Kazuhiro Maeda (; born 19 April 1981) is a Japanese long-distance runner. Born in Shiroishi, Saga, Maeda made his international debut at the

2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Santiago, Chile between 17 and 22 October 2000. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, 1122 athle ...

, where he ran in the heats of the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

. He won the Karatsu 10-Miler in 2003. He was part of the Japanese men's team for the short race at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. At the

2006 Asian Games The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...

he ran in the 5000 m and came in fourth place – however, he was the best Asian-born runner in the race as all the medallists were Kenyan emigrants to Qatar and Bahrain. Maeda competed twice at world level for Japan in 2007: he finished seventeenth in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

at the 2007 World Championships and then came 30th at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships in

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

. He made his

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

debut in 2009 at the

Tokyo Marathon The is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, Japan. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the seven World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on . It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro. History The fi ...

and he secured second place behind

Salim Kipsang Salim Kipsang (born 22 December 1979) is a Kenyan long-distance runner, who specializes in the 10,000 metres and marathon. Life Kipsang was born in 1979. Both he and his brother are runners. His brother Henry is married to the road runner Dian ...

with a time of 2:11:01 hours. This automatically gained him a place for that year's World Championships team. He finished well off the pace at the 2009 World Championships Marathon, taking 39th place and crossing the line some eight minutes behind Japan's best performer Atsushi Sato. Maeda came third at the 2011

Beppu-Ōita Marathon The is an annual men's marathon race that takes place every February between the cities of Beppu and Ōita, Ōita, Ōita on the island of Kyushu in Japan. The race has IAAF Silver Label Road Race status and is a listed course of AIMS (Associati ...

as the first Japanese home on the 60th anniversary of the race and improved his personal best time to 2:10:29 hours. He was the third Japanese runner to finish at the

Fukuoka Marathon The is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race held in Fukuoka, Japan. It was previously known as the Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship between 1947 and 2021, when it was announced the race would be discontinued on i ...

later that year, coming sixth overall. A personal best time of 2:08:38 hours came at the 2012

, where his sixth-place finish (the second Japanese home) improved his Olympic selection chances. Ultimately he was not selected for the Olympics and he ran at that year's

Amsterdam Marathon The Amsterdam Marathon, currently branded as TCS Amsterdam Marathon, is an annual marathon (42.195 km) in Amsterdam in the Netherlands since 1975. The road running, road race has a IAAF Road Race Label Events, Platinum Label from World Athle ...

instead, although he only managed 15th place. A new personal best of 2:08:00 came at the 2013 Tokyo Marathon, where he was the first Japanese with his fourth-place finish.Nakamura, Ken (2013-02-24)
Kimetto clocks course record 2:06:50 at Tokyo Marathon
IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-03-02.

Personal bests

- 13:25.24 min (2008) *

- 27:56.92 min (2007) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

- 1:02:10 hrs (2007) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

- 2:08:00 hrs (2013)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maeda, Kazuhiro 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Saga Prefecture Japanese athletics coaches Japanese male long-distance runners Japanese male marathon runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Japan Asian Games competitors for Japan 21st-century Japanese sportsmen