Skip to main content

Nagoya International Women's Marathon Releases Elite Field for Final Running

by Brett Larner

After a delay to allow four top Japanese women caught in Christchurch, New Zealand during last week's major earthquake time to decide whether they are ready for a competitive marathon, on Mar. 2 the Nagoya International Women's Marathon announced the elite field for the Mar. 13 race. The final edition of the elite-only race before the race changes formats next year to a mass-participation women-only event, Nagoya features the deepest domestic field of the three selection races for this summer's World Championships marathon team. To prevent any unnecessary stress to the runners, Rikuren officials have taken the unusual step of forbidding journalists from asking any questions related to the New Zealand earthquake until after the race.

The last three Nagoya winners, defending champion Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC), '09 winner Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) and '08 victor Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) return. They will face 2009 Tokyo Marathon winner Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Univ. Ent.), 2011 Ome 30 km winner Hiromi Ominami (Yutic AC) and former pro XC skiier Azusa Nojiri (Team Daiichi Seimei) along with a raft of talented runners in the 2:26-2:29 range. Of particular interest are the marathon debuts of 2010 Nagoya Half Marathon winner Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC), Chizuru Ideta (Team Daihatsu), a teammate of Yokohama runner-up Remi Nakazato (Team Daihatsu), and ekiden star Risa Shigetomo of 2010 national champion Team Tenmaya.

The top Japanese woman will earn a guaranteed spot on the World Championships team if she breaks 2:26. Currently only Yokohama International Women's Marathon winner Yoshimi Ozaki (Team Daiichi Seimei) has secured a place on the team. Osaka International Women's Marathon winner Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) and Yokohama runner-up Nakazato are very likely to be named based on the strength of their performances. The second Japanese woman in Nagoya must break the time clocked by Osaka runner-up Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku), 2:26:55, to have a chance of being considered. A realistic goal for at least four of the Japanese women in Nagoya, this means the race is likely to be fast and competitive.

The overseas field of five consists of two veterans, Romania's Lidia Simon and Russia's Albina Mayorova, whose best times, although dated, would put them in range of the top Japanese women on the entry list, along with three runners with more recent marks who could step up and factor into the front of the race, Lithuanian Diana Lobacevske, Ethiopian Tiki Gelana, and Kenyan Rose Kerubo Nyangacha.

Nagoya will be broadcast live. Check back closer to race date for more info on watching online and JRN's live coverage.

2011 Nagoya International Women's Marathon Elite Field
1. Lidia Simon (Romania) - 2:22:54 (Osaka '00)
2. Albina Mayorova (Russia) - 2:25:35 (Chicago '03)
3. Diana Lobacevske (Lithuania) - 2:28:03 (Capri '10)
4. Tiki Gelana (Ethiopia) - 2:28:28 (Los Angeles '10)
5. Rose Kerubo Nyangacha (Kenya) - 2:29:22 (Hamburg '07)
11. Hiromi Ominami (Yutic AC) - 2:23:26 (Berlin '04)
12. Yuri Kano (Second Wind AC) - 2:24:27 (Tokyo Int'l '08)
13. Mizuho Nasukawa (Team Univ. Ent.) - 2:25:38 (Tokyo '09)
14. Yurika Nakamura (Team Tenmaya) - 2:25:51 (Nagoya '08)
15. Madoka Ogi (Team Juhachi Ginko) - 2:26:55 (Osaka '08)
16. Yoshiko Fujinaga (Team Shiseido) - 2:28:13 (Nagoya '09)
17. Yukari Sahaku (Team Univ. Ent.) - 2:28:55 (Tokyo '09)
18. Azusa Nojiri (Team Daiichi Seimei) - 2:29:12 (Osaka '10)
19. Yuko Machida (Team Nihon ChemiCon) - 2:29:35 (Nagoya '09)
20. Akane Wakita (Team Toyota Jidoshoki) - 2:29:54 (Nagoya '10)
21. Noriko Matsuoka (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - debut - 1:11:13 (Nagoya Half '10)
102. Seika Iwamura (Team Daihatsu) - 2:33:15 (Osaka '10)
105. Chihiro Tanaka (AthleC AC) - 2:29:30 (Nagoya '02)
106. Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC) - 2:35:34 (Nagoya '10)
108. Nozomi Iijima (Team Sekisui Kagaku) - 2:36:46 (Sapporo '09)
111. Chizuru Ideta (Team Daihatsu) - 1:12:34 (half)
112. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 1:12:45 (half)
113. Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya) - debut - 1:13:28 (half)
114. Yolanda Cabellero (Colombia) - debut - 1:14:48 (half)
(c) 2011 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Ninja Runner Yuka Ando Leads Japanese Women's Marathon Team in London: "I Want to Go For It"

Her form has been dubbed "ninja running." Both arms held straight down with almost no movement. That idiosyncratic style carried Yuka Ando , 23, to the fastest-ever marathon debut by a Japanese woman, 2:21:36, at March's Nagoya Women's Marathon to land at #4 on the all-time Japanese lists. All at once Ando found herself catapulted to the top level of women's marathoning, a candidate for Japan's next great marathoner. When she was younger Ando ran moving her arms like other runners, but she had a bad habit of moving robotically, her upper body and lower body not working in sync. The turning point came in 2014 when she joined Suzuki Hamamatsu AC . Working there with coach Masayuki Satouchi to eliminate the faults in her form, the pair arrived at the ninja running style that let her run relaxed. "Other people keep asking me, "Isn't it hard to run like that?" but for me it's comfortable," she said. The efficient form helped her mai

Yamaguchi 10th at United Airlines NYC Half - Weekend Overseas Results

2024 national cross-country champion Tomonori Yamaguchi was the top Japanese finisher in the men's race at the United Airlines NYC Half , taking 10th in 1:04:36. A 2nd-year at Waseda University , Yamaguchi was one of three collegiate runners running New York in the 11th year of JRN's development program collaboration between the Ageo City Half Marathon and the New York Road Runners, a program that has seen people like future half marathon and marathon NR breaker Yuta Shitara and Paris Olympic team member Akira Akasaki make their international debuts. Yamaguchi's Waseda teammate Taishi Ito started fast, going with the leaders through 5 km in 14:29 before losing touch. Hosei University senior Rei Matsunaga went through in 14:42 in his last race before joining the JR Higashi Nihon corporate team in April. Yamaguchi, who caught COVID after winning last month's National Cross-Country Championships, started more conservatively with a 15:11 first 5km. But where both Ito

Rui Aoki Wins National University Men's Half Marathon - Weekend Results

Yuka Ando 's win at the Nagoya Women's Marathon was the big news of the weekend, but there were other high-level races happening, even in Nagoya. Held in parallel with the marathon, the Nagoya City Half Marathon saw Australians Natalie Rule and Ed Goddard take easy wins by about 2.5 minutes each, Rule in 1:13:57 and Goddard in 1:04:01. The new Biwako Marathon also had a non-Japanese winner, China's Yousheng Guan scoring 1st in 2:14:58 with Japan's Hirohito Sugai next in 2:16:40. Mikiko Ota won the women's race in 2:50:44. The Shizuoka Marathon returned for its first running in five years, with club runner Shumpei Oda leading the top 7 men under 2:20 in 2:15:36. Women's winner Remi Tanaka ran 2:41:23, beating runner-up Ayumi Sano by exactly 7 minutes. And in Tokyo, Rui Aoki continued what has been a great season so far for Koku Gakuin University with a win at the National University Men's Half Marathon . Aoki and Hiro Konda of Chuo Gakuin Unive