios attempting to hang on but finally dropping away from the lead at 41 km. The top two positions looked settled, but further back Shimizu caught up to Asmerom as the pair approached the stadium for a last lap.
There was some confusion when Tergat entered the stadium as he apparently did not realize he had to run a lap around the track before finishing, but he had opened enough ground on Rios to be safe and clear, finishing well ahead of the Spaniard. Asmerom and Shimizu came onto the track together; Asmerom put on a strong 300 m to pull away from Shimizu but almost lost it again in the final 100 m as Shimizu tried to come back with a sprint finish. Guta struggled in to a 5th place finish. Tomoya Shimizu overtook Makabe to finish 6th and put the brothers into a domestic 1-2 finish. His time of 2:12:30, while far off his debut time of 2:09:23 from last year, beat Masaya's previous PB by one second. Surprisingly, debutant Satoru Sasaki came back and also overtook Makabe to finish 7th, Makabe landing in 8th. 2008 Asian Marathon Champion Koichiro Fukuoka (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) was 9th, Onishi's junior teammate Shingo Sato rounding out the top ten.
(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Click photo for video highlights courtesy of NHK.Windy conditions kept times slow overall, but aging former world record holder Paul Tergat (Kenya) overcame his opponents in an international group of five to win the 2009 Biwako Mainichi Marathon in a time of 2:10:22, his first marathon win since the 2005 New York City Marathon and only the third marathon win of his career. Tergat dropped two-time Biwako winner Jose Rios (Spain) at the 41 km mark to seal his win after sitting in the pack for 29 km and then running with Rios, Yared Asmerom (Eritrea), Masaya Shimizu (Japan) and Abiyot Guta (Ethiopia) for 12 km. Rios finished 2nd in 2:10:36, with Asmerom just outkicking Shimizu for 3rd in 2:10:49.
In his post-race interview Tergat was pleased with his performance and showed his keen political sense as he commented, "I'm happy I won the race. It was a great competition with great athletes, and incredible that until 35 km we were about six athletes. Amazing was the young Japanese man [M. Shimizu], very strong, and I believe that he is the future. I don't want to say it was too slow because this was my first marathon of the year, and to be able to come all the way [from Kenya] I was very tired from the jetlag. There was some wind when we turned coming this way, a lot of wind coming toward us, but all in all it was a great competition."
As a domestic selection race for this summer's World Championships in Berlin, the top Japanese finisher in Biwako, also known as the Lake Biwa and Otsu marathon, was guaranteed a spot on the men's marathon team. With his 2:10:50 4th place finish, a PB by 1 minute and 41 seconds, Masaya Shimizu (Team Asahi Kasei) secured his place on the national team. Shimizu led most of the way after the three African pacemakers dropped out at 30 km, sparring with Asmerom all the way to the finish. "I'm happy I got a place for the World Championships, but I'm happier that I beat my brother since I'm the older one," he laughed after the race. Shimizu's twin Tomoya (Team Sagawa Express), who ran 2:09:23 in his debut marathon at last year's Biwako, was 6th in 2:12:30.
Asked about leading the windy last quarter of the race, Masaya Shimizu said, "I won Nobeoka a year ago in strong wind so I knew that I can run will in that type of condition. More than trying to be the top runner I was afraid of being caught by my brother, though, so that's why I led. I was tired but I don't like to show my fatigue so I just kept attacking. It was a great opportunity for me to go up against world-class runners. I knew their last spurts were coming but I think I hung on pretty well, and it gave me something to work with for next time."
Complete results with splits are available in English here.
