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Osaka International Women's Marathon Happening Sunday


The Osaka International Women's Marathon happens Sunday in the middle of an officially declared state of emergency. Round and round and round they're going to go around the 2.8 km road loop inside Osaka's Nagai Park before finishing on the track in Yanmar Stadium Nagai, the first time we know of that an elite-level Japanese marathon has been done on a short circuit course.

There are a bit fewer than 100 people entered, not a single international athlete among them, but really it all comes down to the two up front going for Mizuki Noguchi's 2:19:12 national record, women-only marathon and 25 km national record holder Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) and 30 km national record holder Honami Maeda (Tenmaya). 

They may or may not have an Olympics this summer, but they've got this chance here. Why not take it? They've got the goal, they're in their prime, they say they're in shape to go for it, they've got a super-fast course, male pacers, good weather in the forecast, and they've got each other. If one of them pulls it off it'll be the first time the Japanese women's NR has been broken on home soil since Naoko Takahashi in Nagoya 23 years ago. Make it so.

Fuji TV is broadcasting the whole thing live starting at noon Sunday Japan time. As usual it doesn't look like there's any kind of international streaming, but we'll tweet out links on @JRNLive if something comes up on Youtube or elsewhere once the race gets going. 

40th Osaka International Women's Marathon

Elite Field Highlights
Osaka, 31 Jan. 2021
times listed are best within last three years except where noted

Mao Ichiyama (Wacoal) - 2:20:29 (Nagoya 2020)
Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) - 2:23:48 (Osaka Int'l 2018)
Reia Iwade (Chiba T&F Assoc.) - 2:23:52 (Nagoya 2019)
Mizuki Tanimoto (Tenmaya) - 2:25:28 (Nagoya 2019)
Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) - 2:26:07 (Nagoya 2019)
Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) - 2:26:45 (Osaka Int'l 2020)
Madoka Nakano (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:27:39 (Osaka Int'l 2019)
Yukari Abe (Shimamura) - 2:28:02 (Osaka Int'l 2019)
Mao Uesugi (Starts) - 2:28:02 (Nagoya 2019)
Shiho Kaneshige (GRlab Kanto) - 2:28:51 (Osaka Int'l 2020)
Shiho Takechi (Yamada Holdings) - 2:29:12 (Nagoya 2019)
Marie Imada (GRlab) - 2:29:35 (Saitama 2018)
Miharu Shimokado (Saitama T&F Assoc.) - 2:29:38 (Gold Coast 2018)
Hiroko Baino (Memolead) - 2:30:09 (Fukuoka 2019)
Anna Matsuda (Kyocera) - 2:30:35 (Nagoya 2020)
Mirai Waku (Univ. Ent.) - 2:33:03 (Asian Championships 2019)
Yuko Kawauchi (Nissei) - 2:33:57 (Nagoya 2019)
Tomomi Sawahata (Saitama T&F Assoc.) - 2:35:58 (Saitama 2018)
Kaoru Nagao (Sunfield AC) - 2:36:09 (Nagoya 2019)
Nao Isaka (Runs) - 2:36:48 (Katsuta 2019)
Hiroko Miyauchi (Hokuren) - 2:37:05 (Nagoya 2018)
Ruka Nakamura (Kojima Press) - 2:38:32 (Nagoya 2018)
Nozomi Kawato (JC Group) - 2:38:43 (Tokyo 2019)

Debut
Ayumi Hagiwara (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 1:10:16 (Nat'l Corp. Half 2019)
Moeno Shimizu (Panasonic) - 1:12:45 (Matsue Ladies Half 2018)
Rui Nishida (Sysmex) - 1:13:34 (Osaka Half 2018)
Yumika Nagahama (Osaka Geijutsu Univ.) - 1:13:37 (Nat'l Univ. Half 2019)
Mariko Ueno (Bukkyo Univ.) - 1:13:59 (Kansai Univ. Half 2020)

© 2021 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

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Stefan said…
I'm very much looking forward to watching this event. Realistically, I think if anyone can break the national record based on recent performances it is Mao Ichiyama. However her most recent half marathon performance dented my confidence and indicates it may be outside of her reach. PBs aren't easy to break and national records even harder! I'd like to see Honami Maeda put in a PB as a confidence booster prior to the Olympics should they happen. In any case, I hope it is a good race and all athletes put in good performances in such a challenging build up.
January 30, 2021 at 12:52 PM
Stefan said…
Perfect conditions for the race. Great PB by Honami Maeda given this was her first marathon race after the MGC qualifier in 2019. There can be no doubt that Mao Ichiyama has stamped herself as Japan's number 1 ladies marathoner. She won the race and did it by a considerable margin. Shame she could not get a PB but it was still a great run. It was evident she was hurting at the 25km mark and onwards where the national record pace got away from her. I think she can be very pleased with her performance despite not beating that national record she was after. Well done by both of them.
January 31, 2021 at 3:08 PM
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