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Beppu-Ōita Marathon
Beppu Bay, near the turning point of the race between Beppu and Ōita
Date and location	Early February Beppu and Ōita, Japan
Race type	Road
Distance	Half marathon
Established	1952
Official site	Beppu-Ōita Marathon

The Beppu-Ōita Marathon (別府大分毎日マラソン, Beppu Ōita Marason^?) is an annual men's marathon race that takes place every February between the cities of Beppu and Ōita in Japan. First held in 1952 as a 35 km race, the looped marathon course begins at the bottom of Takasaki Mountain and it reaches Beppu's Kankoko International Port before turning back towards the finishing point in the Ōita Municipal Athletic Stadium.^[1] The race has IAAF Silver Label Road Race status, making it one of the world's more prestigious competitions.^[2] The event is sponsored by Mainichi and is formally known as the Beppu-Ōita Mainichi Marathon.^[3]

The course is AIMS-certified which means that performances on the course are eligible for national and world records.^[4] 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.^[5] Furthermore, Koichi Morishita's win in 1991 was the fastest time recorded that year.^[6] The current course record holder is Gert Thys of South Africa who won the race in 1996 with a time of 2:08:30.^[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:       Course record       35 km course

Year	Men's winner	Time (h:m:s)
2010	Jonathan Kosgei Kipkorir (KEN)	2:10:50
2009	Adil Ennani (MAR)	2:10:15
2008	Tomoya Adachi (JPN)	2:11:59
2007	Atsushi Fujita (JPN)	2:10:23
2006	Gert Thys (RSA)	2:09:45
2005	Satoshi Irifune (JPN)	2:09:58
2004	Hiroaki Takeda (JPN)	2:12:02
2003	Samson Ramadhani (TAN)	2:09:24
2002	Sammy Korir (KEN)	2:11:45
2001	Takayuki Nishida (JPN)	2:08:45
2000	Kazutaka Enoki (JPN)	2:10:44
1999	Éder Moreno Fialho (BRA)	2:09:54
1998	Akira Shimizu (JPN)	2:09:11
1997	Rolando Vera (ECU)	2:12:00
1996	Gert Thys (RSA)	2:08:30
1995	Patrick Carroll (AUS)	2:09:39
1994	Hajime Nakatomi (JPN)	2:11:28
1993	Maurilio Castillo (MEX)	2:13:04
1992	Dionicio Cerón (MEX)	2:08:36
1991	Kōichi Morishita (JPN)	2:08:53
1990	Bogusław Psujek (POL)	2:11:56
1989	Satoru Shimizu (JPN)	2:12:26
1988	Bruno Lafranchi (SUI)	2:11:58
1987	Yoshihiro Nishimura (JPN)	2:12:03
1986	Taisuke Kodama (JPN)	2:10:34
1985	Hiromi Taniguchi (JPN)	2:13:16
1984	Cor Vriend (NED)	2:12:05
1983	Yoshihiro Nishimura (JPN)	2:13:55
1982	Robert Hodge (USA)	2:15:43
1981	Shigeru Sō (JPN)	2:11:30
1980	Yutaka Taketomi (JPN)	2:13:29
1979	Hideki Kita (JPN)	2:13:30
1978	Shigeru Sō (JPN)	2:09:06
1977	Yasunori Hamada (JPN)	2:13:57
1976	Yukio Shigetake (JPN)	2:14:23
1975	Ken’ichi Ozawa (JPN)	2:13:11
1974	Yasunori Hamada (JPN)	2:13:05
1973	Kenji Kimihara (JPN)	2:14:56
1972	Yoshirō Mifune (JPN)	2:19:11
1971	Kenji Kimihara (JPN)	2:16:52
1970	Kenji Kimihara (JPN)	2:17:12
1969	Tadaaki Ueoka (JPN)	2:14:04
1968	Seiichirō Sasaki (JPN)	2:13:24
1967	Kenji Kimihara (JPN)	2:13:34
1966	Tōru Terasawa (JPN)	2:14:35
1965	Tōru Terasawa (JPN)	2:14:38
1964	Tōru Terasawa (JPN)	2:17:49
1963	Tōru Terasawa (JPN)	2:15:16
1962	Hideaki Shishido (JPN)	2:23:54
1961	Hiroshi Uwa (JPN)	2:23:45
1960	Kazumi Watanabe (JPN)	2:23:30
1959	Yoshitaka Tsukiji (JPN)	2:23:40
1958	Kurao Hiroshima (JPN)	2:25:16
1957	Nobuyoshi Sadanaga (JPN)	2:26:40
1956	Kurao Hiroshima (JPN)	2:26:24
1955	Katsuo Nishida (JPN)	2:29:19
1954	Yoshitaka Uchikawa (JPN)	2:34:48
1953	Keizō Yamada (JPN)	2:29:05
1952	Hideo Hamamura (JPN)	2:01:50

Statistics

Winners by country Country Wins  Japan 44  Kenya 2  Mexico 2  South Africa 2  Australia 1  Brazil 1  Ecuador 1  Morocco 1  Netherlands 1  Poland 1  Switzerland 1  Tanzania 1  United States 1

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

References

General

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

Specific

External links

• Official website

IAAF Silver Label Road Races Osaka International Ladies Marathon • Beppu-Ōita Marathon • Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon • RAK Half Marathon • Nagoya International Women's Marathon • Rome Marathon • Madrid Marathon • Freihofer's Run for Women • Prague International Marathon • Ottawa 10K Road Race • Ottawa Marathon • Metro Men’s Race 10km • Amsterdam Marathon • Gyeongju International Marathon • Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon • Chuncheon Men's Marathon • Venice Marathon • Toronto Waterfront Marathon • Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale • Turin Marathon • Zevenheuvelenloop • Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship • Singapore Marathon • San Silvestre Vallecana

Marathon races in Japan Beppu-Ōita Marathon • Fukuoka Marathon • Hokkaido Marathon • Lake Biwa Marathon • Nagoya Marathon • Osaka Marathon • Tokyo International Marathon • Tokyo Marathon • Yokohama Women's Marathon See also: Ekiden