Yuki Kawauchi's 3rd marathon of year is this weekend - make your predictions now

A sub par (for him) 2:09:25 time.

40F predicted at race time as opposed to 47F at the start of Beppu (and 44F at Tokyo 2011). Course looks fairly flat with an overall drop of 40ft. There're a lot of relatively sharp turns early on. Heck, I'll say in the 2:07s more for wishful thinking rather than a prediction.

2:06:47

Kawauchi is my hero

he also ran this year

30k in 1:29 on february 17th

half marathon in 1:03 on march 3rd

he also did not run a marathon he had originally planned to run a few weeks ago, because he said he wanted to try for 2:06-2:07 on march 17th in korea, and wanted to save himself for the personal best attempt.

he is a dieng breed, a top distance runner who actually likes racing frequently, a throwback to runners like bill rodgers, craig virgin, mike musyocki, kjell erik-stahl, doug curtis etc.

now top runners get cushy shoe contracts and forget they are entertainers and try to race as kittle as possible.

enough of this diatribe, my prediction.

2:07.40 for kawauchi in 5th

winner goes 2:06.02

2:07:01

top 4, First Japanese

Im not 100% in agreement with your analogy for the old guys from the past , not even Rogers ran marathons like Kawauchi. He is one of a kind. Curtis ran lots of slow marathons. ( sub 2:20 stuff )

Looking back at the golden days of road racing , Sinclair , Lindsey , Curp these guys did run for the money , it was lucrative , appearance money , prize money , great battles , american records etc. I believe the so called US pro's of today are afraid to toe the line , they don't travel internationally to compete in bigger events ( note the entry list for tomorrows marathon ) , they are content with being the top american.

At some point I would hope they can get the attitude of Rupp and want to compete against the best.

Oh , 2:07:52 for Kawauchi , winner sub 2:05 , note $500k bonus for world record , $200k bonus for sub 2:04 , these guys will be hammering.

Almost time for the start. Based on what he said after the 30k win it sounds like he's going to do it and hit 2:07. If so, I think around 2:07:30. But it raises the question again, how much longer can he keep getting away with racing this much?

This guy wouldn't have even hit Marathon #3 on a stereotypical American/Russian training plan (Leave it all in training and hope for the best in competition)

Any stream or race play-by-play?

Prediction: 2:07:43 5th Place

If he runs 2:07 he would likely receive ~$60k USD from a Japanese govt related agency, but he turned it down. He also turned back quarterly stipend of about $3.5k USD from Japan Sports Council. Article (in Japanese but cool quotes from him flat turning the money down):

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20130317-00000002-sph-spo

Kawauchi rules! Just like the song, he's "Big in Japan".

頑張れ川内！！！

(also Brett Larner's articles rule! Great way to keep up on running in Japan - keep it up Brett, your good work is appreciated)

2:08:11 PB!!!!!!! 4th

2:10:27

DOPER.

Is this marathon on a track?

Major RESPECT to Kawauchi: NO fear, brass b*lls in competition AND taking on the Japanese athletic establishment, becoming a near folk hero in the process.

How can you NOT like this guy?

2:13.05

Didn't he just have like heatstroke style collapse from 50k race a month or two ago? Guy is just crazy as hell (in a good/wtf way)

This is an old thread. Next weekend will be his sixth marathon of the year, not to mention the 50 km.

After he finished Tokyo in 2:12, he was so embarrassed by his performance he shaved his head in disgrace.

More amazing than the number of races he runs is the number of times he ends up in the medical tent after his races. There's not another runner on the planet that turns himself inside out to run his fastest than Yuki. I honestly don't know how long he'll be able to max himself out like that. Salazar has said after the Duel in the Sun he was never able to run at his best again.