Beppu-Ōita Marathon Explained

Bgcolour:	3250AC
Date:	Early February
Location:	Beppu and Ōita, Japan
Type:	Road
Distance:	Marathon
Est:	1952
Record:	Men : 2:06:43 Ibrahim Hassan (2023) Women : 2:33:00 Hiroko Yoshitomi (2018)
Participants:	355 finishers (2022) 3,130 (2020)

The 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 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. Furthermore, Koichi Morishita's win in 1991 was the fastest time recorded that year.^[6] 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.^[7]

The marathon race attracts approximately 500 entrants each year, of whom around two-thirds finish the course.^[8] 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.^[9] An additional road race, the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Half Marathon, was held in conjunction with the main race between 1976 and 2001.^[8]

Past winners

Key:

Year	Men's winner	Time (h:m:s)	Women's winner	Time (h:m:s)
2024		2:07:58		2:40:31
2023		2:06:43		2:31:40
2022		2:07:47		2:57:20
2020		2:08:01		2:40:02
2019		2:08:35		2:36:51
2018		2:09:31		2:33:00
2017		2:09:32		2:40:31
2016		2:09:27		2:45:07
2015		2:10:18		2:41:28
2014		2:09:23		2:41:56
2013		2:08:15		2:40:11
2012		2:09:38		2:43:12
2011		2:10:14		2:39:57
2010		2:10:50
2009		2:10:15
2008		2:11:59
2007		2:10:23
2006		2:09:45
2005		2:09:58
2004		2:12:02
2003		2:09:24
2002		2:11:45
2001		2:08:45
2000		2:10:44
1999		2:09:54
1998		2:09:11
1997		2:12:00
1996		2:08:30
1995		2:09:39
1994		2:11:28
1993		2:13:04
1992		2:08:36
1991		2:08:53
1990		2:11:56
1989		2:12:26
1988		2:11:58
1987		2:12:03
1986		2:10:34
1985		2:13:16
1984		2:12:05
1983		2:13:55
1982		2:15:43
1981		2:11:30
1980		2:13:29
1979		2:13:30
1978		2:09:06
1977		2:13:57
1976		2:14:23
1975		2:13:11
1974		2:13:05
1973		2:14:56
1972		2:19:11
1971		2:16:52
1970		2:17:12
1969		2:14:04
1968		2:13:24
1967		2:13:34
1966		2:14:35
1965		2:14:38
1964		2:17:49
1963		2:15:16
1962		2:23:54
1961		2:23:45
1960		2:23:30
1959		2:23:40
1958		2:25:16
1957		2:26:40
1956		2:26:24
1955		2:29:19
1954		2:34:48
1953		2:29:05
1952		2:01:50

Statistics

Winners by country

Country	Wins
	46
	3
	3
	2
	2
	1
	1
	1
	1
	1
	1
	1
	1
	1

Multiple winners

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

Notes

1. http://www.iaaf.org/lrr10/results/index.html IAAF Road Race Label Events
2. http://www.pref.oita.jp/10400/o_net/back_no/vol_07/english/event.html Event Information Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon
3. Nakamura, Ken & Onishi, Akihiro Kipkorir prevails at Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon. IAAF (2010-02-07). Retrieved on 2010-02-07.
4. https://www.arrs.run/HP_AsChMa.htm Asian Championships Marathon
5. http://www.aimsworldrunning.org/Directory.htm AIMS Race Directory
6. https://www.arrs.run/YR_Mara.htm Yearly Rankings- Marathon
7. Nakamura, Ken (2013-02-03). Kawauchi clocks course record in Beppu-Oita Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-24.
8. https://www.arrs.run/HP_BpOMa.htm Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon
9. Nakamura, Ken Invited Runners For February's Beppu-Oita Marathon . Track and Field News. Retrieved on 2010-02-08.

References

General

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

Specific

External links

• Official website