Toshinari Takaoka sprints home in Edmonton (© Getty Images)
The 2005 Tokyo International Marathon will take place this Sunday (13 Feb) on an out-and-back course starting at the national stadium in the Japanese capital.
Two in one
The race will double as the 89th national championships and is also one of the qualifying races to select the Marathon team for the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. Actually what is usually known as the Tokyo International Marathon is really two separate races, with different set of sponsors and televised by different networks. In the odd year, including this year, the official name of the race is Tokyo-New York Friendships Tokyo International Marathon, while on every even year the race is simply known as the Tokyo International marathon. Both races are run on exactly the same course.
This year’s race was originally billed as a showdown between Toshinari Takaoka, national marathon record holder and Atsushi Sato, an up and coming marathon runner with the most potential of the current crop in Japan. But unfortunately, Sato has over-trained and has now at this late stage pulled out of the race.
Dreaming of Helsinki
So the focus of the race has shifted to the question of, can Toshinari Takaoka finally win a marathon? Takaoka, a quadruple national record holder including the marathon (2:06:16), has the fastest personal best in the field. However, despite running 2:09, 2:06, 2:07 and 2:07 in his four marathon starts, Takaoka has yet to win the marathon finishing third in each of his four marathon starts. After failing to make the Olympic team in the 2003 Fukuoka marathon qualifying race, he later failed in his attempt to improve national marathon record at the 2004 Chicago Marathon. So Takaoka now has as is goal winning the gold medal at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki.
“I dream to be the best in the world. I couldn’t fulfill such a dream in Athens, so I would like to attain it in Helsinki,” said Takaoka. His first step in achieving such a goal is to win the 2005 Tokyo Marathon with a sub-2:09:30 clocking, which automatically would qualify him for the Helsinki World Championships Marathon team.
“My basic training pattern remains the same but because of the interval between the marathons is shorter this time, I have modified the training combination a little. Training has gone well. My foremost goal is to win. I don’t have particular time goal but I am always ready to run 3 minutes for each kilometre. I might break away from the pack early, not to pursue a fast time, but rather to go for the win,” explained Takaoka.
Wainaina leads foreign challenge
The most decorated runner in Sunday’s Toyko field is Eric Wainaina of Kenya, three-time Olympian and two-time Olympic medallist. Wainaina has been living in Japan since he was 18 years-old and runs for Konica-Minolta track team under the guidance of Katsumi Sakai. It is particularly interesting to note that Wainaina won a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics and a silver medal in the 2000 Olympics before breaking a 2:10 barrier for the first time in the 2002 Tokyo Marathon where he recorded his personal best, 2:08:43.
Four other sub 2:09 runners are in the field. They are Zebedayo Bayo, Andreas Espinoza, Andre Ramos and Nobuyuki Sato.
Andreas Espinosa of Mexico has the fastest marathon time, 2:07:19, among the overseas invited runners. Although, his personal best time is nearly eleven years old, in the 2003 Berlin Marathon, Espinosa was fourth with 2:08:46, the world master’s record. More recently, Espinosa was third in 2004 Lala International marathon with 2:11:43.
Bayo is the 2003 champion
Zebedayo Bayo of Tanzania is the defending Tokyo-New York Friendship Marathon champion, having won the 2003 edition with 2:09:07. He was also fourth in the 2001 edition of the race with 2:11:12. Although his personal best, 2:08:51, at the 1998 New York City Marathon is quite old, Bayo came close to his personal best in the 2003 Paris Marathon when he was eighth with 2:08:54. More recently he was eighth in the 2004 Rotterdam Marathon with 2:12:23.
Andreas Ramos of Brazil has a personal best of 2:08:26, which is quite old, for it was recorded in the 1998 Boston Marathon. More recently, he was eighth in the 2003 Berlin Marathon in 2:09:58, sixth in the 2002 Prague marathon in 2:12:18 and twelfth in the 2001 Berlin Marathon in 2:11:47.
Another Japanese hope
Nobuyuki Sato, a bronze medallist at the Marathon in the 1999 World Championships has recorded a personal best of 2:08:48 in the 1998 Fukuoka Marathon. However, he has not run a good marathon lately. After a dismal Olympic Marathon in Sydney, Sato’s only respectable marathon was at the 2001 Beijing Marathon where he recorded 2:10:32. Tokyo will be his attempt to return to the elite runner status.
The Tokyo course is famous for the steep uphill between 36Km and 39Km. “I have not trained specifically for the hill. So I am looking forward to see if I can run the uphill well after running near the maximal effort leading up to the hill,” concluded Takaoka.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Invited Runners:
Personal-Best-Venue
Eric Wainaina (KEN) 2:08:43 2002 Tokyo
Zebedayo Bayo (TAN) 2:08:51 1998 New York
Andreas Espinosa (MEX) 2:07:19 1994 Boston
Andre Ramos (BRA) 2:08:26 1998 Boston
Henry Tarus (KEN) 2:10:10 2001 Venezia
Sergey Lukin (RUS) 2:10:57 2003 Eindhoven
Vladimir Tsiamchyk (BLR) 2:11:38 2002 Eindhoven
Japanese:
Toshinari Takaoka 2:06:16 2002 Chicago
Takashi Horiguchi 2:12:06 2003 Los Angeles
Tadayuki Tsutsumi 2:10:53 2003 Beppu-Oita
Nobuyuki Sato 2:08:48 1998 Fukuoka
Other elite runners
Romulo Da Silva (BRA) 2:11:28 2004 Rotterdam
Abner Chibu (RSA) 2:12:45 1999 Boston
Toshiyuki Hayata (JPN) 2:08:07 1997 Fukuoka
