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.
http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

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