Jason:
So are you in Japan and going to watch Osaka? Say hi and good luck to Shibui-chan (she doesn't know me personally but her coach does). I think her training was going well in China and she looked slim.
3 reasons why I thought Beppu would be better; 1) slightly more time to recover from the half, 2) lower key marathon although this year Beppu is a trial for the world as well, 3) and they still have the downhill in the beginning of the course and it might start you off too fast especially if you're the first-timer.
I don't know who's running either Tokyo or Beppu. I know who's NOT running--Takaoka. I heard that his training hasn't been going well and he gave up on Osaka worlds. Unfortunate. I really think he had the potential to become one of great marathon runners... I checked the new Tokyo corse and it looks pleasant. Yes, I think they wanted a fast course. It's also very scenic (as can be in Tokyo!). I thought I read somewhere that Atsushi Sato (Chugoku Electronics) is running Lake Biwa... I could be wrong.
Good luck at Tokyo! We'll be watching!
Vipam:
I really admire your positive thinking. I really do. And, you're right; I shouldn't have put limit on athlete's ability. But at the same time, though, if I have a runner who cannot sprint 52 seconds for 400, I would not put him in 5000 or 10000, regardless of how great his potential or how gutsy he may be, for the most important competition in his life. Arthur Lydiard said to use 200m time as the athlete's basic speed to determine the most suited race distance. He didn't say that for the heck of it. Sure, there have always been a surprise and you can argue with a few exceptions but there have been way too many more examples of runners who should have won but lost in the last sprints because he/she couldn't sprint. If you are NOT a marathon runner and if you can't sprint, sure, you've got to find a way to beat the field. You can surge, you can sprint in the middle of the race (surprise), you can try to make 3000m race out of 5000, though it should be the last 3000, not the first 3000 (yeah, Bob!). Tergat tried so desprately so many times against Geb. It is not that Tergat is "slow" at all; but Geb is basically "quicker" in the last 200m (or 50m). And the problem today (not so much 20 years ago but getting very close) is that so many "fast" guys are training a lot and moving up the distance. They have so much better endurance base (thanks to Marathon Conditioning Training, I would say).