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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

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