61st edition of the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on 5 February - History
Many of Japan's top Olympic performers ran the course and still appear in the top-10 all time list
Beppu-Oita - History ©Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon
04 February: The all-time list for the Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon [supplied by Ken Nakamura], the 61st edition of which is on 5 February, reads like a historical honour roll.
Unlike other richer and faster marathons, in which all the best times have been recorded more recently by names that flit momentarily across the consciousness of even the most enthusiastic Marathon follower, some of this event's best performances date back decades.
Foremost among these is Shigeru Soh's 2:09:06 winning time in 1978 - then most likely the fastest time ever run, given the severe doubts over the accuracy of the course in Antwerp on which Derek Clayton recorded 2:08:34 in 1969.
Many of Japan's top Olympic performers ran the course and still appear in the top-10 all time list for the course, including Seoul Olympic entrant Takeyuki Nakayama and Barcelona runner-up Koichi Morishita - along with Korean Barcelona Olympic Marathon Champion Hwang Young Cho.
Two other major names of the 1990s figure in South Africa's Gert Thys - who heads the list with the course record of 2:08:30 - and four-time winner of the London Marathon Dionicio Ceron.
1. 2:08:30 Gert Thys (RSA), winner 1996
2. 2:08:36 Dionisio Ceron (MEX), winner 1992
3. 2:08:45 Takayuki Nishida (JPN), winner 2001
4. 2:08:47 Hwang Young-Cho (KOR), 2nd 1992
5. 2:08:53 Koichi Morishita (JPN), winner 1991
6. 2:09:06 Shigeru Soh (JPN), winner 1978
7. 2:09:11 Akira Shimizu (JPN) winner 1998
8. 2:09:12 Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN) 2nd 1991
9. 2:09:23 Toru Mimura (JPN), 3rd 1991
10. 2:09:24 Samson Ramadhani (TAN), winner 2002
11. 2:09:39 Pat Carroll (AUS), winner 1995
Source: AIMSworldrunning.org