2009 Biwako Mainichi Marathon - Top Finishers
1. Paul Tergat (Kenya) - 2:10:22
2. Jose Rios (Spain) - 2:10:36
3. Yared Asmerom (Eritrea) - 2:10:49
4. Masaya Shimizu (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:10:50 - PB
5. Abiyot Guta (Ethiopia) - 2:11:18
6. Tomoya Shimizu (Team Sagawa Kasei) - 2:12:30
7. Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:14:00 - debut
8. Takeshi Makabe (Team Kanebo) - 2:14:34 - debut
9. Koichiro Fukuoka (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 2:16:17
10. Shingo Sato (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:16:50
Detailed Report
Excellent conditions at the start gradually worsened as the wind picked up throughout the early afternoon. A group of four pacemakers, one Japanese, two Kenyan and one Tanzanian, took a large pack through an uneventful first 15 km in 45:22, clocking 5 km splits of 15:11, 15:03 and 15:08. All the major players, including the five overseas elites, last year's 4th place finisher Yuzo Onishi (Team Nissin Shokuhin), the Shimizu brothers and Masaya Shimizu's teammate Satoru Sasaki in his much-hyped marathon debut, were at the front of the pack of 35, which whittled down to 21 by the time pacemaker Naosato Yoshimura (Team Toyota) dropped out at 15 km.
Following Yoshimura's departure the pace slowed dramatically as the lead pack went through 20 km in 1:00:53, a 5 km split of 15:32, without losing a single runner. Halfway came in 1:04:18. Shortly afterwards runners began to lose contact, first a group of seven including Sasaki, then 2:08 men Kazutoshi Takatsuka (Team Komori Corp.) and Onishi. By 25 km there were nine competitors in the lead pack, the five overseas elites, the Shimizus, Takashi Ota (Team Konica Minolta), and Takeshi Makabe (Team Kanebo). While Ota was trying again to make the Berlin team after dropping out of last month's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Makabe, a 27-minute 10000 m runner and teammate of marathon national record holder Toshinari Takaoka, was running his debut.
As in Beppu-Oita, Ota lost contact just before 27 km. Tomoya Shimizu was the next to go, followed by Moroccan Abderrahim Bouramdane who dropped out at 30 km. Makabe drifted away at 29 km but stayed within sight until the very final section of the race. 30 km came in 1:31:18, a 5 km split of 15:16. When the three remaining pacemakers dropped out at this point there were five left in the lead pack, Masaya Shimizu, Asmerom, Rios, Tergat and Guta.
Shimizu immediately took the lead, beginning a chess game which lasted over the next 10 km. During this time the lead changed hands no less than 14 times, with Shimizu and Asmerom doing most of the work up front while the other three largely sat back. Surprisingly, although the pace appeared to have quickened during all the feints and parries the runners' times slowed dramatically. Announcers blamed a headwind as the group hit 35 km in 1:47:26, a split of 16:08, and 40 km in 2:03:36, an even slower mark of 16:10.
At 39.2 km Rios had had enough, making his claim for a third Biwako win as he abruptly pulled away. Asmerom quickly responded, with Tergat a little slower to catch up and Shimizu and Guta unable to handle the higher pace. Tergat overtook Asmerom and Rios at 39.7 km, Rios attempting to hang on but finally dropping away from the lead at 41 km. The top two positions looked settled, but further back Shimizu caught up to Asmerom as the pair approached the stadium for a last lap.
There was some confusion when Tergat entered the stadium as he apparently did not realize he had to run a lap around the track before finishing, but he had opened enough ground on Rios to be safe and clear, finishing well ahead of the Spaniard. Asmerom and Shimizu came onto the track together; Asmerom put on a strong 300 m to pull away from Shimizu but almost lost it again in the final 100 m as Shimizu tried to come back with a sprint finish. Guta struggled in to a 5th place finish. Tomoya Shimizu overtook Makabe to finish 6th and put the brothers into a domestic 1-2 finish. His time of 2:12:30, while far off his debut time of 2:09:23 from last year, beat Masaya's previous PB by one second. Surprisingly, debutant Satoru Sasaki came back and also overtook Makabe to finish 7th, Makabe landing in 8th. 2008 Asian Marathon Champion Koichiro Fukuoka (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) was 9th, Onishi's junior teammate Shingo Sato rounding out the top ten.
(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Comments