The 63rd running of Fukuoka marathon was contested this past weekend. Last year, I happened to be in Japan and had a chance to watch the race live on TV. I remember growing up watching this race as a teenager. I watched Frank Shorter winning this race four times in a row (black and white!). Recently, I have gotten to know Bill Rodgers well and we’ve been exchanging e-mails (well, I’ve known him for quite some time, since Coach Squires introduced me to him years back but we just started chatting via e-mails recently – not facebook yet!). It was neat to chat with him about Fukuoka marathon because I sure remember him winning 1977 race in the time of 2:10:55, watching that race on TV. Two hours and 10 minutes marathon was still very respectable back then and, I still remember him stopping to take a sip of water at 2km to go and still running sub-2:11. Bill said: “I did take a leisurely cup of water at the bottom of the hill/entrance to the stadium; that was fun!” It was sort of neat to hear from the actual person when I remember that particular incidence from TV screen. He continued: “…I don’t think my 2:10:55 is in the top 50 any more!” Well, to his consolation, I told him that his time 
was run on the original Fukuoka course where you would run along the skinny peninsula where they used to get a strong head wind. It was in the late 1980s when they changed the course to the current rectangle shape, going through building-protected city streets. In fact, I told him, I was there when federation people were talking about changing this traditional Fukuoka course (by accident). One of them, the current head of the federation, Keisuke Sawaki, jokingly said, “So we want to change the course that would guarantee fast times no matter what…!” Fukuoka, at the time, unfortunately, was losing its ground as the unofficial world championships of the marathon. In the world record war between London and Chicago and New York City marathons (and now, Berlin and Rotterdam as well), prestige of Fukuoka was fading. They kept the tradition of not paying any prize money so many of top foreign runners tended to ignore this magnificent race with rich history. Incidentally, it was Lydiard-trained Barry Magee who broke the 2:20 barrier for the first time on Japanese soil when the race was still called "Asahi Marathon" back in 1960 after he won the bronze medal, behind Abebe Bikila of Ethiopian, in Rome Olympics.
When there was no money involved, running a marathon race in Japan was a big deal. Not too many people seem to remember; but Bill Rodgers had run 4 times in Japan (5 including the unofficial slightly-off-marathon-distance competition against a relay team). They always treated foreign runners like royalty. It was Shorter who came to Fukuoka in 1971 for the first time, keeping his eyes on proving to the world that he was the one to beat in the following year in Munich. Then as the Olympic champion, he defended the title – the first man to defend the Fukuoka title – in 1972. Fukuoka always lined up several of the year’s top performers as well as, during the post-Olympic years, medalists. When Shorter opted to forego Fukuoka after his fourth victory in 1974 (to prepare for Montreal Olympics), it was Canada’s Jerome Drayton who repeated victory there (and total of 3). The 1975 Fukuoka was one of the most thrilling marathons I had witnessed (on TV). In the drizzling rain, there were a pack of runners that included the 1969 champion, Drayton; a young up-and-coming Japanese star by the name of Takeshi Soh (who would finish 4th in the LA Olympic marathon in 1984); that year’s Boston champion who set the American record over this tough undulating course, “Boston Billy” Rodgers; and a complete unknown from Australia, a guy who looked least like a distance runner, by the name of Dave Chettle, whose PR coming into this race, was only 2:20. He was wearing plain white generic singlet with a pair of training shoes (remember Nike Waffle Trainer?). Drayton had won Fukuoka marathon before in the drizzling rain. Before the race, he was saying that it was his lucky day because it was raining again. As 
he predicted, he took off and established a healthy lead, coming around the Umi-no-nakamichi Peninsula. The rain got harder and harder and now it’s pouring. Out of nowhere came the shadowy figure of Chettle, catching up to King Drayton. I still remember, as Chettle passed Drayton, he turned around and looked at him with total surprise. He didn’t expect anybody to catch up; let alone a total unknown whom he probably didn’t even know!! With the rain, his white singlet was clinging onto his barrel-like chest and made him even more look like a wrestler than a marathon runner. But it wasn’t over for Drayton. He hung on, and hung on, and hung on… Just as they make a couple of 90-degree turns, right around 2km to go, before they head up the slight hill to the stadium (where Bill stopped and took a drink), Drayton gritted his teeth and passed Chettle again. Chettle didn’t have anything left. You could tell Drayton was hurting – hurting BAD! But his pride, and anybody who could remember Jerome Drayton would understand what I mean, just didn’t let it slide. Heiwa-dai stadium back then was still cinder track. Water paddles were all over the place and, as wrestler-like Chettle came back to the stadium, you could even see splash of water over each step he took. Drayton hung on and won the race in amazing time for that condition, 2:10:05 – a very reputable time back then and even today. Chettle improved his PR dramatically and finished second in 2:10:20. I was a huge fan of Shorter and couldn’t believe 2 runners in the same race bettered his 2:10:30 PR which he posted in 1972 race over this same course. Drayton was hurting bad alright. He tried to put his pants on in a tent, being spotted by one of the officials, and couldn’t lift his leg and fell on the spot. Bill hung on for the third place.
