別府大分毎日マラソン
Takao's debut over the marathon distance came at the start of 1999. Entering the Beppu-Ōita Marathon, he kept up with the leaders for much of the race but after suffering a fall on the course he ended up in sixth place with a time of 2:11:31 hours. Returning to the track he ran a time of 27:56.77 minutes at the Noboeka 10,000 m – a time which ranked him third among Asian men that year. He was chosen for Japan at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics and gave the highest finish of his international career by ending the race in 18th place.