Skip to main content

Kebede to Face Cheruiyot and Mogusu in Fukuoka

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20091120k0000m050095000c.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Nov. 19 the organizing committee for the 63rd annual Fukuoka International Marathon, a domestic selection race for next November's Asian Games in China, announced the elite field for this year's Dec. 6 race. The seven overseas invited elites are led by last year's winner, Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia). In Fukuoka last year Kebede set the course and Japanese all-comers' record of 2:06:10. In April he went on to finish 2nd in the London Marathon in a PB of 2:05:20, ranking him at #9 on the all-time list.

Among those facing Kebede are 2008 Chicago Marathon winner Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya), 2005 Fukuoka winner Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) and top Eritrean runner Yonas Kifle. Japan-based Kenyan Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem), a popular Hakone Ekiden star while at Yamanashi Gakuin University, will be making his marathon debut off his 59:48 half marathon best.

Alongside Mogusu in the domestic category, 2005 Helsinki World Championships marathon bronze medalist, 2004 Fukuoka winner and Beijing Olympian Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku) and last year's 4th place finisher and 2007 Osaka World Champioinships marathon team member Tomoyuki Sato (Team Asahi Kasei). The general division also includes standout runners such as Takayuki Ota (Team Fujitsu) in his marathon debut and Hakone Ekiden downhill specialist Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't). A total of 767 runners are entered in this year's race.

TV Asahi will broadcast the Fukuoka International Marathon live from 12:00 to 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 6. Check their Fukuoka website for more details. Overseas viewers should be able to watch live online for free using the Keyhole TV software available here.

2009 Fukuoka International Marathon - Elite Field
click here for athlete photos and more detailed profiles
1. Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) - 2:05:20 (London 2009)
2. Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya) - 2:06:25 (Chicago 2008)
3. Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) - 2:07:15 (Fukuoka 2006)
4. Yonas Kifle (Eritrea) - 2:07:34 (Amsterdam 2007)
21. Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:08:37 (Fukuoka 2003)
5. Jon Brown (Canada) - 2:09:31 (London 2005)
22. Tomoyuki Sato (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:09:43 (Tokyo Int'l 2004)
6. Kebede Tekeste (Ethiopia) - 2:09:49 (Boston 2009)
7. Oleg Kulkov (Russia) - 2:10:13 (Zurich 2009)
23. Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem) - debut - 59:48 (Marugame Half 2007)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Goto Drops 2nd-Straight WR - National Championships Day Three Highlights

Just over a month since his 17th birthday, Taiju Goto proved his 48.31 U18 WR in the men's 400 mH heats yesterday wasn't a fluke as he bettered that in the final on the last day of the 110th National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya. Slow in the start, Goto picked up momentum coming up to 200 m before really getting into gear, pulling away from the rest of the field in the last 100 m to win in 48.09, another U18 WR, a new U20 NR, and a run that made him the first high schooler ever to with the Nationals 400 mH. Now only 0.20 off the senior NR, Goto joins the list of Rakunan H.S. talent to be re-writing the record books that includes Yoshihide Kiryu , Ryuji Miura , Keita Sato and Toshinari Takaoka . Another Nationals MR went down, this one in the women's 3000 mSC thanks to NR holder Miu Saito . Having taken 3rd in the 5000 m 2 days ago, Saito started out a little on the conservative side with company from last year's winner Manami Nishiyama in the first 1000 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Goto Breaks 400 mH U18 WR - National Championships Day Two Highlights

The performance of the 2nd day of Japan's 110th National Track and Field Championships came c/o the latest monster to come out of Kyoto's Rakunan H.S. , 400 m hurdler Taiju Goto . In the opening round heats Goto, who turned 17 last month, closed hard to win his heat in 48.31, a PB by nearly a second and the fastest-ever U18 time anywhere in the world. And at only 0.42 off the senior NR held by the great Dai Tamesue , there's a lot of optimism for more in the final and the rest of the season. Another great performance came in the men's 200 m heats, where Soshi Mizukubo moved up to all-time #2 on the Japanese lists with a 20.07 (+0.5) PB to win Heat 3, 0.04 off another antique NR held by another legend, Shingo Suetsugu . By comparison the 100 m seemed pretty tame, with veteran Shuhei Tada scoring his first national title in 5 years in only 10.17 (+0.1) in what seems like an off-year for the event in Japan. After leading the women's 200 m heats in 23.01 (+0.1) Abiga...
Post a Comment
Read more