Bob Hodge Looks Back on Winning the 1982 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon

Bob Hodge is one of only a few Americans to ever win a marathon in Japan, earning the lifelong nickname "Hodgie-san." Ahead of this weekend's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Hodge wrote, “Japan is a fantastic place for a racer to run a marathon. Most of the top races there invite a smallish contingent of foreign runners, and I considered myself fortunate to be competing in Japan for the second time. Beppu is a beautiful place on the coastline of the southern island of Kyushu. It's known for its thermal hot springs, and bordered by volcanic mountains rising up from the coast it was a dramatic setting for this race.”

posted Tuesday January 30th