Fukuoka Marathon

Fukuoka Marathon
The Fukuoka Marathon monument at Hakata Station with footprints of past winners
Date	Early December
Location	Fukuoka, Japan
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon
Established	1947
Official site	Fukuoka Marathon

The Fukuoka International Open Marathon Championship (福岡国際マラソン, Fukuoka Kokusai Marason^?), held in Fukuoka, Japan, is an IAAF Gold Label international men's marathon race established in 1947. It is usually held on the first Sunday in December.

The course record is held by Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia, running 2:05:18 in 2009 to best his own record from the previous year.

In its early years, the race had a rotating venue format, but these races are contained within the Fukuoka history as they all shared a common organiser and sponsor (the Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese national newspaper). The inaugural edition was launched in 1947 as the "Kanaguri Prize Asahi Marathon" (金栗賞朝日マラソン, Kanaguri-Shō Asahi Marason^?) and was held in Kumamoto. The 1951 was the first of the race series to be held in Fukuoka. Foreign runners were invited for the first time in 1954 and Reinaldo Gorno of Argentina subsequently became the first non-Japanese winner. The competition was renamed as the "Asahi International Marathon" (朝日国際マラソン, Asahi Kokusai Marason^?) the following year and Finland's Veikko Karvonen became the first European victor. In 1956 the race reverted to a national race between Japanese men, but foreign runners were reintroduced for later editions.