Skip to main content

Olympic Marathon Champion Mizuki Noguchi Runs Anchor Leg on 4x400 m Team at Kansai Jitsugyodan Championships

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2008051800123
http://beijing2008.nikkansports.com/athletics/f-sp-tp0-20080518-361526.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

Running for two-time defending champions Team Sysmex, Beijing Olympic marathon team leader Mizuki Noguchi ran the anchor leg of the 4 x 400 m relay on May 18 at the Kansai Jitsugyodan Track and Field Championships in Hyogo. Noguchi received the baton in 5th place but, despite being an Olympic marathon gold medalist and ekiden ace, was unable to pass even a single runner and came home in 5th.

For Noguchi, who turns 30 on July 3rd, this was the last race she will run in her 20`s. "I did what I could," commented Noguchi afterwards. "It goes without saying that the 400 m is a speed race, so it was pretty tough. I did kind of want to end [my 20`s] with a little stronger performance than this, but I feel freed now to put all my focus into my marathon preparations." Asked for her opinion of marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe`s current injury troubles, Noguchi replied, "She is the kind of woman who can do anything."

Noguchi leaves for her high-altitude training camp in Sugadaira, Nagano on May 20 to begin her final training for Beijing.
Labels:

Comments

Roberto said…
I love that the paper reported this straight (and that Noguchi felt the need to comment without apparently inserting tongue in cheek) ... as though any top marathon runner would expect anything other than to be smoked on an anchor leg of a 4 x 400 ...
May 21, 2008 at 6:49 PM
Brett Larner said…
Agreed. The 2nd article I linked has a photo of her running the race.
May 23, 2008 at 1:40 PM
Anonymous said…
These are the quirky type of articles that you only see in Japan. Thanks for catching this and posting on it. My thoughts on it are here:

http://optimaltraining.typepad.com/blog/2008/05/only-in-japan.html

Bryan
May 24, 2008 at 12:11 AM
Brett Larner said…
Looking back at this from almost two years later I wonder if this will end up having been Noguchi's final race? It was the last one she did before getting injured.
February 15, 2010 at 4:55 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Hassan Runs NR/CR for Osaka Win, Dibaba Hits Women's CR, Yoshida and Shuley Earn Legends

This was maybe the most entertaining marathon in years. After rocking the 2nd leg at last year's Hakone Ekiden Hibiki Yoshida (Sunbelx) ran an incredible 1:01:01 CR for the 21.9 km New Year Ekiden 2nd leg last month, equivalent to a 58:47 half marathon. That predicted a 2:03:27 marathon if he ever ran one, and when Yoshida announced he was debuting at this year's Osaka Marathon he wasted no time in saying it'd be a shot at the 2:04:55 NR. Things went out fast enough with a 14:50 split through 5 km, 2:05:11 pace, but Yoshida just couldn't hold back and took off at 8 km. He clearly DGAF about what was probably going to happen as his projected finish kept getting faster, 2:04:41, 2:04:15, 2:03:51, 2:03:40, edging closer and closer to what his New Year time predicted, but not helped along by the fact that he missed 4 out of his first 5 drink bottles. People laughed, and then cheered him on. 30 km was the first time he slowed, his finish projection dropping to 2:03:53, an...
3 comments
Read more

Osaka Marathon Preview

The Osaka Marathon is Sunday, one of Japan's biggest mass-participation races and the next stop on the calendar for its elite marathoners hoping to qualify for the L.A. Olympics marathon trials in the fall of 2027. Last year it snowed mid-race, but this year is looking warmer than ideal given the season, with sunny skies, almost no wind, and temps forecast to be 11˚ at the start and rising to 19˚ by the time the winners are finishing. NHK is broadcasting Osaka with a heavy emphasis on the men's race, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it from overseas. There's also official streaming on Youtube starting at 8:30 a.m. local time, although it doesn't look like it's the same as what NHK will be showing. Given Osaka's history at the elite level as the continuation of the men-only Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, the women's field is small relative to the men's, just enough to tick World Athletics' label requirements and with almost no do...
1 comment
Read more

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's top 3 Sheila Chepkirui , Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba are back for this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 8, but things are being set up more for it to be a race between Chepkirui, 2:17:49 in Berlin 2023, Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda , 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024. Aynalem has the freshest sub-2:20 of the 3, with neither Chepkirui nor Maeda having done it in 2 years. Maeda's only recent result is a 1:10:07 from Houston last month, but when she ran her NR she didn't have any kind of tuneup race to indicate her fitness so it's probably best not to read too much into that. If it goes out as a 2:18 race those are the only 3 who can probably hang with it. If it turns out to be more of a 2:20 race like when Chepkirui won in 2:20:40 last year then there's a group of 7 at the 2:20-2:22 level who will be in the picture, including Chumba, Selly Chep...
Post a Comment
Read more