Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field

The first men's race in the Final Challenge wildcard series to steal the third spot on the Sapporo 2020 Olympic marathon team from national record holder Suguru Osako (ex-Nike Oregon Project), the Dec. 1 Fukuoka International Marathon has brought in just the right people to support any Japanese men ambitious enough to take a shot at breaking Osako's record. You've got 2:05:26 Moroccan El Mahjoub Dazza and pacing from longtime Japanese resident and newly minted 2:05:53 man Bedan Karoki among others. Add in Seville winner Tsedat Abeje Ayana of Ethiopia, Belgian European marathon champion Koen Naert, Pan-Am Games champ Christian Pacheco of Peru, debuting Kenyan Shadrack Kiplagat and a few others and it's a quality field up front to be sure.

Just about the only two Japanese men in the field who might give the Final Challenge a serious swing is Taku Fujimoto, a Toyota teammate and training partner of last year's winner Yuma Hattori with a 2:07:57 best to his name last year in Chicago that was mostly overlooked behind Osako's NR. Yuki Sato went through halfway in Tokyo in 1:02:04 this spring and so looks to at least be motivated to go for it, but the main question is whether they can bounce back this quickly from running September's MGC Race Olympic trials.

Apart from a few other 2:09 guys, one of the other more interesting Japanese faces in the field is Hisanori Kitajima, a 2:09:16 runner who represented Japan at the Rio Olympics and has been mostly out of commission since then. Is he back, or is this one final run before he hangs them up? The other interesting one is Keita Shitara, twin brother of former marathon national record holder Yuta Shitara. Keita was the stronger in university, but so far he has struggled to match Yuta's trailblazing corporate career. He ran a 2:14:41 PB in Tokyo this spring but still has a ways to go to live up to his brother's prediction that the only Japanese men who could break Osako's NR are Osaka, Yuta and Keita.

Check back closer to race date for info on live streaming options and other ways to follow the race.

73rd Fukuoka International Marathon

Entry List Highlights
Fukuoka, 12/1/19
complete field listing
times listed are best in last 3 years except where noted

El Mahjoub Dazza (Morocco) - 2:05:26 (Valencia 2018)
Tsedat Abeje Ayana (Ethiopia) - 2:06:36 (Seville 2019)
Koen Naert (Belgium) - 2:07:39 (Rotterdam 2019)
Taku Fujimoto (Japan) - 2:07:57 (Chicago 2018)
Raymond Kipchumba Choge (Kenya) - 2:08:11 (Kosice 2018)
Abdi Ibrahim Abdo (Bahrain) - 2:08:32 (Rome 2018)
Yuki Sato (Japan) - 2:08:58 (Tokyo 2018)
Hisanori Kitajima (Japan) - 2:09:16 (Lake Biwa 2016)
Yuki Kawauchi (Japan) - 2:09:18 (Gold Coast 2017)
Michael Githae (Kenya) - 2:09:21 (Lake Biwa 2018)
Amanuel Mesel (Eritrea) - 2:09:22 (Fukuoka Int'l 2017)
Christian Pacheco (Peru) - 2:09:31 (Pan-Am Games 2019)
Jo Fukuda (Japan) - 2:09:52 (Gold Coast 2018)
Taiga Ito (Japan) - 2:10:52 (Beppu-Oita 2017)
Tadashi Suzuki (Japan) - 2:12:09 (Shizuoka 2017)
Takashi Ichida (Japan) - 2:12:32 (Fukuoka Int'l 2018)
Jong-Sub Shim (South Korea) -2:12:57 (Seoul 2019)
Jae-Hoon Kim (South Korea) - 2:13:24 (Seoul 2018)
Muryo Takase (Japan) - 2:13:28 (Lake Biwa 2019)
Kazuya Ishida (Japan) - 2:13:50 (Tokyo 2018)
Kansuke Morihashi (Japan) - 2:14:17 (Hokkaido 2019)
Abdi Hakin Ulad (Denmark) - 2:14:22 (London World Champs 2017)
Ben St. Lawrence (Australia) - 2:14:27 (Gold Coast 2019)
Yuya Asaka (Japan) - 2:14:31 (Tokyo 2018)
Saeki Makino (Japan) - 2:14:36 (Seoul 2019)
Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Kenya) - 2:14:41 (Nagano 2019)
Keita Shitara (Japan) - 2:14:41 (Tokyo 2019)
Kenichi Jiromaru (Japan) - 2:14:48 (Tokyo 2018)
Takamitsu Hashimoto (Japan) - 2:14:53 (Beppu-Oita 2018)
Thomas Do Canto (Australia) - 2:14:59 (Fukuoka Int'l 2017)

