Kenyan marathoner Makau ready to prove critics wrong

Former world marathon record holder Patrick Makau will be keen to silence his critics when he lines up at the Fukuoka Marathon in December.

"It has been two years of frustrations. I have been in and out of Kenya seeking medical attention. I have been to Germany more than three times to consult doctors and have seen as many doctors in Kenya," Makau said Wednesday, reports Xinhua.

"But the injury, which I picked up while training in Ngong, has since healed and I have had two races without any problems, in Prague and Valencia. Now the main challenge is for me to conquer my own fears and go for the title in Fukuoka."

With the third fastest time of two hours, 3.38 minutes which he posted in Berlin in 2011, Makau will be the centre of attention when the gun sounds in Fukuoka, Japan, Dec 7.

"In Fukuoka, I know there will be Martin Irungu Mathathi running. He is the champion and I have never run against him before. But I am not training to beat him, but the course and any other opponent that will be there," he said.

Mathathi will be defending his Fukuoka Marathon title but a lot of eyes will be on the performance of Makau.

Also returning are Kenya's surprise 2012 champion Joseph Gitau, but the Japan-based runner was beaten into second place last year by Mathathi, and, of a slightly earlier vintage, Ukraine's 2005 winner Dmytro Baranovskyy.

With places at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing at stake for the Japanese team, as Fukuoka is one of four races being used to decide the Japanese team for Beijing, there is considerable domestic interest as well.