Haile Gebrselassie on course at the Berlin Marathon (© Victah Sailer)
The 60th Fukuoka International Marathon, which doubles as the 90th national championships, is being held in Fukuoka, Japan, this Sunday 3 December 2006.
The race is one of the selection competitions for the national team for next year’s World Championships in Athletics in Osaka. The first Japanese home, if he runs under 2:09:30, will be automatically selected for the Japanese marathon team.
Click here for previous story - Gebrselassie targets Fukuoka Marathon in December
Two of the best marathon runners in the world are invited to this year’s race. Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie, the fastest marathon runner for the last two years will be joined by the two-time World Marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, and then there are a number of other invited runners to consider including the defending champion Dmytro Baranovsky of Ukraine.
Two-time World champion faces year’s fastest marathoner
Gebrselassie, of course, is the two-time Olympic and four-time World champion at 10,000m. In the 2002 London Marathon, which was his serious debut at the marathon, Gebrselassie was third with 2:06:35. Last year he won the Amsterdam Marathon with 2:06:20, the fastest time of the year, and while he was ninth in the London Marathon with 2:09:05, he rallied his season and won the Berlin Marathon with 2:05:56, the fastest time of 2006.
The 2001 World champion at Half Marathon, Gebrselassie has excelled at that distance this year, setting the World record of 58:55 in Phoenix in January, and in the process breaking the 20km mark too (55:48). Calculating from his 10000m best of 26:22.75 and the half marathon best of 58:55, Gebrselassie should be able to run the marathon faster than the world record of 2:04:55. In the Berlin race, where he was well under the World record pace, Gebrselassie slowed to 15:21 for the 5Km between 35Km to 40Km, and thus fell behind.
Two-time World marathon Champion Jaouad Gharib made his marathon debut at the 2003 Rotterdam Marathon, where he was sixth with 2:09:15. On his next marathon, at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, he surged away convincingly covering the 5Km from 30Km to 35Km in 14:44 and the 5Km from 35Km to 40Km in 14:49. He won the race in a championship record of 2:08:31.
Gharib was third at the 2004 London Marathon, 11th in the Olympic Games, and second in the 2005 London Marathon, and successfully defended the World title in 2005 in Helsinki. This year, Gharib was eighth in the 2006 London Marathon with 2:08:45. Although Gharib’s track best is far slower than that of Gebrselassie, he still has very respectable personal bests – 13:19.69 for the 5000m and 27:29.51 for the 10,000m.
More than just a simple two-man duel
Other invited runners from abroad are Paul Biwott of Kenya, Dmytro Baranovsky of Ukraine, Jon Brown of Great Britain and Luc Krotwaar of the Netherlands.
Paul Biwott, who was second in the 2005 Paris Marathon with 2:08:17, was seventh at the 2005 World Championships. In 2005 he improved his marathon personal best by over two minutes. He also ran the Fukuoka Marathon last year, but dropped out.
Dmytro Baranovsky is the defending champion, having won the last year’s race with 2:08:29, which was her personal best by over three minutes. His previous best was 2:11:57 from the 2005 Hamburg Marathon. More recently Baranovsky was third in the Vienna Marathon with 2:10:56.
Jon Brown has twice finished fourth at the Olympic Games. His personal best was set in the 2005 London marathon when he was sixth with 2:09:31. Last week in Chiba Ekiden Brown covered the 10Km stage in 29:27.
Luc Krotwaar, who was 11th at the 2003 Fukuoka marathon with 2:10:13, was fifteenth at the 2005 World Championships marathon. More recently he was fourth at the marathon in the 2006 European Championships.
The local assault
Six Japanese runners in the field have broken 2:10 barrier, and they most likely will be fighting for the marathon team positions. Four of them, Tsuyoshi Ogata, Toshinari Suwa, Atsushi Fujita and Wataru Okutani, have international marathon team experience.
