With the Fukuoka International Marathon returning Sunday under new management we wanted to revisit the documentary JRN produced last year, Inside the Outside - When the World Came to Fukuoka, looking back at its 75-year history as it came to end. We talked to 75 international athletes who ran Fukuoka over the decades, including dozens of legends of the sport -- all but one of the world record holders to have run Fukuoka, all but one of the Olympic medalists to have run it, all but two of the living non-Japanese winners, and many more -- about their memories of the race and thoughts about it ending. Two of the participants, Luiz Antonio dos Santos of Brazil and Kenny Moore of the U.S.A., have passed away since recording their parts. We even produced a Japanese-language version too. It was a massive project, but it needed to be done.
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...

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