Skip to main content

Tsegaye Kebede Makes History in Fukuoka

Kebede makes history. Click photo for video highlights of the 2009 Fukuoka International Marathon. Click here for lo-res version.


by Brett Larner

Beijing Olympics and Berlin World Championships double bronze medalist, defending champion and Japanese all-comers record holder Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia lived up to expectations and more with a history-making 2:05:18 win at the 2009 Fukuoka International Marathon. Kebede's time was a PB by two seconds and a new course and new Japanese all-comers record, no doubt pleasing race organizers and his accountant by keeping Fukuoka among the world's very best courses. Most significantly, though, Kebede's performance was the 10th of the year to break 2:06, the first time the top ten fastest times of the year have cleared this former barrier. Coming in the last first-rate marathon of the year worldwide, it seals 2009 as the start of a new era in men's marathoning.

Kebede breaks the sound barrier. Click photo for more great pictures, detailed splits and more from race broadcaster TV Asahi's Fukuoka website.

Japanese ace Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu), acting as pacemaker, took the pack through 5 km right on 3:00/km pace. Shortly afterwards fellow pacemakers Samson Ramadhani (Tanzania) and John Kales (Kenya) picked things up to 2:57, leading away a pack of six: Kebede, Ethiopians Tekeste Kebede and Dereje Tesfaye, 2005 Fukuoka winner Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine), 2008 Chicago Marathon winner Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya) and Japan-resident marathon debutant Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem). Mitsuya held on at a credible 3:00 pace leading a pack of five: Japanese runners Tomoyuki Sato (Team Asahi Kasei) and Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.), Russian Oleg Kulkov, Korean Kyo-Jick Lee, and Kenyan first-timer Joseph Gitau (Team JFE Steel).

After a moderate 1:03:05 first half, exactly on pace to match his 2:06:10 course and Japanese all-comers record from last year's Fukuoka, Tsegaye Kebede broke away with a slowly building surge from 27 km. To the disappointment of Japanese fans, the popular Mogusu was the first to falter, dropping back at 26 km and eventually out at 31 km. Cheruiyot and Baranovskyy were the next to lose touch, leaving the three Ethiopians up front. In the second pack things strung out after halfway, Lee dropping out at 25 km and Gitau and talented amateur Kawauchi losing contact. As the only elite Japanese runner in the field, stalwart 2:09 man Sato pressed ahead on track for a sizeable PB.

After 30 km only his training partner Dereje Tesfaye could keep up with Tsegaye Kebede's continuous acceleration, pacing him through 32 km before losing touch. You could almost see the checklist going through his mind as Kebede ran on over the final 10 km: "First 2:05 in Japan, check. PB, check. 2:04: question mark." In the end the PB was as far as he went, and barely. He had to run the final lap of the track in 66 seconds to get there, but he made it. In his post-race interview Kebede was elated, animated and charismatic, pointing first to the clock and then to himself as he posed for pictures.

Tesfaye faded to 4th but ran a solid PB of 2:08:36. Overtaking him were Tekeste Kebede, creating no end of headaches for broadcasters by running a 2-minute PB of 2:07:52 for 2nd (A Kebede 1-2 finish!), and 2005 winner Baranovskyy, who ecstatically beat his Fukuoka-winning time with his 2nd-best-ever mark of 2:08:19. Cheruiyot came in slow for 5th in an unremarkable 2:09:46, failing again to capitalize on the promise of his 2:06:25 in the heat of the 2008 Chicago Marathon.

In the second pack things got ugly. Sato did his best to live up to the pressure of being the top Japanese man in the field but couldn't sustain the strain of his 1:03:35 first half, staggering in to an agonizing 2:23:59 31st-place finish back among the amateurs. The little-known Tadashi Shitamori (Team Yasukawa Denki) came up through the pack after a modest 1:04:52 first half to take the top Japanese spot, 9th overall in 2:14:42. Whether he is selected for next year's Asian Games national team on such a performance remains to be seen. Takayuki Ota (Team Fujitsu) was the 2nd Japanese runner, 11th in 2:15:23.

More notable, perhaps, were the 3rd and 4th Japanese runners, amateurs Kawauchi, 13th in 2:17:33, and Nobuaki Takata (Hirakata Masters AC), 14th in 2:19:00. Kawauchi was clearly in trouble at 25 km after a screaming (for an amateur) 1:03:44 first half just 31 seconds off his half-marathon PB, but gutted out a 45 second PB in his third marathon of the year. Takata, aka the Tokyo Marathon Man in the Wig, ran with seriousness and focus through a 1:08:10 first half en route to a 31 second PB. 60+ world record holder Yoshihisa Hosaka (Natural Foods), dealing with seasonal asthma, banged out a 1:15:48 first half before struggling in to a 2:40:39.

Sitting on the sidelines, Mogusu was a sad figure. An undeniably talented runner with his own drive and motivations, Mogusu seemed to lack the fire that made him so popular as a Hakone Ekiden star. His predecessor at Yamanashi Gakuin University, Ombeche Mokamba (Kenya), went on to train solo at the non-ekiden-oriented Team Aidem but never acheived any marathon results worthy of his name. Mogusu's throroughly lackluster debut raises the depressing spectre that he may follow Mokamba down the same road.

2009 Fukuoka International Marathon - Top Finishers
click here for complete results in English
1. Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) - 2:05:18 - PB, CR, Japanese all-comers record
2. Tekeste Kebede (Ethiopia) - 2:07:52 - PB
3. Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) - 2:08:19
4. Dereje Tesfaye (Ethiopia) - 2:08:36 - PB
5. Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya) - 2:09:46
6. Luis Feiteira (Portugal) - 2:13:07
7. Oleg Kulkov (Russia) - 2:13:49
8. Harun Njoroge (Team Komori Corp.) - 2:14:17 - debut
9. Tadashi Shitamori (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 2:14:42
10. Vitaliy Shafar (Ukraine) - 2:15:07
11. Takayuki Ota (Team Fujitsu) - 2:15:23 - PB
12. Thomas Payn (U.K.) - 2:17:29
13. Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama T&F Assoc.) - 2:17:33 - PB
14. Nobuaki Takata (Hirakata Masters AC) - 2:19:00 - PB
-----
278. Yoshihisa Hosaka (Natural Foods) - 2:40:39
DNF - Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem)

(c) 2009 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shikama and Njeri Win Sendai International Half Marathon

Shunsuke Shikama (Logisteed) and Tabitha Njeri Kamau (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) won the Sendai International Half Marathon Sunday in Sendai, Shikama in 1:01:31 and Njeri in 1:09:20. Mizuki Nishimura (Tenmaya) was the top Japanese woman at 2nd overall. The men's race went through 5 km in 14:34 and 10 km in 29:22. Shikama ran alongside top competition including Shoki Yamaguchi (Soka Univ.), who has been running well in half marathons this season, and Tokyo World Championships marathon team member Naoki Koyama (Honda). On a course with many small ups and downs, Shikama attacked on a downhill just after 15 km, quickly breaking free of the lead group of 7. 13 seconds up by 20 km, Shikama covered the last 1.0975 km in 3:06 to seal his first Sendai title. A graduate of Juntendo University , Shikama is in his 4th season with Logisteed. At the 2024 National Corporate Half Marathon he ran 1:00:41, and at last year's East Japan Corporate Ekiden he won the Third Stage. In his marathon d...
Post a Comment
Read more