by Larry Eder
Kitaoka, Nakamoto, Horibata, Sato, Imai, Lake Biwa Press Conference,
photo by PhotoRun.net
photo by PhotoRun.net
Manza, Daba, Pertile, photo by PhotoRun.net
The 67th Lake Biwa Marathon is the last of the Japanese marathon trial races. The race has great history and is quite popular in Japan. Our global man of the running photo, Victah Sailer, is on site and has provided us with the following update on the pre race info for Lake Biwa:
The 67th Lake
Biwa Marathon is ready to go, and hopefully for one lucky Japanese man a
ticket to represent Japan at the Olympic Games later this summer in
London. The Japanese press has the youngest and probably the tallest of
the favourites, Hiroyuki Horibata, 25, as the overwhelming first
Japanese man as he was last year year at Lake Biwa and again at the
World Championships in Daegu.
Biwa Marathon is ready to go, and hopefully for one lucky Japanese man a
ticket to represent Japan at the Olympic Games later this summer in
London. The Japanese press has the youngest and probably the tallest of
the favourites, Hiroyuki Horibata, 25, as the overwhelming first
Japanese man as he was last year year at Lake Biwa and again at the
World Championships in Daegu.
Horibata who
stands 189 cm or 6 ft 2.5 inches dwafts his Japanese rivals in all of
the photos, but will take on a very strong international field. Bekana
Daba of Ethiopia, is a cagey runner and talker. Daba won the 2011
Chevron Houston Marathon in his best time in 2:07.04CR and ran strong at
the Boston Marathon only 11 weeks later. Daba has built up a long phase
and been dropping his mileage over the last 6 weeks. “I don’t guess
myself” is his strength and he thinks the asked for pace of 3.00 per
kilometer is good for the race but thinks “the rain is no good” for the
race.
stands 189 cm or 6 ft 2.5 inches dwafts his Japanese rivals in all of
the photos, but will take on a very strong international field. Bekana
Daba of Ethiopia, is a cagey runner and talker. Daba won the 2011
Chevron Houston Marathon in his best time in 2:07.04CR and ran strong at
the Boston Marathon only 11 weeks later. Daba has built up a long phase
and been dropping his mileage over the last 6 weeks. “I don’t guess
myself” is his strength and he thinks the asked for pace of 3.00 per
kilometer is good for the race but thinks “the rain is no good” for the
race.
Daba feels he has
be deceived by his Federation, when he first talked with the Federation
heads, they talked about experience for the 2012 Olympic Games Marathon
team, and recently they told him, it was only about time, so he is
disappointed in the change of reason from the top of his federation.
be deceived by his Federation, when he first talked with the Federation
heads, they talked about experience for the 2012 Olympic Games Marathon
team, and recently they told him, it was only about time, so he is
disappointed in the change of reason from the top of his federation.
Their will be 4
pacemakers this year, Yohei Yamamoto and Ryosuke Maki of Japan will pace
the first 20kms at 3.00 per kilometer, then 2 Kenyans, Isaac Macharia
and Boniface Kirui will take those in the lead to 25km, where they will
duke it out to the finish line, unbelievably, a former pacemaker,
Nicholas Manza of Kenya, will have to control himself as he was a
pacemaker at the 2011 Amsterdam Marathon and went on to win in 2.06.34,
no pacemaker will have that luck here, as all pacemakers must stop by
25km. Manza believes the course is a “fast course” and “can’t predict
the time”, but thinks the course is “slower in the 2nd half”.
pacemakers this year, Yohei Yamamoto and Ryosuke Maki of Japan will pace
the first 20kms at 3.00 per kilometer, then 2 Kenyans, Isaac Macharia
and Boniface Kirui will take those in the lead to 25km, where they will
duke it out to the finish line, unbelievably, a former pacemaker,
Nicholas Manza of Kenya, will have to control himself as he was a
pacemaker at the 2011 Amsterdam Marathon and went on to win in 2.06.34,
no pacemaker will have that luck here, as all pacemakers must stop by
25km. Manza believes the course is a “fast course” and “can’t predict
the time”, but thinks the course is “slower in the 2nd half”.
“Good, but cold
and windy in Amsterdam” as he was pacing at 2.57/2.58 per kilometer and
ran “better than expected”, this Kenyan Policeman trains with Patrick
Makau in Ngong, and how wild is this, he was born on the same day and
year as Makau. When told about the chance of rain, he replied, “I don’t
train when it rains, rain can get you injured and sick, but during the
race it will affect everyone the same”
and windy in Amsterdam” as he was pacing at 2.57/2.58 per kilometer and
ran “better than expected”, this Kenyan Policeman trains with Patrick
Makau in Ngong, and how wild is this, he was born on the same day and
year as Makau. When told about the chance of rain, he replied, “I don’t
train when it rains, rain can get you injured and sick, but during the
race it will affect everyone the same”
Race Conditions:
forecast is 47F/9C for the start, but over the 15kms they might be
running into a 9 to 11mph wind and a 40% chance of rain. One overlooked
athlete might be Ayad Lamdassem of Spain, the 2011 European Cross
Country champion making his debut, he sounded like he was ready to run
sub 2.08 and vying for the win.
forecast is 47F/9C for the start, but over the 15kms they might be
running into a 9 to 11mph wind and a 40% chance of rain. One overlooked
athlete might be Ayad Lamdassem of Spain, the 2011 European Cross
Country champion making his debut, he sounded like he was ready to run
sub 2.08 and vying for the win.
Nicholas Manza, Kenya, 2:06:34 (2011)
Bekana Daba, Ethiopia, 2:07:04 (2011)
Ruggero Pertile, Italy, 2:09:53 (2009)
Henryk Szost, Poland, 2:09:39 (2011)
Abdellah Tagharrafet, Morocco, 2:08:21 (2011)
Abdellatif Meftah, France, 2:09:46 (2011)
A yad Lamdassem, Spain, debut
Ernest Kabernei, Kenya, 2:10:54 (2011)
Lee Troop, Australia, 2:09:49 (2003)
vying for the last spot one the Men’s Olympic Japanese Marathon team
Hiroyuki Horibata, 2.09.25
Kentaro Nakamoto, 2.09.31
Tomoyuki Sato, 2.09.43
Masato Imai, 2.10.32
Satoshi Yoshii, 2.10.45…………….out
Yukihiro Kitaoka, 2.10.51
Naoto Yoneda, 2.11.00
Masashi Hayashi, 2.11.17
Atsushi Sato, 2.07.13
rabbits are
Isaac Macharia, Kenya, 2.07.16……..he will return to Kenya for Seoul Marathon on March 18th
Boniface Kirui, Kenya, 61.07
James Mwangi, Kenya, 2.08.38……..injured
Yohei Yamamoto, Japan, 28.43
Ryosuke Maki Japan, 28.52
other notables
Yohanis Abera, Ethiopia, 2.11.08
Dylan Wykes, Canada, 2.12.39
Steven Osaduik, Canada, 2.16.49………..injured
Samuel Ndungu, Kenya, 60.55
