Born in Shiroishi, Saga, Maeda made his international debut at the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics, where he ran in the heats of the 5000 metres.
[1] At the 2006 Asian Games he ran in the 5000 m and came in fourth place – however, he was the best Asian-born runner in the race as all the medallists were Kenyan emigrants to Qatar and Bahrain.
[4] He finished well off the pace at the 2009 World Championships Marathon, taking 39th place and crossing the line some eight minutes behind Japan's best performer Atsushi Sato.
[5] Maeda came third at the 2011 Beppu-Ōita Marathon as the first Japanese home on the 60th anniversary of the race and improved his personal best time to 2:10:29 hours.
[7] A personal best time of 2:08:38 hours came at the 2012 Tokyo Marathon, where his sixth-place finish (the second Japanese home) improved his Olympic selection chances.