But in case you missed it, in March they announced that there would be a new Fukuoka International Marathon, seamlessly picking up where the old one left off. Same date, same course, same format, more or less the same name, but with original organizers the Asahi Newspaper having bowed out, nominally a "new" race instead of the 76th edition of the original.
The new race site has been very slim on details, but qualification standards and other concrete info has finally been posted, in Japanese only as of this writing, of course. A breakdown of the most important points:
- Date and time: Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022 at 12:10 p.m.
- Start and finish at historic Heiwadai Field
- Men only
- Entry standards are 2:24:00 and 1:04:00 since Dec. 1, 2019, with the field limited to the fastest 110 applicants with the marathon standard and the fastest 5 with the half marathon standard.
- Entry window opens at 13:00 on Monday, Sept. 12 and runs through 17:00 on Tuesday, Sept. 27.
- Entry fee: 16,500 JPY
- International entries are limited to those meeting the immigration restrictions Japan has in place as of the opening of entries on Sept. 12.
- International athletes wanting to enter should email elite@fukuoka-international-marathon.jp to get an entry form.
It's good news that Fukuoka is coming back, but while you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, so far it's hard to see how any of the problems that buried the old version are being solved. The date, 4 weeks before the New Year Ekiden corporate men's national championships, still makes it hard for most of Japan's top marathoners to run there. Look at the number of top-level Japanese men running in Berlin, London, Chicago and New York this fall for proof of that.
It also conflicts with the Valencia Marathon, which has quickly risen to become one of the best in the world. Apart from a few top invited athletes who are getting a good payday, how many Europeans or Africans would want to go all the way to Japan when there's a great race in Spain? One European who competed at the Oregon World Championships told JRN that while he's always wanted to run Fukuoka, knowing that all the Japanese men would basically go with the lead group at 3:00/km or faster was a major minus relative to Valencia, where there'd be support for a wider range of pacing.
And despite the name, there's still no real international aspect to it at all, not in the sense of what "international" means in English. Less than before, really, with even the info telling non-Japanese athletes who to contact to enter written only in Japanese. How long has it been since any international media was in Fukuoka for the race? A long time. Will that change this year? Doubtful. It's hard to see how the "new" race will survive, at least as anything more than a domestic event, but credit where it's due. At least they're making the effort. Let's hope it lasts, somehow.
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