Atsushi Fujita at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton (© Getty Images)
Oita Mainichi Marathon, which doubles as a qualifying race for the national squad for next summer’s World Championships, is scheduled to be held on the course from Oita to Beppu and back on Sunday 4 February.
The Beppu-Oita Marathon is one of the oldest marathons in Japan, having started in 1952 as a 35Km road race. The following year, the race was contested over the standard marathon distance of 42.195Km.
Home challengers
This year’s race is billed as a showdown between Atsushi Fujita and Atsushi Sato. Fujita is a former national record holder at the marathon, having recorded 2:06:51 in the 2000 Fukuoka Marathon. He ran the marathon in the 1999 and 2001 World Championships, where he was sixth and 12th respectively. After 2001, he struggled to regain his form until 2005, when he was third in the 2005 Fukuoka Marathon with 2:09:48. However, the following year in the 2006 Fukuoka Marathon, Fujita was only eighth in 2:11:50.
Sato, who was tenth at the 2003 World Championships marathon, recorded his personal best in the 2004 Lake Biwa Marathon when he finished fourth with 2:08:36. Although he has not run a good marathon since then, Sato has shown a brilliant form recently. In the 2006 Chiba Ekiden, Sato was the fastest in the 10Km fourth stage (28:28), faster than Sammy Korir and Jon Brown. At the New Year Ekiden he covered 15.9Km course in 45:14. Sato never won the marathon, although he has seven marathon starts under his belt.
Takayuki Nishida, who won the 2001 Beppu-Oita Marathon with 2:08:45, Hideyuki Obinata, who was 5th in the 2001 Lake Biwa Marathon with 2:08:52 and Tomonori Watanabe who won the 1999 Hofu Marathon with 2:09:40, also pose other home threats.
The marathon debut of Koji Ueoka is awaited with much anticipation, for Koji is a son of Tadaaki Ueoka, who won the 1969 Beppu-Oita Marathon in 2:14:03.
The best from abroad
The best invited runners from abroad are Joseph Riri of Kenya and Pavel Loskutov of Estonia. Riri, who was second in the 2004 Berlin Marathon with a personal best of 2:06:49, also won the 2005 Lake Biwa marathon in 2:09:00. However, Riri has not run a good marathon recently - 29th in the 2005 World Championships with 2:19:51, DNF in the 2005 Honolulu Marathon and 16th in the 2006 Lake Biwa Marathon with 2:16:58. Pavel Loskutov was superb in 2002. He recorded a personal best of 2:08:53 in the 2002 Paris Marathon, and was second at the 2002 European Championships. More recently, Loskutov was 14th in the 2005 Boston Marathon with 2:19:04, fourth in the 2005 Seoul Marathon with 2:12:12, and 12th at the 2006 Paris Marathon with 2:11:25.
Also to watch-out for are Elijah Mutai of Kenya, who won the 2005 Chunchon Marathon with a personal best of 2:09:27, David Kemboi of Kenya, the victor at 2006 Carpi Marathon with 2:10:08 and Rachid Kisri or Morocco, whose 2:10:34 run took the 2006 Treviso Marathon title.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Invited Runners:
Joseph Riri (KEN) 2:06:49 2004 Berlin
Pavel Loskutov (EST) 2:08:53 2002 Paris
Elijah Mutai (KEN) 2:09:27 2005 Chunchon
David Kemboi (KEN) 2:10:08 2006 Carpi
Rachid Kisri (MAR) 2:10:34 2006 Treviso
Japanese:
Atsushi Fujita 2:06:51 2000 Fukuoka
Atsushi Sato 2:08:36 2004 Lake Biwa
Takayuki Nishida 2:08:45 2001 Beppu-Oita
Hideyuki Obinata 2:08:52 2001 Lake Biwa
Tomonori Watanabe 2:09:40 1999 Hofu
Kazuya Nakamori 2:12:08 2006 Nobeoka
Kazushi Hara 2:12:11 2004 Lake Biwa
Kazuo Ietani 2:12:37 2002 Tokyo
Kodai Fukunaga 2:13:09 2005 Nobeoka
Koji Ueoka Debut
Pace Makers:
Jason Mbote (KEN) 2:08:13 2006 Seoul
Peter Kiprotich (KEN) 2:10:57 2006 Frankfurt
Edwin Kipkoech (KEN)
Isaac Kemboi (KEN)
Takahiro Kitagawa
Teruto Ozaki 2:13:28 2006 Beijing
Tadayuki Tsutsumi 2:10:53 2003 Lake Biwa