he predicted, he took off and established a healthy lead, coming around the Umi-no-nakamichi Peninsula. The rain got harder and harder and now it’s pouring. Out of nowhere came the shadowy figure of Chettle, catching up to King Drayton. I still remember, as Chettle passed Drayton, he turned around and looked at him with total surprise. He didn’t expect anybody to catch up; let alone a total unknown whom he probably didn’t even know!! With the rain, his white singlet was clinging onto his barrel-like chest and made him even more look like a wrestler than a marathon runner. But it wasn’t over for Drayton. He hung on, and hung on, and hung on… Just as they make a couple of 90-degree turns, right around 2km to go, before they head up the slight hill to the stadium (where Bill stopped and took a drink), Drayton gritted his teeth and passed Chettle again. Chettle didn’t have anything left. You could tell Drayton was hurting – hurting BAD! But his pride, and anybody who could remember Jerome Drayton would understand what I mean, just didn’t let it slide. Heiwa-dai stadium back then was still cinder track. Water paddles were all over the place and, as wrestler-like Chettle came back to the stadium, you could even see splash of water over each step he took. Drayton hung on and won the race in amazing time for that condition, 2:10:05 – a very reputable time back then and even today. Chettle improved his PR dramatically and finished second in 2:10:20. I was a huge fan of Shorter and couldn’t believe 2 runners in the same race bettered his 2:10:30 PR which he posted in 1972 race over this same course. Drayton was hurting bad alright. He tried to put his pants on in a tent, being spotted by one of the officials, and couldn’t lift his leg and fell on the spot. Bill hung on for the third place. Bill actually returned after his win in 1977 as the odds-on favorite in 1978. That was the year when more than a half a dozen Americans came to run. Tom Fleming was the early leader, sharing the lead with Shigeru Soh, the older brother of the twins. There also was Garry Bjorklund, Randy Thomas, Tony Sandval… Bill must have felt totally at home; being confident, wearing the red headband presented by his Japanese musician friends, Ondekoza (traditional drummer group from the island of Sado). In the previous year, he came to Kyoto marathon as well. It was one of those “just another day in the office” kind of run for Bill. He was all by himself at the gun; turned this race into his long training run and won it easily in 2:14. In this particular race, there was a young college student who made the marathon debut. He was a speedster as a high school 800 and 1500m champion; and the marathon pace was too easy for him. He churned up the gap between himself and this “King of the Road” in the first 20km, thinking he might even catch him. Then hit the wall hard. He struggled to finish, though he did finish, in 2:26 for 10th place. This young man, still in college, was also in the field.
