The is an annual men's

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

race that takes place every February between the cities of

Beppu is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the city had a population of 122,643

and Ōita on the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The race has

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

Silver Label Road Race status 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. The event is sponsored by The Mainichi Newspapers Co. and is formally known as the Beppu-Ōita Mainichi Marathon. It hosted the

Asian Marathon Championship The Asian Marathon Championships is a biennial international competition in marathon road running for Asian athletes. Organised by the Asian Athletics Association, its creation in 1988 followed decision to drop the 42.195-kilometre (26-mile and 385 ...

in 1994. The course is AIMS-certified which means that performances on the course are eligible for

national National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

and

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

s. The course has historically provided fast times: in 1963

Tōru Terasawa is a former Japanese long-distance runner who on February 17, 1963 set a world record in the marathon with a time of 2:15:16 at the Beppu Marathon. Terasawa placed second in the marathon at the 1964 Japanese Olympic trials and 15th at the 1964 ...

'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. Furthermore, Koichi Morishita's win in 1991 was the fastest time recorded that year.

Gert Thys Gert Thys (born 12 November 1971) is a male long-distance runner from South Africa, who represented his native country in the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics, 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Thys is a former List of African records in athlet ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

won the race in 1996 with a time of 2:08:30 and his mark stood for seventeen years until

Yuki Kawauchi is a Japanese marathon runner. He came to prominence after running the 2011 Tokyo Marathon in 2:08:37, finishing as the first Japanese citizen and third overall. He was known as the "citizen runner" given that he used to work full-time for the go ...

completed the course in 2:08:15 in 2013. The marathon race attracts approximately 500 entrants each year, of whom around two-thirds finish the course.Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon
ARRS (2009-12-24). Retrieved on 2010-02-08. The large majority of the runners are

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, 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 A pacemaker or pacesetter, sometimes informally called a rabbit, is a runner who leads a middle- or long-distance running event for the first section to ensure a fast time and avoid excessive tactical racing. Pacemakers are frequently employed ...

purposes.Nakamura, Ke
Invited Runners For February's Beppu-Oita Marathon
. ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

''. Retrieved on 2010-02-08. An additional road race, the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Half Marathon, was held in conjunction with the main race between 1976 and 2001.

Past winners

Key:

Statistics

Winners by country

Multiple winners

Notes

References

;General
Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon
ARRS (2009-12-24). Retrieved on 2010-02-08. ;Specific

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beppu-Oita Marathon Marathons in Japan Recurring sporting events established in 1952 Sport in Ōita Prefecture Tourist attractions in Ōita Prefecture Men's marathons Annual sporting events in Japan 1952 establishments in Japan