Tomoaki Kunichika wins 58th Fukuoka International Marathon
Tomoaki Kunichika won the 58th annual Fukuoka International Marathon in
2:07:52, a personal best by over two minutes. Behind him two other
Japanese recorded sub 2:08 performances. It was the first time three
Japanese recorded 2:07 in the same race. Previously two sub 2:08 by
Japanese were recorded in 1986 Beijing marathon (Taisuke Kodama and
Kunimitsu Ito) and 2001 Lake Biwa marathon (Shigeru Aburaya and Yoshiteru
Morishita). The Japanese swept the top three spots in the Fukuoka marathon
for the first time since 1991, an era when the Japanese men’s marathon
runners were still the force to be reckoned with. Toshinari Suwa finished
in second place three seconds behind Kunichika, while the Asian record
holder and a prohibitive favorite Toshinari Takaoka finished disappointing
third for the third time in his three marathon starts with 2:07:59. Six
Japanese were in the top 10 and all except for Takaoka set personal bests.
Tsuyoshi Ogata who was 12th in Paris finished 6th improved one year old
personal best by over 30 seconds to 2:08:37, while Tadayuki Ojima may have
put his trouble days behind with 2:08:48 performance. It was first
personal best by younger of Ojima brothers in five years, having set the
previous PR in 1998 Fukuoka marathon. Michitane Noda, bronze meallist at
10000m in the 1994 World Junior Championships, but has not done much since,
was 9th in 2:09:58. Record ten runners broke once magical 2:10 barrier.
Antonia Pena of Spain and Hailu Negussie ran well, having recorded 2:08:10
and 2:08:21 respectively. Negussie was only 5 seconds off his personal
best.
As the first Japanese winner since Atsushi Fujita (won in 2000 with the
national record) in the most prestigious Japanese marathon, Kunichika made
a giant step toward making the Athens’ Olympic marathon team. Kunichika is
almost assured of the selection, but he must wait until March when the JAAF
will announce the team, for you never know what might happen in two other
qualifying races - Tokyo marathon in February and Lake Biwa marathon in
early March. Perhaps three Japanese break 2:07 in Lake Biwa marathon where
Atsushi Fujita, Atsushi Sato and Masakazu Fujiwara, three of the most
promising young marathon runners are expected to compete. Like Naoko
Takahashi three weeks ago, the national record holder was unable to win the
Olympic qualifying race. With two more Olympic qualifying races still to
be contested, Takaoka’s position on the team is at best uncertain. His
option, of course, is to run Tokyo marathon or more likely Lake Biwa
marathon. Considering what happened in Paris (Gharib run 14:44 and 14:49)
many feel that speed is important to medal in Athens. Because of his track
speed (13:13 for 5000m and 27:35 for 10000m) he was considered to be the
best hope for the marathon medal in Japan.
For the first time in the history of the Fukuoka marathon, the official
pace setters - Pablo Olmedo (MEX), Eluid Lagat (KEN) and Armand Quintanilla
(MEX) - and their designated pace - 15:05 for each 5Km - were announced
before the race. However, many of the Japanese especially Takaoka wanted
even faster pace. As it turned out at the end they did get the pace they
wanted.
Under the strong wind, the race started as the designated pace, passing 5Km
in 15:06, but then it got faster - 10Km in 30:02, 15Km in 44:57, and 20Km
in 59:51. Despite the fast pace and the strong headwind (5-6m/s) during
the early part of the race, the large lead pack stayed together;
approximately 40 runners were in the lead pack at 5Km, which only reduced
to about 30 by 10Km and 25 by 15Km. The pace started to dwindle a bit
after 20Km (15:11 and 15:32 between 20Km to 30Km) perhaps due to the head
wind (because this part of the course is closest to the ocean, the wind is
quite strong from 22K to 32Km and it was a headwind on Sunday), and after
the pacemakers left the race at 30Km, it slowed down even more (3:10 and
3:13 for the next 2Km). At the turn around point of 31.6Km, 14 runers were
in the lead pack. Over the Najima bridge at 33.5Km Hailu Negusse of
Ethiopia surged into the front to break the race open. By 35Km only seven
runners - Negusse, Toshinari Suwa, Toshinari Takaoka, Tadayuki Ojima,
Tsuyoshi Ogata, Antonio Pena and Tomoaki Kunichika - were left in the lead
pack. The surging tactics continued. Takaoka went briefly into the lead,
followed by Ojima. At 37Km Suwa was the next to try to run away from the
field and 700m later Takaoka made his bid for the victory; the pace really
picked up. Takaoka covered the two Km leading up to 39Km in 2:57 and 2:58.
Ojima and Negusse were gone immediately. Ogata and then Pena lost contact
with the three leaders by 38.5Km. Thus with less than 4Km left in the race
only Takaoka, Suwa and Kunichika were left in the front. At 39.7Km,
Kunichika hit the front and 600m later, surprisingly it was Toshinari
Takaoka who fell behind next. “I did not realize immediately when Takaoka
fell behind,” said Kunichika after the race. “Suspecting from the cheering
from the side walk, I looked back wondering where Takaoka was. That is
when I realized I have broken away from Takaoka. I thought this is the time
to give all I have.” Kunichika covered 40Km to 41Km in 2:56, and Takaoka
fell some 10m behind with 1Km to go. At 41.3Km, on the uphill leading up
to the Heiwadai stadium (rise perhaps 5m in 200m) Kunichika left his last
challenger - Toshinari Suwa - behind. Said Kunichika who won in 2:07:52,
thus improved four years old PR (2:10:10) by over two minutes: “I was not
thinking about the record today. In the past I was always left behind when
the real racing started, so today all I was thinking was to stay with the
leaders no matter what. Previously my good training results did not
translates to good racing. However, today I ran with the belief that good
training will show in racing.” His coach Toshihiko Seko was quite happy
also. “For the 15 years, my life as a coach was quite a hard one. So I am
happy that Kunichika has finally done it,” said Seko whose athletes could
not delivere the good results despite training well.