This Fukuoka marathon was a defining moment for Japanese marathoning. Up until this race, Japanese marathon runners were always intimidated by “foreigners”. Fukuoka marathon was founded, advanced from Asahi marathon, in order to develop a world-beater among Japanese runners. First Fukuoka marathon in 1966, they 
saw a powerful Kiwi, Mike Ryun, easily outsprinting the rising Japanese star, Hiroshima. Second Fukuoka marathon brought lightening shock to Japanese; a giant figure of Derek Clayton of Australia sped through the street of Hakata (region of Fukuoka) to the history’s first sub-2:10 marathon; then the world record of 2:09:37. Young promising Japanese runner, Seichiro Sasaki, came back from behind to catch up with Clayton in the second half of the race. “Small runners have the advantage in the marathon…,” so they said. That was wishful thinking. Tiny Sasaki was no match to powerful Clayton. Sasaki, also ran faster than then-the world record; but was almost 2-minutes behind Clayton. Then came Briton’s Adcocks, Canada’s Drayton… No Japanese won this “local” marathon until 1970 when Akio Usami won it in then the third fastest time in history, 2:10:38. But then, Japanese would lose 5 of “local” races, even including Lake Biwa, to speeding Shorter. Shorter came; and won them all, even despite taking a pit-stop. Then Rodgers won Fukuoka in 1977… There was not even a tiny crack of opportunity where Japanese could sneak into. Shigeru Soh, of course, had run the second fastest time in history at the time, 2:09:05, in the spring of 1978 at Beppu marathon. In fact, he ran sub-15 minutes 5k split up to 
25km! That was unheard of at the time and, had there not been a strong headwind in the second half of the race that slowed him down considerably, he would have broken Clayton’s world record, at that time, of 2:08:33. So (Soh?) by December of 1978, Shigeru was confident and ready to take on "the world". And he tried to develop the race the way he liked it – take off fast from the gun. And having someone like Fleming, who also liked to take off fast, only enhanced his strategy. After Fleming dropped off, Shigeru Soh was all by himself. All the eyes were on the defending champion, Bill Rodgers; it was his race to come back from behind and win. He would come back and we’d see yet another foreigner with long slender legs would claim this unofficial world champion crown… Well, Shigeru was caught up but not by Rodgers. It was a small figure with, well, rather short stocky legs with choppy strides who earlier ran his debut marathon in Kyoto behind Rodgers. It was Toshihiko Seko. Shigeru hang on for the second place. Almost overnight, now Japanese owned the top 3 spots at this prestigious Fukuoka marathon (Hideki Kita would finish third). From 
there one, Seko would claim the Fukuoka crown 3 more times (but not in a row like Shorter did) and, every time Seko stood the center of the podium, other Japanese runners filled the other 2 spots.
saw a powerful Kiwi, Mike Ryun, easily outsprinting the rising Japanese star, Hiroshima. Second Fukuoka marathon brought lightening shock to Japanese; a giant figure of Derek Clayton of Australia sped through the street of Hakata (region of Fukuoka) to the history’s first sub-2:10 marathon; then the world record of 2:09:37. Young promising Japanese runner, Seichiro Sasaki, came back from behind to catch up with Clayton in the second half of the race. “Small runners have the advantage in the marathon…,” so they said. That was wishful thinking. Tiny Sasaki was no match to powerful Clayton. Sasaki, also ran faster than then-the world record; but was almost 2-minutes behind Clayton. Then came Briton’s Adcocks, Canada’s Drayton… No Japanese won this “local” marathon until 1970 when Akio Usami won it in then the third fastest time in history, 2:10:38. But then, Japanese would lose 5 of “local” races, even including Lake Biwa, to speeding Shorter. Shorter came; and won them all, even despite taking a pit-stop. Then Rodgers won Fukuoka in 1977… There was not even a tiny crack of opportunity where Japanese could sneak into. Shigeru Soh, of course, had run the second fastest time in history at the time, 2:09:05, in the spring of 1978 at Beppu marathon. In fact, he ran sub-15 minutes 5k split up to 25km! That was unheard of at the time and, had there not been a strong headwind in the second half of the race that slowed him down considerably, he would have broken Clayton’s world record, at that time, of 2:08:33. So (Soh?) by December of 1978, Shigeru was confident and ready to take on "the world". And he tried to develop the race the way he liked it – take off fast from the gun. And having someone like Fleming, who also liked to take off fast, only enhanced his strategy. After Fleming dropped off, Shigeru Soh was all by himself. All the eyes were on the defending champion, Bill Rodgers; it was his race to come back from behind and win. He would come back and we’d see yet another foreigner with long slender legs would claim this unofficial world champion crown… Well, Shigeru was caught up but not by Rodgers. It was a small figure with, well, rather short stocky legs with choppy strides who earlier ran his debut marathon in Kyoto behind Rodgers. It was Toshihiko Seko. Shigeru hang on for the second place. Almost overnight, now Japanese owned the top 3 spots at this prestigious Fukuoka marathon (Hideki Kita would finish third). From there one, Seko would claim the Fukuoka crown 3 more times (but not in a row like Shorter did) and, every time Seko stood the center of the podium, other Japanese runners filled the other 2 spots. Fukuoka marathon has kept its reputation throughout its history. It has produced many other dramas; 2007 was another epic race. In the field was a young up-and-coming Kenyan who had lived and trained in Japan since high school; Samuel Wanjiru. He had been coached by Koichi Morishita who won the silver medal in 1992 Barcelona Olympic marathon under the guidance of Soh Brothers. Wanjiru and the Ethiopian, Merga, who would win Boston marathon in 2009 but finished heart-broken fourth place in Beijing Olympics in the last year, as well as Japanese star, Atsushi Sato battled it out with Sammy Wanjiru winning in 2:06:39. That was a classic Fukuoka’s thrilling match-race. Last year, the man who passed Merga in the final tunnel into the stadium at Beijing Olympic marathon, Tsegaye Kebede, won the race in a very fast 2:06:10, Japanese all-comer record. In that race, he threw incredible 14:17 split between 30k and 35k to literally destroy the rest of the field. This year, Kebede kept up with a very steady but fast pace throughout the race. 
