Mitsuya’s marathon debut - Preview of Beppu-Oita marathon

Oita Mainichi Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label road race, will be held on Sunday February 7.  This year’s race will be run over the new course. Instead of the old out and back course that starts and finishes in Oita track and field stadium, the new course starts at the foot of Takasaki Mountain in Beppu and ends in Oita track and field stadium.

New course for faster times

The idea is to eliminate the part of the course which is most affected by head wind, which should translate into faster time. The course is very flat. The start is 5m above the sea level while the finish is 2m above the sea level. The highest point on the course is only 8m above the sea level, while the lowest point is 2m above the sea level at the finish.

The runner attracting most attention is Yu Mitsuya, who is making his marathon debut. Mitsuya, who is coached by Koichi Morishita, 1992 Olympic Marathon silver medallist, is one of the top track runners in Japan since 2005. Mitsuya has run the 10,000m in 2005 World Championships and 5000m in 2007 World Championships; he has a 5000m personal best of 13:18:32, the third fastest (second among active) time among Japanese, and 10,000m personal best of 27:41.10, the fourth fastest (second among the active) time among Japanese.

Last year, Mitsuya won the Kumanichi 30km road race in 1:29:55, which was a great confidence builder for him. Mitsuya decided to make his marathon debut in Beppu-Oita marathon partly because Morishita, his coach, also made his marathon debut in the 1991 Beppu-Oita marathon, which he won, before winning the 1992 Tokyo and then finished second at the Barcelona Olympics.  Mitsuya would like to follow a similar path. 

Surpassing his mentor?

At the 2009 Fukuoka Marathon, where Mitsuya run to half way as a pace maker, all Japanese failed to finish in top eight. The decline of Japanese men’s marathon running has reached a crisis state. Since 2006, 80 runners have cracked 2:08 marathon barrier. During the same time only one Japanese runner – Atsushi Sato - has cracked 2:08. Thus much is expected of Mitsuya’s marathon debut. He is under huge pressure.  If he wins with a fast time, his fame might hit a stratosphere. Incidentally, Morishita won the 1991 Beppu-Oita Marathon with 2:08:53, which was then the course record. Can Mitsuya break his coach’s debut record?  
 
The runners most likely to stop Mitsuya from winning his debut marathon are Jonathan Kipkorir of Kenya, Tessema Abshiro of Ethiopia, Kenneth Mungara of Kenya and Chala Lemi of Ethiopia.  They all set personal bests in the last two years.  Kipkorir ran 2:07:31 in 2009 Paris Marathon, while Tessema Abshiro ran 2:08:26 in 2008 Hamburg marathon. Mungara and Chala Lemi ran 2:08:32 and 2:08:49, respectively, in the 2009 Toronto Marathon.  Among them, Kipkorir is most consistent, for he has broken 2:10 marathon barrier in each of his last three marathons. Chla comes close. The slowest time in his last three races is 2:10:01 and he did record his personal best in his last marathon. Muranga is also consistent marathon runner. He never ran slower than 2:12 except in his debut marathon at high altitude of Nairobi.

The best Japanese in the field is Toshinari Suwa, who was sixth in the 2004 Olympics and seventh in 2007 World Championships. His marathon personal best is 2:07:55, but it was recorded back in 2003. He has not run a good marathon since 2008 Tokyo Marathon.  When Suwa made an Olympic marathon team in 2004, the runner who was bumped off by Suwa was Tadayuki Ojima. Although Ojima ran sub 2:09 marathon twice, 2:08:48 in 2003 Fukuoka marathon and 2:08:18 at 2004 Lake Biwa marathon, he was not selected for the Olympics marathon team. His personal best 2:08:18 is the second fastest among Japanese in the field. Ojima is running the final marathon of his long professional running career that spans over 15 years.  Takeshi Soh, his coach calls him a “Last Samurai.”  Ojima is determined to finish the race. 

No other Japanese in the race has broken 2:11 and thus will take massive improvement in their marathon best to contend for the top spot on the podium.  Among them Satoru Sasaki may have a best chance for improving his marathon best dramatically, for he has only run one marathon, 2:14:00 from 2009 Lake Biwa Marathon, so far in his career. 

Although not an invited runners, three elite Australians – Martin Dent, Brett Cartwright, and Jeffrey Hunt - will be running the race.  Hunt will be making a marathon debut, while Cartwright has a best of 2:15:02, recorded in 2007 Fukuoka Marathon, and Dent has a best of 2:14:46, recorded in 2008 Fukuoka Marathon. A good run could mean the spot on the marathon team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. 

Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

List of Invited Runners:
Invited Runners:
Jonathan Kipkorir  (KEN) 2:07:31  2009 Paris
Tessema Abshiro  (ETH) 2:08:26  2008 Hamburg
Kenneth Mungara (KEN) 2:08:32 2009 Toronto
Chala Lemi  (ETH)  2:08:49 2009 Toronto
Mohamed El Hachimi (MAR) 2:10:24 2009 Wien
Daniel Njenga (KEN)  2:06:16 2002 Chicago
Henryk Szost (POL)  2:11:59 2008 Debno

Japanese
Toshinari Suwa   2:07:55 2003 Fukuoka
Tadayuki Ojima   2:08:18 2004 Lake Biwa
Ken-ichi Kita    2:11:41 2006 Nobeoka
Hiroyuki Horibata   2:11:47 2008 Tokyo
Masashi Hayashi   2:12:39 2009 Beijing
Teruto Ozaki    2:13:28 2006 Beijing
Kentaro Nakamoto   2:13:53 2009 Tokyo
Satoru Sasaki    2:14:00 2009 Lake Biwa
Yu Mitsuya    Debut  1:29:55 at 30Km in 2009

Pace Makers
Wilfred Kigen  (KEN)  2:07:33 2007 Hamburg
Peter Kiprotich (KEN)  2:08:49 2007 Frankfurt
Kiragu Njuguna (KEN) 1:02:24  half marathon 
Kazushi Hara    2:12:11 2004 Lake Biwa
Yuki Abe   2:13:47 2007 Lake Biwa