Born on July 22, 1973 Kunichika was 13th at 1500m in the Japanese national
inter-high school championships in 1991. After the high school graduation
Kunichika joined NTT (Nippon Telephone and Telegraph) West Japan track
team, which is based in Hiroshima. He is from nearby Yamaguchi prefecture.
He slowly but surely improved on track; he was 6th at 5000m in 1996
national championships, improving to 3rd at 10000m in 1997 nationals. He
was also 4th at 10000m in 1999 nationals. He made a marathon debut at 1998
Tokyo marathon, where he finished 6th (and the first Japanese) in 2:11:28.
By 1999 Fukuoka Marathon, he was one of the contenders to make the Olympic
marathon team. In 1999 he was 6th (3rd Japanese) in 2:10:10. He was quite
a celebrity in Hiroshima. Practically everyone knew him in town. For
example, after the 1999 Fukuoka Marathon I have seen him surrounded by his
fans, mostly women, who made a trip from Hiroshima (little over 1 hours by
bullet train). Then in early 2000 Kunichika left the NTT West team in
search for the better environment to train. Kunichika joined S&B Foods,
where he can train full time (unlike NTT West where he also had to work in
office). With the 20/20 hindsight, he made a correct decision, for NTT
West track team has desolved. He has been coached by legendary Toshihiko
Seko during the last four years. At the time he joined S&B Foods,
Kunichika was already one of the most promising marathon runners in the
nation. However, his day in S&B Foods was far from the smooth sailing.
From time to time he was plagued with injury problems, and even when his
training has gone well, it did not show in the racing results. However, it
all started to change this year. In February he won the Himeji 10 Miler,
and then in the Lake Biwa marathon in March, he ran near personal best of
2:10:42. His teammate at S&B Foods, Katsuhiko Hanada said, “Kunichika
finally has got his feel for the marathon back.” On the track he was
second at the 10000m in the natioal championships, and in September he
improved his 10000m personal best (28:05.38) for the first time since 1997
(previous best being 28:08.86). For the Fukuoka marathon he trained in
excess of 1000Km a month for three months, for example running 1300Km in
September. He had little trouble in October missing some training, but in
words of his teammate Hanada, “I think it was good rest for him.” Said
Kunichika after the race, “I did my best. I hope to be selected for the
Olympic marthon team,” concluded Kunichika, a runner many people have
thought about from time to time (what ever happen to Kunichika?) for the
last four years as he struggled to fullfil his promise. At age of 30, his
day may finally be here.
Weather at the race start time: Mostly sunny 8.3C, 45% humidity, 6.4m/s NNW
wind
Results (JPN unless otherwise noted):
103 started 73 completed
- Tomoaki Kunichika 2:07:52 (15:07, 30:03, 44:48, 59:52, 1:03:14,
1:15:02, 1:30:34, 1:45:59, 2:01:16) - Toshinari Suwa 2:07:55 (15:10, 30:06, 45:00, 59:53, 1:03:16,
1:15:04, 1:30:34, 1:45:59, 2:01:17) - Toshinari Takaoka 2:07:59 (15:08, 30:05, 44:58, 59:52, 1:03:14,
1:15:03, 1:30:35, 1:45:59, 2:01:16) - Antonio Pena (ESP) 2:08:10 (15:08, 30:05, 44:58, 59:52, 1:03:14,
1:15:03, 1:30:34, 1:45:59, 2:01:22) - Hailu Negusee (ETH) 2:08:21
- Tsuyoshi Ogata 2:08:37
- Tadayuki Ojima 2:08:48
- Vincent Kipsos (KEN) 2:09:42
- Michitane Noda 2:09:58
10)Oscar Fernandez (ESP) 2:09:59 - Luc Krotwar (NED) 2:10:13
- Vaderlei Lima (BRA) 2:10:38
- Daisuke Isomatsu 2:11:42
- Andrew Letherby (AUS) 2:12:45
- Dale Warrander (NZL) 2:12:58
- Juan Cardona (COL) 2:14:57
- Shin-ichi Watanabe 2:15:48
- Laban Kagika (KEN) 2:16:47
- Toshio Mano 2:16:48
- Scott Wescott (AUS) 2:17:58
… -
Jon Brown (GBR) 2:18:55
Splits for the leader
5Km 15:06 Pablo Olmedo
10Km 30:02 (14:56) Pablo Olmedo
15Km 44:57 (14:55) Pablo Olmedo
20Km 59:51 (14:54) Pablo Olmedo
Half 1:03:13
25Km 1:15:02 (15:11) Eliud Lagat
30Km 1:30:34 (15:32) Eliud Lagat
35Km 1:45:59 (15:25) Toshinari Suwa
40Km 2:01:16 (15:17) Tomoaki Kunichika
42.195K 2:07:52 (6:36) Tomoaki Kunichika
Race info from Akihiro Onishi
On the same day in Okayama, the World marathon silver medallist Mizuki
Noguchi won the half marathon in 1:10:04, one minute ahead of Luminita
Talpos of Romania.
Sanyo Road Race (Half marathon) in Okayama
- Mizuki Noguchi 1:10:04
- Luminita Talpos (ROM) 1:11:04
- Shitaye Gemechu (ETH) 1:11:07
- Asami Obi 1:11:44
- Kozue Saito 1:11:48
- Yasuko Hashimoto 1:14:15