He would pick up the pace gradually this time, posting – three sub-15 splits (14:50, 14:37, 14:37) between 25k to 40k. No assault to his countryman, Gebriselasie’s world record of 2:03:59, but Kebede clocked yet another Fukuoka course record as well as Japan’s all-comer record of 2:05:18, pushing Bill’s time even further down the history’s record list. Kebede had become the 5th runner to defend the title en-route. Three Ethiopians filled in the top 4 placings (first, second and fourth). The first Japanese sank back to the 9th place with Tadashi Shitamori’s 2:14:42 (more on this year's Fukuoka marathon here).
He would pick up the pace gradually this time, posting – three sub-15 splits (14:50, 14:37, 14:37) between 25k to 40k. No assault to his countryman, Gebriselasie’s world record of 2:03:59, but Kebede clocked yet another Fukuoka course record as well as Japan’s all-comer record of 2:05:18, pushing Bill’s time even further down the history’s record list. Kebede had become the 5th runner to defend the title en-route. Three Ethiopians filled in the top 4 placings (first, second and fourth). The first Japanese sank back to the 9th place with Tadashi Shitamori’s 2:14:42 (more on this year's Fukuoka marathon here). Bill Rodgers had said to me; “There are more than Big 5 Marathons…Fukuoka is, for sure, one of them.” I totally agree. Its rich history can be compared with no other marathon in the world. In 1972 when Frank Shorter won it for the second year in a row, Japan’s Kenji Kimihara finished 5th. He is the silver medalist in 1968 Mexico City Olympic marathon and had competed 2 other Olympic Games in 1964 in Tokyo as well as 5th place finish at 1972 Munich Olympics. He won Boston marathon in 1966 as well. At Fukuoka, they present a silver cup, progressively getting smaller, to the top 10 finishers and this was Kimihara's first top-10 finish at Fukuoka. “I wanted to have this cup at Fukuoka so bad,” he said afterwards, looking so content and happy like a little kid who received his 
favorite toy at Christmas. This small story shows what Fukuoka marathon is all about.
favorite toy at Christmas. This small story shows what Fukuoka marathon is all about.For a side note: Some of you hard-core readers might remember the old Japanese runner by the name of Yoshihisa Hosaka. He set the world record for 60-years-old at Beppu marathon earlier this spring with the time of 2:36:30 (more on his Beppu performace here at Brett Larner's Japan Running News blog site). He finishd 278th place with the time of 2:40:39. He said that, after passing the half way point on the 2:31 pace, it got way too cold for his “old body” and it just ceased in the final stage. Despite not being able to better his own world 60-year-old record which he prepared to do by training 30km everyday, he just simply said: “I am soooo happy!!” That’s Fukuoka. (* After saying that this was Hosaka's first Fukuoka, Brett Larner of Japan Running News sent me an e-mail and corrected me that it wasn't his first -- and also he was on a 2:31 pace at the half way point. I guess that sort of devalued the significance of Fukuoka in relation to Hosaka's story but the fact that Hosaka was so happy about completing Fukuoka remains so I decided to keep this little tid-bits. Thanks for the correction, Brett!)
PS: We will have the first-hand story of this year's Fukuoka Marathon a little bit later from Jon Brown of Victoria, BC, who participated the race. So stay-tuned!
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