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Noguchi In Good Shape: "My Goal Is the Win"

http://www.daily.co.jp/general/2013/03/08/0005797088.shtml

translated by Brett Larner

The invited athletes for Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon, the final domestic selection race for August's Moscow World Championships marathon team, arrived in Nagoya on Mar. 7.  Athens Olympics gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi (34, Team Sysmex) is loudly proclaiming that she is in it for the win.

Noguchi withdrew from January's Osaka International Women's Marathon due to poor health, shifting her focus to Nagoya where she will run her first marathon since last year's edition.  That time in Nagoya she experienced a sudden loss of strength around her left knee and finished only 6th.  "If you compare now to last year, it's really completely different," she said with a big smile.  "For the first time in a long, long time I feel ready to run an interesting race."

Needless to say, she is going for the win.  Her training went well.  In February she did a 30 km run in 1:43.  "I feel like I'm probably at my best," she said, her preparations and fitness right on track ahead of race day.  She is unconcerned about the Kenyans and Ethiopians in the race.  "My goal is to go for the win," she said.  If she pulls it off, a place at the World Championships will be hers.
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