Irish results from the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan

The Fukuoka Marathon in Japan was held on Sunday the 1st of December and there were two Irish athletes taking part.

Alistair Cragg finally managed to finish a marathon when he ran 2:23, a disappointing time for someone of his talent. As you can see from chart above, at 30 kms he was still on target for a 2:11 Marathon but stomach issues forced him to slow right down over the later stages.

This performance will yet again raise questions about his performance over the marathon distance. Prior to the race, he was yet again talking about breaking the Irish national record of 2:09:15 set by John Treacy. In a recent interview with Feidhlim Kelly, he said..."if I can prove I am one of Ireland's and Europe's greater marathoners I'd love to have the opportunity to race the DCM (Dublin City Marathon), possibly Europeans, and hopefully Rio 2016!".

When Alistair Cragg ran the Fukuoka Marathon in 2011, he failed to finish after going through the half way mark with the leaders in a very fast 1:03:29. This year, he was only 30 seconds behind the leaders and went through half way in 1:04:25. Surely it would have made a lot more sense to run a bit more conservatively and do the first half in 1:06 to 1:07 with an aim to running a 2:12 to 2:14 marathon? He would then have qualified for the European championships and it would have done his reputation a lot of good.

The other Irish interest was Mark Kenneally who represented Ireland in the marathon at the London Olympics. Unfortunately injury issues caught up with him in the last 10 kms and he had to pull out.

Another result of interest was that of citizen runner Yuki Kawauchi who finished 3rd. He became the first Japanese man ever to break 2:10 three times in the same year and the sixth to break 2:10 five times in his career.

Ireland's Alastair Cragg to target a 2:10 Marathon this winter...

There was a recent interview with Alastair Cragg of Ireland on the Universal Sports website (7th Oct 2011) and his plan to try and run a sub 2:10 Marathon this winter.

"I'll probably do a marathon in Asia towards the end of the year but I don't want to say which one as it's not completely confirmed just yet," said the 31-year-old Cragg. Back in September, he set a new national record for 5000 metres when he ran 13:03.53 at the Samsung Diamond League final in Brussels, the second fastest time over the distance by a European this year (He also holds the Irish 10,000m record with 27:39.55).

"Perhaps I had a shot at breaking 13 (minutes) with about three laps to go but I wanted to be safe, I've been chasing my PR since 2007. Man, to finish my last race before I step into marathon; phew, I just don't know what to say," a delighted Cragg told Universal Sports after he had crossed the line in the Belgian capital.

Cragg is aiming not only to do better than that but also atone for his meltdown in Boston back in April when he went off at world record pace for the first 15km before being forced to drop out with painful blisters.

"I'm going for sub-2:10, if I'm going to call myself a marathon runner, that's where I need to be. Sure a 2:06 or even a 2:05 could pop out but I'm thinking about sub-2:10 this time," added the former European indoor 3000m champion. "

I did a build up to Boston this year and I was doing stuff that I didn't think would ever be capable of doing so I want to come to the roads and show the world what I'm capable of. It's my little secret that I want to share. Despite also making the 5000 final (at the World Championships) in Daegu, the whole summer has been about that race at the end of the year. I'm really excited about the marathon. I genuinely believe that's my road in every sense. It's all about London and the Olympics, I want a medal. I can't see it happening anymore in the 5000. When you look at Mo closing in 52 seconds, I just can't do that. I might have been able to do that four or five years ago, but if you look at Mo, Bekele coming back, even Bernard Lagat if he's around; they can finish races in 51-52 and I can't do that, but I still want a medal. I hate the 10,000. People know my history I'm either up front up or not good, that's just my personality, I just like to compete and I don't think the 10,000 is my sort of race," added Cragg, explaining why he has leapt straight to the marathon after not running over 25 laps of the track in the last four years.

Extract from Universal Sports. The original full article can be seen HERE