Sad News wrote:
The OP's news story doesn't say why it's being discontinued.
"The prestigious Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship will be discontinued after the 75th edition in December due in part to a lack of sponsors, a source close to the matter said Friday."
ilonggo wrote:
I remember back in the day when the running Triple Crown was to win Boston, Fukuoka and Olympic marathons. Did anyone ever do it? It's been sad to watch it fade into obscurity over the years.
Samuel Wanjiru won Fukuoka in CR time in 2007, the Olympics in OR time in 2008, and London in CR time in 2009. Counts for me.
Ackley wrote:
isn't Lake Biwa done too?
Oh, you're right. I hadn't seen that. Amazing. Maybe these cancellations will open up a weekend for a Disney Marathon in Japan.
Oh Please wrote:
Samuel Wanjiru won Fukuoka in CR time in 2007, the Olympics in OR time in 2008, and London in CR time in 2009. Counts for me.
Abera won the Olympic marathon (Sydney), the world championship marathon (Edmonton), the London marathon, and three Fukuoka marathons. And he could outkick pretty much anyone (although he was outkicked by less than a second once in Boston -- a very exciting race). But hardly anyone in the U.S. (or probably almost anywhere else outside Ethiopia and perhaps Japan) seems to know who he was. He didn't run fast time trials. He just won races.
Read this years ago and it’s still one of the best written race stories ever. Inspired me as a young HS runner more than I can say
https://vault.si.com/vault/1972/05/08/concentrate-on-the-chrysanthemums
Avocado's Number wrote:
sub sub elite local hobby jogger wrote:
Wtf. Isn't this like the most competitive marathon in Japan after the Tokyo marathon? Considering how big the marathon is in Japan, I would think this one would be able to survive somehow. Maybe even they need loads of hobby joggers to financially sustain the marathon.
I would if this is a bluff to drum up some sponsors and get an injection of cash to keep it going.
Fukuoka wasn't picked as one of the so-called "majors" (which, of course, has very little to do with the quality of the race), it hasn't produced the ungodly fast times that other races have produced (presumably because it wasn't designed as a time-trial course), and it doesn't have thirty thousand participants (sometimes referred to, without irony, as "runners"). So who really cares about it? Local spectators and the few individuals around the world who recognize it as perhaps the greatest yearly marathon in history. I guess that's not enough, especially if it stops getting its turn as a national championship or Olympic team selector. Even the fancy new shoes probably won't be able to keep it competitive with Lake Biwa. But I don't know. To me, it's just another sad development in an increasingly sucky sport.
Lake Biwa is done, too, as you stated later.
Looking into it more, Fukuoka is getting axed for much of the same reasons as Lake Biwa. Fukuoka is apparently getting crowded out by Osaka, which is the 2nd largest marathon in Japan now. Hard to sustain the tiny "championship" marathons when the big boys start throwing their weight around. Such sad news considering the history and tradition of this marathon. I wonder if adding a women's championship marathon would have saved it (which also would require axing one of the women's championship marathons).
I would have liked to run Fukuoka one day. A pure runners marathon without the fanfare. It bothers me greatly that marathons have become human interest stories and the winners are barely mentioned.
Back when the Soviet Union still existed it was just about the only, non-Olympic, marathon the Eastern bloc runners were allowed to come out beyond the Iron Curtin for.
This was the only marathon Shorter targeted other than Olympic ls in 72 and 76. He never ran Boston.
This of course was before every city had its own Marathon.
Are they unable to make it a mass participation event to save it?