Beppu-Ōita Marathon

Beppu-Ōita Marathon

Beppu Bay, near the turning point of the race between Beppu and Ōita
Date Early February
Location Beppu and Ōita, Japan Japan
Event type Road
Distance Marathon
Established 1952
Official site Beppu-Ōita Marathon

The Beppu-Ōita Marathon (別府大分マラソン Beppu Ōita Marason) is an annual men's marathon race that takes place every February between the cities of Beppu and Ōita on the island of Kyushu in Japan. The race has IAAF Silver Label Road Race status[1] and is a listed course of AIMS (Association of International Marathons).

Course History

First held in 1952 as a 35 km race, the looped marathon course begins at the bottom of Takasaki Mountain and reaches Beppu's Kankoko International Port before turning back towards the finishing point in the Ōita Municipal Athletic Stadium.[2] The event is sponsored by the The Mainichi Newspapers Co. and is formally known as the Beppu-Ōita Mainichi Marathon.[3] It hosted the Asian Marathon Championship in 1994.[4]

The course is AIMS-certified which means that performances on the course are eligible for national and world records.[5] The course has historically provided fast times: in 1963 Tōru Terasawa's time of 2:15:15.8 was recognised as the marathon world best and fifteen years later Shigeru Sō brought the course its second world best with his winning time of 2:09:05.6 in 1978.[nb 1] Furthermore, Koichi Morishita's win in 1991 was the fastest time recorded that year.[8] Gert Thys of South Africa won the race in 1996 with a time of 2:08:30 and his mark stood for seventeen years until Yuki Kawauchi completed the course in 2:08:15 in 2013.[9]

The marathon race attracts approximately 500 entrants each year, of whom around two-thirds finish the course.[10] The large majority of the runners are Japanese, or Japanese-based. A small number of international athletes are invited to compete each year, although other foreign athletes also appear in the race for pace setting purposes.[11] An additional road race, the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Half Marathon, was held in conjunction with the main race between 1976 and 2001.[10]

Past winners

Key:       Course record       35 km course       Asian Marathon Championship race

Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s)
2016  Melaku Abera (ETH) 2:09:27
2015  Tewelde Estifanos (ERI) 2:10:18
2014  Abraham Kiplimo (UGA) 2:09:23
2013  Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) 2:08:15
2012  Harun Mbugua (KEN) 2:09:38
2011  Ahmed Baday (MAR) 2:10:14
2010  Jonathan Kipkorir (KEN) 2:10:50
2009  Adil Ennani (MAR) 2:10:15
2008  Tomoya Adachi (JPN) 2:11:59
2007  Atsushi Fujita (JPN) 2:10:23
2006  Gert Thys (RSA) 2:09:45
2005  Satoshi Irifune (JPN) 2:09:58
2004  Hiroaki Takeda (JPN) 2:12:02
2003  Samson Ramadhani (TAN) 2:09:24
2002  Sammy Korir (KEN) 2:11:45
2001  Takayuki Nishida (JPN) 2:08:45
2000  Kazutaka Enoki (JPN) 2:10:44
1999  Éder Fialho (BRA) 2:09:54
1998  Akira Shimizu (JPN) 2:09:11
1997  Rolando Vera (ECU) 2:12:00
1996  Gert Thys (RSA) 2:08:30
1995  Patrick Carroll (AUS) 2:09:39
1994  Hajime Nakatomi (JPN) 2:11:28
1993  Maurilio Castillo (MEX) 2:13:04
1992  Dionicio Cerón (MEX) 2:08:36
1991  Kōichi Morishita (JPN) 2:08:53
1990  Bogusław Psujek (POL) 2:11:56
1989  Satoru Shimizu (JPN) 2:12:26
1988  Bruno Lafranchi (SUI) 2:11:58
1987  Yoshihiro Nishimura (JPN) 2:12:03
1986  Taisuke Kodama (JPN) 2:10:34
1985  Hiromi Taniguchi (JPN) 2:13:16
1984  Cor Vriend (NED) 2:12:05
1983  Yoshihiro Nishimura (JPN) 2:13:55
1982  Bob Hodge (USA) 2:15:43
1981  Shigeru Sō (JPN) 2:11:30
1980  Yutaka Taketomi (JPN) 2:13:29
1979  Hideki Kita (JPN) 2:13:30
1978  Shigeru Sō (JPN) 2:09:06
1977  Yasunori Hamada (JPN) 2:13:57
1976  Yukio Shigetake (JPN) 2:14:23
1975  Ken’ichi Ozawa (JPN) 2:13:11
1974  Yasunori Hamada (JPN) 2:13:05
1973  Kenji Kimihara (JPN) 2:14:56
1972  Yoshirō Mifune (JPN) 2:19:11
1971  Kenji Kimihara (JPN) 2:16:52
1970  Kenji Kimihara (JPN) 2:17:12
1969  Tadaaki Ueoka (JPN) 2:14:04
1968  Seiichirō Sasaki (JPN) 2:13:24
1967  Kenji Kimihara (JPN) 2:13:34
1966  Tōru Terasawa (JPN) 2:14:35
1965  Tōru Terasawa (JPN) 2:14:38
1964  Tōru Terasawa (JPN) 2:17:49
1963  Tōru Terasawa (JPN) 2:15:16
1962  Hideaki Shishido (JPN) 2:23:54
1961  Hiroshi Uwa (JPN) 2:23:45
1960  Kazumi Watanabe (JPN) 2:23:30
1959  Yoshitaka Tsukiji (JPN) 2:23:40
1958  Kurao Hiroshima (JPN) 2:25:16
1957  Nobuyoshi Sadanaga (JPN) 2:26:40
1956  Kurao Hiroshima (JPN) 2:26:24
1955  Katsuo Nishida (JPN) 2:29:19
1954  Yoshitaka Uchikawa (JPN) 2:34:48
1953  Keizō Yamada (JPN) 2:29:05
1952  Hideo Hamamura (JPN) 2:01:50