Although Ogata recorded 2:08:37 in the 2003 Fukuoka Marathon, he was only sixth and thus missed making the Olympic marathon team. A year later, however, he won the 2004 Fukuoka Marathon with 2:09:10 and made the World Championships marathon team. In Helsinki, Ogata won the individual bronze medal. Toshinari Suwa was second in the 2003 Fukuoka marathon with 2:07:55, which qualified him for the 2004 Olympic marathon team. In Athens, Suwa was sixth. More recently in the 2005 London Marathon, Suwa was seventh with 2:10:23.
Atsushi Fujita is a former national marathon record holder at 2:06:51, a time set in the 2000 Fukuoka Marathon when he surged away from 2000 Olympic winner Gezehegne Abera in the final Km. It is still a course record. He may be the most dedicated marathon runner in Japan. Fujita made two World Championships teams, in 1999 and 2001. He was sixth in 1999 and 12th in 2001. Fujita, who was third in the last year’s Fukuoka Marathon with 2:09:48, run 28:31.45 for the 10,000m in October.
Wataru Okutani finished fourth at the 2005 Lake Biwa Marathon with a personal best of 2:09:13 and thus selected for the World Championships marathon team. In Helsinki, Okutani moved up steadily during the last part of the race and finished 14th. He was also 14th at 5000m in the 1994 World Junior Championships, and 40th in the 2003 World Half Marathon Championships.
After running two successive sub-2:10 marathons – 2:09:25 in the 2004 Lake Biwa Marathon and 2:09:18 in the 2005 Lake Biwa Marathon, Yuko Matsumiya’s next marathon is awaited with much anticipation. In fact, for many years, because they excelled in ekiden, the Matsumiya twins were expected to be next great marathon stars. However, so far neither Yuko nor Takayuki has delivered what was expected of them. Takayuki Matsumiya is of course the World record holder at 30Km, but Yuko, who will be running in Fukuoka, has better credentials at the marathon.
Other possible challengers
A few more top distance runners, although not a part of invited runners, are in the field. They are Michael Aish, Fernando Cabada and Laban Kagika. Aish has a 10,000m best of 27:53.28, while Cabada is the US 25Km record (1:14:21) holder. In the 2001 Fukuoka Marathon Laban Kagika led from 25Km to 36Km and eventually finished fourth in 2:10:24. Finally Takanobu Otsubo, who has the half marathon best of 1:01:55 and was 17th at the 2005 World Half Marathon Championships, is the fastest policeman in Japan.
‘The Rabbits’
Three pace setters are Samson Ramadahni, Isaac Macharia and Fabiano Joseph. Ramadahni and Macharia also set the pace last year, and both have won marathons in Japan. Ramadahni won the 2003 Beppu-Oita marathon, while Macharia won the 2005 Nagano marathon. The third pace setter Joseph, the 2005 World Half marathon champion, was 10th in this year’s Amsterdam marathon.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Invited Runners
Name/Personal Best/Venue
Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) 2:05:56 2006 Berlin
Jaouad Gharib (MAR) 2:07:02 2004 London
Paul Biwott (KEN) 2:08:17 2005 Paris
Dmytro Baranovsky (UKR) 2:08:29 2005 Fukuoka
Jon Brown (GBR) 2:09:31 2005 London
Luc Krotwaar (NED) 2:10:13 2003 Fukuoka
Japanese:
Wataru Okutani 2:09:13 2005 Lake Biwa
Yuko Matsumiya 2:09:18 2005 Lake Biwa
Atsushi Fujita 2:06:51 2000 Fukuoka
Toshiya Katayama 2:10:12 2005 Lake Biwa
Toshinari Suwa 2:07:55 2003 Fukuoka
Tsuyoshi Ogata 2:08:37 2003 Fukuoka
Tomoyuki Sato 2:09:43 2004 Tokyo
Pace Makers:
Samson Ramadahni (TAN) 2:08:01 2003 London
Isaac Macharia (KEN) 2:10:59 2005 Nagano
Fabiano Joseph (TAN) 2:13:24 2006 Amsterdam
Other notable runners:
Michael Aish (NZL)
Fernando Cabada (USA) Debut
Daisuke Isomatsu (JPN) 2:11:42 2003 Fukuoka
Laban Kagika (KEN) 2:10:24 2001 Fukuoka
Takanobu Otsubo (JPN) Debut
