Gert Thys (RSA) (© Getty Images)
Oita Mainichi Marathon will be held on Sunday 5 February on the out and back course from Oita to Beppu.
The race is known in Japan as the “Marathon for the Rookies.” Several world class marathon runners have made their marathon debut in Beppu-Oita Marathon. For example, in 1991, Koichi Morishita, who went on to win a silver medal at the 1992 Olympic Marathon, made his marathon debut in the Beppu-Oita. He won with a then course record, 2:08:53, and it was also the national marathon debut record. In 1985, Hiromi Taniguchi, the 1991 World Championships Marathon, also won his debut marathon in Beppu-Oita Marathon.
The foreign challengers
Besides six pace makers, eleven runners – six from abroad – have been invited to the Sunday’s race. Gert Thys of South Africa is the fastest runner in the field, from when winning the 1999 Tokyo Marathon with 2:06:33, his personal best (PB). Thys won the 45th edition of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon in 1996 in 2:08:30 which stands as the current course record, and more recently, was second in the 2005 Seoul Dong-A Marathon in 2:11:45, a race which he won in 2003 (2:08:42).
The second fastest runner in the field is Mohamed Ouaadi of France, who recorded 2:07:55 in the 1999 Fukuoka Marathon, when he finished close second to the future World and Olympic Marathon champion, Gezhegne Abera of Ethiopia. However, despite winning the 2000 Paris race (2:08:49), being fourth in the 2001 Chicago (2:08:29) and 2002 New York Marathon (2:08:53), and second in the 2002 Lake Biwa Marathon (2:09:00), he has not done anything significant recently.
Other invited runners from abroad are Benjamin Kipchumba of Kenya, who was second in the 2004 Milan Marathon (2:09:23 PB) and won the Nairobi Marathon (2:11:50) in the same year, and Vladimir Tsiamchyk of Belarus who has the personal best of 2:11:38 from finishing fourth in the 2002 Eindhoven Marathon.
Home hopes
Turning our attention to the Japanese, Thys is not the only former champion returning to Beppu-Oita Marathon. Takayuki Nishida, who won the 50th edition of the Beppu-Oita Marathon, is returning to the site of his 2001 victory. Nishida, the fastest Japanese in the field with the personal best of 2:08:45, was ninth in Edmonton in 2001, but has not run any good marathons lately. He was 19th in the 2004 Tokyo Marathon with 2:15:29 and 35th in the 2005 Lake Biwa Marathon with 2:20:30. He is coached by legendary marathon runner Toshihiko Seko, who won the Fukuoka, Tokyo, Chicago, London, and Boston marathons in his career.
The next two fastest Japanese in the field are Tomoyuki Sato (2:09:43 PB – Tokyo 2004) and Yohei Sato (2:10:43 PB - 2003 Beppu-Oita).
Kodai Fukunaga and Kazuyuki Maeda are another two runners to look out for, both of whom are coached by renowned trainers. Fukunaga who won his debut at the 2005 Nobeoka Marathon in 2:13:09 is coached by Koichi Morishita, Olympic marathon silver medallist and the 1991 Beppu-Oita Marathon champion, while Maeda who is making his marathon debut is coached by Katsumi Sakai, who coached Eric Wainaina of Kenya to two consecutive Olympic Marathon medals – bronze in Atlanta and silver in Sydney.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
List of Invited Runners:
Name-Personal Best-Venue
Gert Thys (RSA) 2:06:33 1999 Tokyo
Benjamin Kipchumba (KEN) 2:09:23 2004 Milano
Mohamed Ouaadi (FRA) 2:07:55 1999 Fukuoka
Vladimir Tsiamchyk (BLR) 2:11:38 2002 Eindhoven Ning Zhaofeng (CHN)
Lee Myong Ki (KOR)
Pace makers
Benson Cherono (KEN) 2:10:01 2005 San Diego
Teodoro Vega (MEX) 27:37.49 10000m in 2004
Jason Mbote (KEN) 2:13:42 2004 Berlin
Japanese:
Tomoyuki Sato (Asahi Kasei) 2:09:43 2004 Tokyo
Yohei Sato (Kanebo) 2:10:43 2003 Beppu-Oita
Takayuki Nishida (S&B) 2:08:45 2001 Beppu-Oita
Kodai Fukunaga (Toyota Kyushu) 2:13:09 2005 Nobeoka
Kazuyuki Maeda (Konica-Minolta) Debut
Pace makers
Ken-ichi Shiraishi
Mitsuru Kubota
Seiji Kushibe
