Skip to main content

Japan’s Marathon Season Wraps at Sunday’s Nagoya Women’s Marathon - Preview



Japan’s domestic elite marathon season wraps up Sunday with the Nagoya Women’s Marathon, the final race in the first season of qualification for the MGC Race, Japan’s new 2020 Olympic trials marathon to be held in late 2019. In its first season the MGC Race has succeeded in unifying Japan’s disparate national team selection races into what feels like an actual series, one that fans have gotten excited about and which has, at least on the men’s side, driven performances to a higher level. As of right now, thirteen Japanese men have met the MGC Race’s strict qualification criteria, six of them at the Tokyo Marathon alone. Heading into Nagoya only three women have qualified. Will we see another rush of qualifiers this weekend?

On paper it could happen. Since its rebranding as the world’s largest women-only marathon, Nagoya has consistently produced among the best depth-at-quality in the world, its course, weather and fields conducive to seeing a lot of people running fast times. In theory there’s no limit to the number of Japanese women who can qualify for the MGC Race if they run under 2:24:00, but realistically there are six spots up for grabs, three for the first three Japanese women if under 2:28:00 and three more if the next three Japanese women are under 2:27:00. There are enough good Japanese women in the field this year to see all six spots go, and enough foreign talent to make sure it’s a race.

At its front end the international field is almost as good as in Tokyo. Sub-2:21 women Lucy Kabuu (Kenya) and Valary Jemeli (Kenya), Saitama International winner Flomena Cheych Daniel (Kenya) and 2:24 Ethiopian Meskerem Assefa lead the way, Jemeli as the likely favorite, and all of them are perfectly positioned to drive the top Japanese women to the kinds of times the JAAF wants to see. Sairi Maeda (Daihatsu), Rei Ohara (Tenmaya) and Mao Kiyota (Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) have all run 2:22~23 in Nagoya in the last few years, with Reia Iwade (Dome) just behind them with a 2:24:38 two years ago. All four are contenders for the first three Japanese spots, with some potential competition from debuting track star Hanami Sekine (Japan Post).

Four other Japanese women on the list, Shiho Takechi (Yamada Denki), Hanae Tanaka (Shiseido), Michi Numata (Toyota Jidoshokki) and Miharu Shimokado (Nitori), have all cleared 2:28 recently, and with Misaki Kato (Kyudenko) having run just over 2:28 in a time trial effort at December’s Hofu Yomiuri Marathon and half marathon specialists Yomogi Akasaka (Meijo Univ.) and Mizuki Tanimoto (Tenmaya) making their debuts it could be an exceptionally deep race driven by the battle to pick up the last few MGC spots.

Nagoya will be broadcast live on Fuji TV starting at 9:00 a.m. local time Sunday. The best bet for following the race live from overseas is a usually reliable live stream here.

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Nagoya, 3/11/18
times listed are best in last three years except where noted
click here for complete field listing

Lucy Kabuu (Kenya) - 2:20:21 (Dubai 2015)
Valary Jemeli (Kenya) - 2:20:53 (Berin '17)
Flomena Cheyech Daniel (Kenya) - 2:21:22 (Paris 2017)
Sairi Maeda (Japan/Daihatsu) - 2:22:48 (Nagoya 2015)
Rei Ohara (Japan/Tenmaya) - 2:23:20 (Nagoya 2016)
Mao Kiyota (Japan/Suzuki Hamamatsu AC) - 2:23:47 (Nagoya 2017)
Meskerem Assefa (Ethiopia) - 2:24:18 (Rotterdam 2017)
Reia Iwade (Japan/Dome) - 2:24:38 (Nagoya 2016)
Shiho Takechi (Japan/Yamada Denki) - 2:25:29 (Nagoya 2016)
Hanae Tanaka (Japan/Shiseido) - 2:26:19 (Osaka Int'l 2017)
Michi Numata (Japan/Toyota Jidoshokki) - 2:27:27 (Nagoya 2016)
Merima Mohammed (Bahrain) - 2:27:49 (Frankfurt 2017)
Miharu Shimokado (Japan/Nitori) - 2:27:54 (Nagoya 2017)
Misaki Kato (Japan/Kyudenko) - 2:28:12 (Hofu 2017)
Karolina Nadolska (Poland) - 2:28:12 (Lodz 2014)
Keiko Nogami (Japan/Juhachi Ginko) - 2:28:19 (Nagoya 2015)
Kaori Yoshida (Japan/RxL) - 2:28:24 (Nagoya 2017)
Sara Dossena (Italy) - 2:29:39 (New York 2017)
Kikuyo Tsuzaki (Japan/Noritz) - 2:31:33 (Riga 2017)
Hiroko Miyauchi (Japan/Hokuren) - 2:32:40 (Osaka Int'l 2016)
Yuko Mizuguchi (Japan/Denso) - 2:33:20 (Nagoya 2016)
Mei Matsuyama (Japan/Noritz) - 2:34:35 (Nagoya 2016)
Sakie Arai (Japan/Higo Ginko) - 2:34:40 (Osaka Int'l 2017)
Yoko Miyauchi (Japan/Hokuren) - 2:35:09 (Nagoya 2016)
Ayano Ikemitsu (Japan/Kagoshima Ginko) - 2:36:18 (Osaka Int'l 2018)
Yurie Doi (Japan/Fujitsu) - 2:36:28 (Hokkaido 2017)
Mayumi Fujita (Japan/Nagasaki T&F Assoc.) - 2:36:53 (Nagoya 2016)

