Skip to main content

MGC Race Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier - Keiko Nogami

Keiko Nogami

age: 33
sponsor: Juhachi Ginko
graduated from: Suma Gakuen H.S.

best time inside MGC window:
2:26:33, 5th, 2019 Nagoya Women’s Marathon

PB: 2:26:33, 5th, 2019 Nagoya Women’s Marathon

other PBs:
5000 m: 15:24.70 (2018) 10000 m: 32:07.70 (2018) half marathon: 1:09:27 (2019)

marathons inside MGC window (Aug. 1 2017 – April 30 2019)
20th, 2019 Tokyo Marathon, 2:38:23
2nd, 2018 Jakarta Asian Games Marathon, 2:36:27
5th, 2018 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, 2:26:33 – PB
2nd, 2017 Dongguan Asian Championships Marathon, 2:29:05
2nd, 2017 Hokkaido Marathon, 2:30:11

other major results:
1st, 2019 Sendai International Half Marathon, 1:09:27 – PB
10th, 2019 Marugame Half Marathon, 1:13:28
3rd, 2018 National Sports Festival 5000 m, 15:37.28
3rd, 2016 Osaka Half Marathon, 1:11:52
2nd, 2015 Gold Coast Marathon, 2:29:36
5th, 2015 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, 2:28:19

Along with Kensuke Horio (Toyota), Nogami is one of two graduates of Suma Gakuen H.S. to make the MGC Race, and one of only two women over 30 to make it. A member of the tiny Juhachi Ginko corporate team, Nogami only really started to come on strong in 2015 with a 2:28:19 at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon and a runner-up finish at the Gold Coast Marathon four months later. Since then she has quietly moved up the ranks with a 2nd place at the 2017 Hokkaido Marathon, a silver medal at the 2017 Asian Championships, a 2:26:33 PB in Nagoya last year, and another silver medal at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games with track PBs along the way.

The Tokyo Marathon this year was a bust in cold and rainy conditions as Nogami was only 20th in 2:38:23, but in May she dropped a 1:09:27 PB to win the Sendai Half Marathon and get things back on track. In a 2:23 race Nogami would have a tough time being part of the front end, but given her record in hot conditions and her Sendai win she should be relevant at the MGC Race.

Next profile: Takuya Fujikawa (Chugoku Denryoku).

© 2019 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee
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