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05:59 : Welcome to the 11th IAAF World Championships in Athletics.Konichi wa!
06:58 : The temperature is reported as 27 degrees with relative humidity of 87% as the marathoners line up for the start. There's no question that conditions will play a role in today's race.
07:01 : They're on their way. The marathoners will make a lap of the stadium before heading out on the course, which will take them north to Osaka Castle, then west into the heart of the city, and back.
07:03 : The early leaders are Pablo Olmedo of Mexico, Migidio Bourifa of Italy, and Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa. The pack is very large as nobody wants to force the pace early today.
07:04 : 3:10 for the first kilometer; they are still inside the stadium. The group in front is much wider now, and they are on their way out to the streets of Osaka.
07:07 : About 6:40 for the second kilometer. The pack is too thick now to reliably discern leaders, but Ramaala is still visible at the front along with Bourifa and several Kenyan and Moroccan vests.
07:15 : The marathon pack is spread from curb to curb now, and while we can't identify one leader, we can pick out the caboose on this train: Patrick Dupouy of French Polynesia. We expect that while he is quite used to heat and humidity, finding good courses for long runs may be difficult in Tahiti.
07:25 : Moroccans are taking charge of the pace now, with Abderrahime Bouramdane, Khalid El Boumlili, and Rachid Kisri in the front of the pack. The group is beginning to spread out, and as the sun burns through the light overcast, it is getting hotter, approaching 29C already.
07:29 : 5km in 16:36 for the leaders. Four men of the USA team were running together almost fifteen seconds off the lead; with their Olympic Trials barely two months away, the U.S. federation had a hard time recruiting top marathoners for this Championships.
07:35 : As they approach 10km, William Kiplagat of Kenya is in the front along with Ambesse Tola and Gusida Shentema of Ethiopia, Kisri, and several others. The pack is still dense; 56 runners are within six seconds of Kiplagat and his 32:50 10km split.
07:41 : Bouramdane is the leader now, but the pack has spread wide over two lanes of road, fifteen runners across with Bouramdane one stride ahead. They are testing each other tentatively; nobody wants to overcommit in this heat, but that very caution also opens the door for someone to try stealing the race early.
07:43 : Three South Africans in the lead pack are helping each other out, Norman Dlomo and Hendrick Ramaala passing water to each other while George Mofokeng covers the leaders. Every aid station triggers some opportunistic surges: Kenyans Kiplagat and Luke Kibet have the lead now, with Tolosa and Shentema right behind.
07:47 : Kiplagat and Kibet are making a real break now, the two Kenyans opening up the first real gap of the race after 45 minutes. Bouramdane, Ramaala, and Ali El Zaidi of Libya chasing. El Zaidi will be the first to re-close the gap.
07:50 : Though Kiplagat and Kibet couldn't make their move last, they did succeed in significantly thinning the pack of contenders. Now at 15km (48:39 for the leaders) only 15 athletes remain within a few seconds of the lead.
08:02 : The men's marathon is also a team event, the Marathon World Cup, with teams ranked by their top three finishers. At 15km, Kenya was leading Ethiopia and Morocco, with all three teams having their three scorers in the lead pack.
08:10 : At 20km, the leaders are reported in 1:04:59, and the pace has allowed several athletes to rejoin the pack, which has ballooned to 30.
08:19 : Halfway was reached in 1:08:29 by the leaders, with 25 runners within 5 seconds.
08:23 : The pack is shrinking again, with 12 in the lead along with some stragglers. They've passed 25km, and the official split should be available soon.
08:29 : Kibet is the leader now on the grounds of Osaka Castle, and what remains of the pack is now stringing out behind him. The leaders are two Kenyans (Kibet and Kiplagat), Qatari Mubarak Hassan Shami, and Eritrean Yared Asmerom.
08:31 : We're periodically seeing athletes slowing to a jog off the side of the course now, and the video monitors just showed a Ugandan marathoner seated on the side of the road while a volunteer waved down an aid vehicle.
08:33 : Joining the four leaders are Swiss star Victor Rothlin and Tanzanian Samson Ramadhani in close pursuit. Rothlin, running sixth, may appear to be out of contention, but a short burst would carry him up to the leaders and as long as he can keep them in sight, he is a contender.