Statistics

Winners by country

Country Wins
 Japan 44
 Kenya 2
 Mexico 2
 South Africa 2
 Australia 1
 Brazil 1
 Ecuador 1
 Morocco 2
 Netherlands 1
 Poland 1
  Switzerland 1
 Tanzania 1
 United States 1

Multiple winners

Athlete Country Wins Years
Tōru Terasawa  Japan 4 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
Kenji Kimihara  Japan 4 1967, 1970, 1971, 1973
Kurao Hiroshima  Japan 2 1956, 1958
Yasunori Hamada  Japan 2 1974, 1977
Shigeru Sō  Japan 2 1978, 1981
Yoshihiro Nishimura  Japan 2 1983, 1987
Gert Thys  South Africa 2 1996, 2006

Notes

  1. The International Association of Athletics Federations has published a progression of road racing world bests and records that were widely recognized prior to ratification and official acceptance by the IAAF. According to that progression, Derek Clayton's 2:08:34 performance in Antwerp on May 30, 1969 was a world best at the time.[6] Other road racing authorities, including the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, consider Clayton's performance to have occurred on a short course and recognize other athletes in the progression for world best in the marathon.[7]

References

General
Specific
  1. IAAF Road Race Label Events. IAAF (2010). Retrieved on 2010-02-07.
  2. Event Information Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. Meet Ōita Net Magazine. Retrieved on 2010-02-07.
  3. Nakamura, Ken & Onishi, Akihiro Kipkorir prevails at Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. IAAF (2010-02-07). Retrieved on 2010-02-07.
  4. Asian Championships Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2013-03-02). Retrieved on 2013-09-28.
  5. AIMS Race Directory. AIMS. Retrieved on 2010-02-07.
  6. "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009." (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. 546, 563, 565, 651, and 653. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  7. Association of Road Racing Statisticians, World Best Progressions- Road. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
  8. Yearly Rankings- Marathon. ARRS (2009-12-31). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  9. Nakamura, Ken (2013-02-03). Kawauchi clocks course record in Beppu-Oita Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-24.
  10. 1 2 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. ARRS (2009-12-24). Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  11. Nakamura, Ken Invited Runners For February's Beppu-Oita Marathon. Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.

External links

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