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MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier - Honami Maeda

Honami Maeda

age: 23
sponsor: Tenmaya
graduated from: Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S.

best time inside MGC window:
2:23:48, 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon

PB: 2:23:48, 2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 15:38.16 (2018) 10000 m: 32:13.87 (2018) half marathon: 1:09:12 (2018)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
12th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:31:42
7th, 2018 Berlin Marathon, 2:25:23
2nd, 2018 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:23:48 – PB
1st, 2017 Hokkaido Marathon, 2:28:48

other major results:
3rd, 2019 Hakodate Half Marathon, 1:10:23
3rd, 2019 National Women’s Ekiden Ninth Stage (10.0 km), 31:49
1st, 2018 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:09:12 – PB
5th, 2018 National Corporate Women’s Ekiden Third Stage (10.9 km), 35:15
35th, 2018 Valencia World Half Marathon Championships, 1:12:09
7th, 2017 Sanyo Ladies Half Marathon, 1:10:22
12th, 2017 Osaka International Women’s Marathon, 2:32:19
2nd, 2016 Sendai International Half Marathon, 1:13:02

A member of the Osaka Kunei Joshi Gakuin H.S. winning team at the 2014 National High School Ekiden Championships, Maeda was the first woman to qualify for the MGC Race, winning the 2017 Hokkaido Marathon in 2:28:48 just past her 21st birthday. When she ran 2:23:48 in Osaka five months later it was clear that she was the next big thing from the Tenmaya, the women’s corporate team with the best track record of success at getting people onto national teams in the marathon.

Maeda followed up on Osaka with a 2:25:23 in Berlin, exactly three minutes behind top Japanese woman and fellow Osaka Kunei grad Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu). In ekiden season she was solid, and in December she ran a 1:09:12 half marathon PB to win the Sanyo Ladies Half. The only crack came at February’s Tokyo Marathon, where she ran only 2:31:42. Since then she hasn’t seemed quite as sharp as she did throughout 2018, but a 1:10:23 for 3rd at July’s Hakodate Half Marathon was enough to show that she’s not having any major problems, even if she was nearly a minute and a half behind winner Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal).

Maeda has been training for the MGC Race at altitude in the U.S. with fellow Tenmaya qualifier Rei Ohara. Like Kayoko Fukushi (Wacoal) she’s not one of the three favorites, but given her ability and Tenmaya’s track record it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her in the top three.

Next profile: Ryo Kiname (MHPS).

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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