Official 2018 Fukuoka Marathon Discussion Thread

Can't wait, hopefully Callum Hawkins will be the first British male since 1968 to win Fukuoka.

Thanks for the full list.

About Moen, yeah he's had a terrible year, first a big bout with the flu and then an injury at the European Marathon race. Oh and he no longer holds the European record thanks to Mo.

It seems Renato can't create miracles each year...

also note that Brett Robinson will be making his marathon debut.

Do you think Fuokuka is the most prestigious marathon outside the Olympics?

Interested to hear your take

Back in the day it was referred to as the unofficial world marathon championships. IMHO even today I would rather win Fukuoka than a London or Berlin Marathon.

Yuki arm swing wrote:

Do you think Fuokuka is the most prestigious marathon outside the Olympics?

Interested to hear your take

pres·tig·ious

/preˈstējəs,preˈstijəs/

adjective

inspiring respect and admiration; having high status.

"a prestigious academic post"

synonyms: reputable, distinguished, respected, esteemed, eminent, august, highly regarded, well-thought-of, acclaimed, authoritative, celebrated, illustrious, leading, renowned

Based on that definition, I'd rank the top 3 most prestigious marathons as:

1. Olympics

2. Boston

3. New York

snow blow wrote:

Yuki arm swing wrote:

Do you think Fuokuka is the most prestigious marathon outside the Olympics?

Interested to hear your take

pres·tig·ious

/preˈstējəs,preˈstijəs/

adjective

inspiring respect and admiration; having high status.

"a prestigious academic post"

synonyms: reputable, distinguished, respected, esteemed, eminent, august, highly regarded, well-thought-of, acclaimed, authoritative, celebrated, illustrious, leading, renowned

Based on that definition, I'd rank the top 3 most prestigious marathons as:

1. Fukuoka

2. Boston

3. Olympics

Did Yuta originally get the 100 million Yen bonus for his national record at Tokyo? Then did Osako get it also? Or is it based on a calendar year, meaning that Yuta could get it back in Fukuoka?

Anyone 'in the know' know how their bonus of 100 million Yen is distributed?

Will be interested to see if Shitara tries to take back the Japanese record. Will be a nice subplot to the race.

Serious question about the Japanese bonus wrote:

Did Yuta originally get the 100 million Yen bonus for his national record at Tokyo? Then did Osako get it also? Or is it based on a calendar year, meaning that Yuta could get it back in Fukuoka?

Anyone 'in the know' know how their bonus of 100 million Yen is distributed?

They break it they win it, someone breaks it two days later, they get another 100 million

Boston is still a great race at the front

But the rest is a circus...and imho a joke...the standards are so low nowadays it’s lost its prestige...

But when I came on the scene it was 900 of the best runners and that was it...if you didn’t make...tough sh$t!

But times have changed I guess...

Now it’s just another race imho

Yuki arm swing wrote:

Boston is still a great race at the front

But the rest is a circus...and imho a joke...the standards are so low nowadays it’s lost its prestige...

But when I came on the scene it was 900 of the best runners and that was it...if you didn’t make...tough sh$t!

But times have changed I guess...

Now it’s just another race imho

Exactly, standards to get into Fukuoka:

Group A

Marathon: under 2 hours 27 minutes

30 km road race: under 1 hour 35 minutes

Half-marathon: under 1 hour 05 minutes

Group B

Marathon: under 2 hours 35 minutes

30 km road race: under 1 hour 45 minutes

Half-marathon: under 1 hour 10 minutes

Yuki arm swing wrote:

Do you think Fuokuka is the most prestigious marathon outside the Olympics?

Interested to hear your take

Deepest, maybe. They don't quite get the top-end quality that even Tokyo gets anymore, same for the other WMM races. Plus it's men only.

Yuki arm swing wrote:

Boston is still a great race at the front

But the rest is a circus...and imho a joke...the standards are so low nowadays it’s lost its prestige...

But when I came on the scene it was 900 of the best runners and that was it...if you didn’t make...tough sh$t!

But times have changed I guess...

Now it’s just another race imho

Stop with the god awful reminiscing, it’s nauseating. It’s a race. And everyone running it is faster lb for lb than ‘they’ were 30 years ago you boring imbecile.

Enjoy patronizing people?

Make you feel superior?

You're the one dogging on people because age group winners and the average finishing time are slower than a long time ago when a lot fewer people were entering and finishing. Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back, snob. The race probably enjoys more prestige among the general populace now, nobody outside of metro Boston was watching the race in the '70s and '80s. Far more people are interested now, the race field fills incredibly quickly and that's with qualification standards in place.

And they close the course at 2:40 marathon pace. So If you can't hack a ~6:05 pace for the first 5k your race is over. Can you imagine a marathon race that is over in 2:40 minutes? Certainly cuts down on the road closure time compared to all these 6-7 hour marathons in the states.

Sondre Moen is afraid of me because he knows I've been doing HIIT and crossfit (exactly what Kipchoge does now and what KB did in his prime).

Would love to see a good battle between Robinson and Hawkins. I’m predicting big things from Robinson, currently at an altitude training camp. Big players make big plays