Skip to main content

Fukuoka International Marathon Preview


All good things must pass. Tomorrow is the final running of the Fukuoka International Marathon, Japan's most iconic marathon and last remaining elite men-only race. On paper it has a field to rival the one that broke records at February's final running of the Lake Biwa Marathon, and with excellent conditions on the forecast and the attitude on display at the pre-race press conference it looks like Fukuoka might get the sendoff it deserves. 

Former half marathon and marathon NR holder Yuta Shitara (Honda) was confident and mature in his answers at the presser, saying his training has been the same as in previous marathons, that he is in Fukuoka to win, and that he plans to run a controlled first half and then push the second. Shitara also announced a sponsor change from Nike, which which he's had a relationship since college, to Puma. Shitara's twin brother Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu), 2:12:13 in Tokyo last year, is also in the race, creating the likelihood that fans will get to see  them running together for at least part of the way.

The current fastest man in the field, Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Harima), 2:06:35 at Lake Biwa, looked and sounded strong, echoing Shitara in saying he is here to win, whatever time that takes, and saying that he hopes to be on Japan's team for the Oregon World Championships next summer. Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei), 2:07:12 at Lake Biwa, also had a glow of onness, saying he had built on his training and is in shape to win.

Ryu Takaku (Yaklut), 2:06:45 in Tokyo last year, was one of the few to mention a specific time goal, saying his targets were to beat his college teammate Shitara and Shitara's old NR of 2:06:11. Shohei Otsuka (Kyudenko), 2:07:38 in Fukuoka last year, said he is aiming for 2:06:50, having done exactly the same training that worked for him last year.

So it sounds like things should be on up front and that there's a good chance we should at least see a shot at the fastest-ever Japanese time on the course, Atsushi Fujita"s 2:06:51 from 2000. Lots of fast guys like Daisuke Uekado (Otsuka Seiyaku), 2:06:54 in Tokyo just behind Takaku, and Toshiki Sadakata (Mitsubishi Juko), 2:07:05 in the same race, weren't at the press conference, so there's an equally good chance that someone else could be the one to drop the big time. Arata Fujiwara, coach of Japan-based Kenyan Michael Githae, told JRN that Githae, who has worked his way up the Fukuoka podium the last few years to 4th last year, is in good enough shape to win, so after three years in a row with Japanese winners Fukuoka might even go out with one last international winner. 

JRN is on-site in Fukuoka to cover the race's final edition live and shoot the final scene for our documentary on Fukuoka's international history. In terms of options for following the race from outside Japan, we'll be covering the race on @JRNLive. 5 km splits will be up here. It doesn't look like there's an official stream, but mov3.co might work. It's hard to believe this is really it, but let's hope Fukuoka has the same kind of punctuation to its history that Japan gave to Lake Biwa.

75th Fukuoka International Marathon

Elite Field Highlights
Fukuoka, 6 Dec. 2021
times listed are best in last three years except where noted

Kyohei Hosoya (Kurosaki Hariima) - 2:06:35 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Ryu Takaku (Yakult) - 2:06:45 (Tokyo 2020)
Daisuke Uekado (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:06:54 (Tokyo 2020)
Toshiki Sadakata (Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:07:05 (Tokyo 2020)
Shuho Dairokuno (Asahi Kasei) - 2:07:12 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Yuki Kawauchi (ANDS) - 2:07:27 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Shohei Otsuka (Kyudenko) - 2:07:38 (Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Masaru Aoki (Kanebo) - 2:07:40 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Yuta Shitara (Honda) - 2:07:45 (Tokyo 2020)
Atsumi Ashiwa (Honda) - 2:07:54 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Natsuki Terada (JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:08:03 (Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Kento Otsu (Toyota Kyushu) - 2:08:15 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Michael Githae (Kenya/Suzuki) - 2:08:17 (Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Junichi Tsubouchi (Kurosaki Harima) - 2:08:35 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Yuji Iwata (Mitsubishi Juko) - 2:08:45 (Tokyo 2020)
Kazuma Kubo (Nishitetsu) - 2:08:53 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Kenta Murayama (Asahi Kasei) - 2:08:56 (Berlin 2019)
Chihiro Miyawaki (Toyota) - 2:09:04 (Tokyo 2020)
Kohei Futaoka (Chudenko) - 2:09:15 (Beppu-Oita 2019)
Shoma Yamamoto (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:09:18 (Lake Biwa 2020)
Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Mie T&F Assoc.) - 2:09:26 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Yoshiki Takenouchi (NTT Nishi Nihon) - 2:09:31 (Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Takahiro Nakamura (Kyocera Kagoshima) - 2:09:40 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Paul Kuira (Kenya/JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:09:57 (Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Jo Fukuda (NN Running Team) - 2:10:32 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Ryota Komori (NTN) - 2:10:33 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Yuki Nakamura (Sumitomo Denko) - 2:10:47 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Takuma Shibata (Komori Corp.) - 2:10:48 (Hofu 2020)
Koshiro Hirata (SG Holdings) - 2:10:50 (Lake Biwa 2021)
Shota Saito (JFE Steel) - 2:10:50 (Beppu-Oita 2020)
Asuka Tanaka (Runlife) - 2:11:07 (Fukuoka Int'l 2020)
Taiki Suzuki (Eldoreso) - 2:12:09 (Fukuoka Int'l 2019)
Keita Shitara (Hitachi Butsuryu) - 2:12:13 (Tokyo 2020)
James Gitahi Rungaru (Kenya/Chuo Hatsujo) - 2:12:54 (Hofu 2020)
Daniel Muiva Kitonyi (Kenya/Track Tokyo) - 2:14:41 (Nagano 2019)

Deubt
Nicholas Mboroto Kosimbei (Kenya/YKK) - 1:00:21 (Lisbon Half 2019)

photo © 2021 Mika Tokairin, all rights reserved
text © 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
3 comments
Read more

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...
1 comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more