08:35 : Ramadhani has joined Kibet, Kiplagat, Shami and Asmerom to make the lead pack five. Rothlin remains barely a few strides behind. The next pack of five includes two Japanese, Tsuyoshi Ogata and Satoshi Osaki.
08:37 : Rothlin is the now the barometer of the lead pack; how close he is to their heels shows how much pressure the Kenyans Kibet and Kiplagat are applying to the others. Rothlin almost regained contact with the other five spread across the road just now, but Kibet surged, the pack thinned to single file, and Rothlin dropped back slightly.
08:38 : The chase pack of five includes, in addition to the two Japanese, Spain's Julio Rios, Uganda's Alex Maling, and El Zaidi of Libya.
08:40 : At 30km (1:36:56 for the leaders) Rothlin was just six seconds back, and the chase pack twenty seconds back. The temperature has passed 30 degrees C; 60% relative humidity appears to be lower, but as the air grows hotter it can hold more moisture, so relative humidity only appears to fall.
08:43 : Kibet is now moving to break away, with Kiplagat and Shami the next pursuers. Kiplagat appears to be in dire straits, watching the pavement rather than Shami or Kibet, but Shami has not moved to break away so he cannot be feeling much better. Kibet looks quite relaxed; he may now have the race won.
08:45 : Kibet's lead continues to grow, and while there is plenty of running left in the race he appears by far the strongest.
08:52 : Shami appears to be getting the best of Kiplagat in the chase pack, and while he can probably see Kibet on the long avenue they're currently on, it's unlikely that he sees the lead shrinking. Kibet has passed 35km now, and we'll see an official split in a few moments.
08:54 : Kibet's lead over Shami is reported unofficially as 23 seconds at 35km.
09:03 : Kibet doesn't look like he's moving all that fast at all, more like he's on an easy Saturday jog. It's only when you look closely at how much ground he covers with each long, loping stride that you see how fast he's actually moving.
09:04 : Now in second is Kiplagat again, with Shami on his heels. Asmerom and Rothlin are fourth and fifth, with Ogata and Osaki pursuing them.
09:04 : Behind Kibet and Shami is Asmerom and Rothlin, with Rothlin now moving into fourth. The two Japanese are in sixth and seventh now.
09:07 : It's obviously too early to tell how the times will add up for the World Cup results, but Japan appears to be a threat to win the team competition, with their third runner in 9th at 35km. Ogata and Osaki have moved up, and now Ogata has broken away from Osaki and is kicking past Asmerom and Rothlin into fourth.
09:10 : Kibet is approaching 40km quite secure in his lead. We'll have that split in a minute. He's in Nagai Park now, and spectators are streaming in to the stadium to watch the finish. Shami appears to have put away Kiplagat to secure second.
09:11 : Kibet's lead, unofficially, is 1:22 over Shami. Kiplagat is another fourteen seconds back, and Ogata in fourth is within nine seconds of Kiplagat. Kiplagat almost missed the turn into the park.
09:13 : Asmerom turns out to be the real fast closer, having passed Ogata and now Kiplagat. Ogata is by Kiplagat as well, into fourth. Kiplagat is moving backwards; Rothlin is past him now as well.
09:16 : Kibet is in the stadium now, and he's moving strongly to the finish. Kibet waves in victory - 2:15:58 unofficially.
09:17 : Rothlin is third coming in to the stadium, in hot pursuit of Shami. Asmerom and Ogata are also in. Shami takes silver, Rothlin bronze.
09:19 : Japan takes fifth, sixth and seventh, Ogata, Osaki, and Toshinari Suwa. That will win them the World Cup, almost certainly.
09:20 : Kiplagat slowed to a walk at the finish line and staggered across. He's now leaning on a sponsor board, surrounded by a team of volunteers. They've moved him to the infield where Kibet has joined him.
09:35 : The Japanese team is taking their bow to an appreciative crowd, and we will take ours as well for a few minutes. We'll return at 10:00 Osaka time, when the men's shot put qualifying begins, along with the heptathlon 100m hurdles.
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