Debut
Hanami Sekine (Japan/Japan Post) - 31:22.92 (track 10000 m, 2016)
Yomogi Akasaka (Japan/Meijo Univ.) - 1:11:41 (Marugame Half 2016)
Mizuki Tanimoto (Japan/Tenmaya) - 1:12:17 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2017)
Erika Ikeda (Japan/Higo Ginko) - 1:12:38 (Sanyo Women's Half 2015)

© 2018 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

2026 Tokyo Marathon Elite Field

The Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon has great fields this year, so let's get right to it. The women's field has 3 of last year's top 10, winner for the 2nd year in a row and Tokyo CR holder Sutume Asefa Kebede , 3rd-placer and 2025 Chicago winner Hawi Feysa , and 5th-placer and 2025 Berlin winner Rosemary Wanjiru , plus 2024 Valencia winner Megertu Alemu , 2025 Prague winner Bertukan Welde , 2024 Paris winner Mestawut Fikir , 2024 Osaka winner Waganesh Mekasha , former WR holder Brigid Kosgei , and a lot more. Japanese hopes pretty much go to all-time #7 Ai Hosoda , 2:20:31 in Berlin 2024 but who announced this month that she is retiring after Tokyo despite having qualified for the 2028 Olympic marathon trials with her 2:23:27 for 6th in Sydney last year. Other internationals include Canadian Malindi Elmore , American Sara Hall , a big Chinese group led by Yuyu Xia , Poland's Aleksandra Brzezińska and Australian Vanessa Wilson . The men's race has 5 of last year's top 1...
4 comments
Read more

Measuring Marathon Courses by Bicycle

http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2013&d=0110&f=column_0110_034.shtml translated by Brett Larner The full marathon is a sport where you compete over 42.195 km, but how do they go about measuring that distance?  Today we're going to look a little bit at how they go about certifying the distance of a marathon. The reality is that major international marathons use a bicycle to measure the distance.  This rule is an international standard, and the same method of measurement is used everywhere.  It was put into place in 1986.  In order to ensure that the same method is used everywhere, a bicycle that meets IAAF specifications must be used for measurement. In the case of Japan's major marathons, to be certain that the distance is correct a provisional measurement is first made.  Before the course is certified using a bicycle the course is measured using a 50 m-long length of wire to determine that it is in fact 42.195 km.  When a bicycle is u...
2 comments
Read more

Ai Hosoda Announces Retirement

photo © 2025 Victah Sailer/Photo Run, all rights reserved On Jan. 8 the Edion women's corporate team announced that Ai Hosoda , 30, will retire at the end of March this year. The Tokyo Marathon will be her last race. At Nagano Higashi H.S. Hosoda ran in the National High School Ekiden her 2nd and 3rd years. During her 3rd year at Nittai University she won both the 5000 m and 10000 m at the Kanto Region University Track and Field Championships, going on to win the bronze medal in the 10000 m at the World University Games in her 4th year at Nittai. After graduating she joined the Daihatsu corporate team, debuting at the 2019 Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:29:27. 2 years later she transferred to Edion. She qualified for the Paris Olympics marathon trials at the 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon and finished 3rd in the trials in the fall of 2023, but was later bumped down to Olympic alternate after another athlete ran a faster time. Instead of the Olympics, Hosoda ran the 2024 Ber...
2 comments
Read more