Debut
Shadrack Kiplagat (Kenya) - 1:00:06 (Prague Half 2018)
Taiki Suzuki (Japan) - 1:03:21 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2018)

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

19-Yr-Old Munakata Breaks Miura's U20 NR to Win Ageo City Half Marathon

The Ageo City Half Marathon is always big, the main race that the coaches of Hakone Ekiden-bound university men's teams use for firming up their entry rosters for the big show. That makes what's basically an idyllic small town race into one of the world's great road races, with depth unmatched anywhere. One of the top-tier people on the start list at 1:02:07, Kodai Miyaoka (Hosei Univ.) took the race out fast, but the entire pack was keying off the fastest man in the race, Reishi Yoshida (Chuo Gakuin Univ.), 1:00:31. Yoshida reeled Miyaoka in before 5 km and kept things steady in the low-1:01 range, wearing down the lead group to around 10 including his CGU teammate Taisei Ichikawa , a quartet from Izumo and National University Ekiden runner-up Komazawa University , 2 runners from local Daito Bunka University , 2:07:54 marathoner Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda), and Australian Ed Goddard . Right after 15 km Komazawa went into action, Yudai Kiyama , Hibiki Murakami and Haru Tanin

Ageo City Half Marathon Preview and Streaming

This weekend's big race is the Ageo City Half Marathon , the next stop on the collegiate men's circuit. Most of the universities bound for the Jan. 2-3 Hakone Ekiden use Ageo to thin down the list of contenders for their final Hakone rosters, and with JRN's development program that sends the first two Japanese collegiate finishers in Ageo to the United Airlines NYC Half every year a lot of coaches put in some of their A-listers too. That gives Ageo legendary depth and fast front-end speed, with a 1:00:47 course record last year from Kenyan corporate leaguer Paul Kuira (JR Higashi Nihon) and the top 26 all clearing 63 minutes. Since a lot of programs just enter everybody on their rosters you never really know who on the entry list is actually going to show up, but if even a quarter of the people at the top end of this year's list run it'll be a great race, even if conditions are looking likely to be a bit warmer than ideal. Chuo Gakuin University 's Reishi Yoshi

10000 m NR Attempt In the Works Saturday at Hachioji Long Distance - Streaming and Preview

There are a bunch of other time trial meets this weekend and next, but Saturday's Hachioji Long Distance is the last big meet for Japanese men, 8 heats of Wavelight-paced 10000 m finely graded from target times of 28:50 down to 26:59 for the fastest heat. Heat 6 at 17:55 local time is effectively the B-race, with 35 Japan-based Kenyans targeting 27:10 at the front end, and in a lot of cases a spot on their teams at the New Year Ekiden national championship on Jan. 1. Corporate teams are only allowed to field one non-Japanese athlete in the New Year Ekiden, and only on its shortest stage, and getting to that has a big impact on African athletes' contracts and renewal prospects. Toyota Boshoku , Yasukawa Denki , Chugoku Denryoku , Aisan Kogyo , JR Higashi Nihon , Subaru and 2024 national champion Toyota are all fielding two Kenyans, and Aichi Seiko three. For people like Toyota's Felix Korir and Samuel Kibathi , getting as close to the 27:10 target time as they can and

japan running news

Search This Blog