Skip to main content

Yokohama International Women's Marathon Announces Elite Field for Its First Edition

http://www.asahi.com/sports/spo/TKY200910210174.html

translated by Brett Larner

The first running of the new Yokohama International Women's Marathon, sponsored by the Asahi Newspaper Group and others, takes place Nov. 15. On Oct. 20 the event's organizing committee announced the lineup of the elite field of eleven. 2007 World Championships 6th place finisher Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC), the Ominami twins Hiromi and Takami (Team Toyota Shatai) top the domestic contenders, while Beijing Olympics gold and silver medalists Constantina Dita (Romania) and Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) will be the main overseas competition.

The domestic field consists of five invited athletes. Shimahara, 3rd at last year's Chicago Marathon and 3rd in the 2006 Osaka International Women's Marathon, is an experienced veteran. In August she set the Hokkaido Marathon course record of 2:25:10, her PB. At age 32 she is at the peak of her powers. The Ominami twins, both past winners of the Rotterdam Marathon, will celebrate their 34th birthdays on race day. With their sponsor Toyota Shatai having maintained its support of their running after disbanding the rest of its running team this past spring the Ominamis are highly motivated to perform.

Six foreign athletes will make up the rest of the invited field. The 39 year old gold medalist Dita and all-time #2 woman Ndereba, 37, are the biggest stars. Joining them will be 2004 Tokyo International Women's Marathon winner Bruna Genovese (Italia) and 2005 Tokyo Int'l runner-up Zivile Balciunaite (Lithuania).

The Yokohama International Women's Marathon picks up the reins from the Tokyo International Women's Marathon which had its final running last November. The race begins at Yokohama's Yamashita Park. Following a short 2.5 km loop through the surrounding neighborhood, runners will then complete three circuits of a 13.2 km loop through downtown Yokohama before finishing back in Yamashita Park. The race will be the first Rikuren-certified circuit course.

2009 Yokohama International Women's Marathon Elite Field
Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) - 2:18:47 (2001)
Constantina Dita (Romania) - 2:21:30 (2005)
Hiromi Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai) - 2:23:26 (2004)
Takami Ominami (Team Toyota Shatai) - 2:23:43 (2002)
Robe Guta (Ethiopia) - 2:24:35 (2006)
Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC) - 2:25:10 (2009)
Zivile Balciunaite (Lithuania) - 2:25:15 (2005)
Bruna Genovese (Italy) - 2:25:28 (2006)
Inga Abitova (Russia) - 2:25:55 (2009)
Miki Ohira (Team Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 2:26:09 (2008)
Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - debut
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Arao Becomes 1st Man in 40 Years to Score Back-to-Back Ome Road Race Wins

30 km is an under-appreciated distance, and both of Japan's big races at that distance happened Sunday. At the Ome Road Race in western Tokyo's mountains, Sydney Marathon 6th-placer Masato Arao (ND Software) became the first man since the great Kunimitsu Ito in 1985-1986 to win back-to-back years. Arao, who finished 39th of 40 on his leg at the New Year Ekiden last month, stayed in the pack through 20 km before going on the attack, putting over a minute on New Year Ekiden Sixth Stage CR breaker Yudai Shimazu (GMO). Sub-1:31 winning times are rare on the tough and hilly Ome course, but Arao's 1:30:54 almost equaled his 1:30:50 from last year, making him the first Japanese man ever to do it twice and second only to CR holder Ezekiel Cheboitibin . Next up Arao races the Tokyo Marathon, where he is targeting sub-2:06. Shimazu was 2nd in 1:31:58 and Yuta Nakayama (JR Higashi Nihon) 3rd in 1:32:07. Cheboitibin was only 9th, running almost 8 minutes off his CR in 1:36:42. Shi...
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