by Brett Larner The first Sunday in February is one of the busiest days in the elite Japanese racing world. Three major events take place across the country, the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, the Ome Marathon 30 km road race, and the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon. The Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon has historically been one Japan's top marathons, having seen four sub-2:09 performances and one world record, and sometimes serving as a selection race for Olympics and World Championships teams. This year Betsudai, as the race is commonly known, was not chosen as an Olympic selection race; as a result the field is somewhat softer than usual. The top domestic marathoner in the field is Team Kanebo's Michitane Noda with a PB of 2:09:58 from the 2003 Fukuoka International Marathon; Team Fujitsu's Takayuki Ota has been running well of late and looks set to make a mark in his debut marathon. Overseas contenders include four-time Chunchon Marathon winner Elijah Mutai of Kenya, Rugger...
the world's window into elite japanese distance running, since 2007