Gebrselassie, Mathathi and Kawauchi Post-Fukuoka Comments – translated and edited by Brett Larner – Japan Running News

The former world record holder known as "The Emperor" ended his bid for a second Fukuoka International Marathon crown in rout, dropping out of the Dec. 2 race.  Apparently running well in the lead pack, after rounding the turnaround point after 31 km Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) suddenly stopped.

 He later explained that he began experiencing pain in his left leg after 25 km.  "I couldn't lift my leg any more," he said unhappily post-race.  "At first I was feeling good so I thought I would just take it easy and run relaxed, but…."  Two years ago Gebrselassie announced his retirement following another DNF at the 2010 ING New York City Marathon before reversing his decision.  He is now age 39.  Despite the harshness of the reality facing him, Gebrselassie remained optimistic about the future, saying, "I still want to compete."

Another pre-race favorite for the win despite Fukuoka being his debut, 2007 Osaka World Championships 10000 m bronze medalist Martin Mathathi (Kenya/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) also dropped out.  In his case Mathathi lasted until the 38 km point.  "The muscles in both my thighs were complete exhausted," he said with dejection.  "Forget about the marathon.  I'm giving up on it."  Mathathi can take consolation in the fact that winner Joseph Gitau (Kenya/Team JFE Steel) also dropped out of his marathon debut in Fukuoka.

One of the Japanese favorites in the race, "Civil Servant Runner" Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref.) lost touch with the lead pack at 28 km.  "All of a sudden I started having trouble following the pace, and then it got hard to stay optimistic.  I just started to slip away," he said.  "To put it simply, I wasn't strong enough."  Aiming to clear the 2:07:59 time requirement for the 2013 World Championships team, he missed breaking 2:10 and ended up as the 4th Japanese man, 6th overall in 2:10:29.

 "I'm thinking about adding workouts with club teams and universities, maybe some corporate teams, to my training," he revealed.

translated and edited by Brett Larner – Japan Running News

https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2012/12/02/kiji/K20121202004690990.html
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