Khapilina and Sbaai Win Sofia Marathon, Yamaguchi 4th

With her plans ruined when last week's Kosice Peace Marathon canceled its elite race and most of its mass-participation race in response to a change in government policies a few days before the race, the Ukraine's Viktoriya Khapilina regrouped and headed to Bulgaria's Wizz Air Sofia Marathon. Controlling the race nearly from start to finish with a few mid-race challenges from Kenyan Naom Jebet, Khapilina went through halfway in 1:14:13 before picking it up to drop Jebet. With a 1:13:44 second half she took the win in a PB of 2:27:57, almost five minutes under the old course record and the fastest women's marathon ever run on Bulgarian soil.

Jebet was 2nd in 2:28:41, with 3rd-placer Cynthia Kosgei of Kenya also under the hold course and all-comers' records in 2:32:10. The first elite Japanese woman to race a marathon outside Japan this year and running with support from JRN, Haruka Yamaguchi (AC Kita) was 4th in 2:32:49 off a 1:16:15 first half. Yamaguchi missed joining the top three under the old record by 15 seconds, but her time was fastest performance yet outside Japan. "My time was at the faster end of what I'd hoped to do today, so I'm pretty happy with that," she said post-race. "I'm disappointed with 4th place, though." Focusing mostly on December's National Championships 10000 m, Yamaguchi's only other marathon planned this year is the Dec. 20 Hofu Marathon, where she will run as a guide runner for a blind male Paralympian.

The men's race came down to a head-to-head battle between Moroccans Raduan Nouini and Youssef Sbaai. Nouini threw in a few mid-race surges to break the mostly Kenyan pack including former 2:04 man Jonathan Maiyo, but in the end the only one he couldn't shake was 40-year-old Sbaai. Coming down the home straight side-by-side, the pair crossed the finish line at the same time in 2:13:03. On review Sbaai was given the win, with Nouini 2nd.

3rd in 2:16:21 Mohamed Ali of the Netherlands had an even harder time of it than women's winner Khapilina. Originally scheduled to run Kosice last weekend, he shifted to Romania's Bucharest Marathon, scheduled the same day as Sofia. When Bucharest canceled on Friday Ali was reported to have driven 400 km overnight to get to Sofia, where he was given a bib and a chance. Sunday's Riga Marathon was also scaled back at the last minute, making Sofia, with around 2000 participants from 37 countries across events and elites from ten countries making the top ten in the women's and men's marathons, the exception and not the rule. But for everything Khapilina and especially Ali's experiences said about what's ahead for athletes trying to return to the roads, the Sofia Marathon was a brief glimmer of hope that better days are ahead somewhere.

35th Wizz Air Sofia Marathon

Sofia, Bulgaria, 11 Oct., 2020
complete results

Women

1. Viktoriya Khapilina (Ukraine) - 2:27:57 - CR, ACR, PB
2. Naom Jebet (Kenya) - 2:28:41 (CR)
3. Cynthia Kosgei (Kenya) - 2:32:10 (CR)
4. Haruka Yamaguchi (Japan) - 2:32:49
5. Marta Akeno (Kenya) - 2:33:25
6. Clementine Mukandanga (Rwanda) - 2:38:51
7. Jane Bareikis (U.S.A.) - 2:38:53
8. Yulia Tarasova (Ukraine) - 2:55:23
9. Ilham Mouradi (Morocco) - 3:00:03
10. Dikia Drori (Israel) - 3:03:52

Men

1. Youssef Sbaai (Morocco) - 2:13:03
2. Raduan Nouini (Morocco) - 2:13:03
3. Mohamed Ali (Netherlands) - 2:16:21
4. Duncan Koech (Kenya) - 2:17:09
5. Praduau Uladzislau (Belarus) - 2:17:49
6. Jonathan Maiyo (Kenya) - 2:22:32
7. MOhammed Hajjy (Morocco) - 2:24:44
8. Gideon Tamar (Israel) - 2:26:59
9. Victor Chelokoi (Kenya) - 2:27:22
10. Craig Kynkin (South Africa) - 2:28:44

Chepkirui Wins Nagoya Women's Marathon

Heavy-duty favorite Sheila Chepkirui took the win at Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon , pulling away after 30 km to cruise in for 1st in 2:20:40. Erratic pacing early saw the first and second groups only seconds apart for much of the first half of the race, the top group slower than planned and the 2nd group a bit ahead of schedule. At halfway in 1:10:37 the front group included Chepkirui, #2-ranked Ruti Aga and last year's runner-up Eunice Chumba , and Japanese contingent Sayaka Sato , Rika Kaseda , Natsuki Omori and Mao Uesugi . Omori was the first to drop, then Uesugi, then Aga, who ultimately dropped out before 30 km. When the pacers stopped at 30 km Chepkirui made a move that dropped Kaseda and strung out Chumba and Sato behind her, but all four came back together once before another surge put Kaseda away for good. As Chepkirui inched away Sato and Chumba passed each other repeatedly, and Chumba could only watch as the top Japanese runner got away from her again thi...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon , the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7˚ at the start and rising to 12˚ with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming . One option for a leaderboard is here , and another here . We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive . Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui , winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga , winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba . But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a c...

Who's Running Tokyo Worlds?

The Japanese marathon teams will be the most prestigious ones to be on for September's Tokyo World Championships, and with Sunday's Nagoya Women's Marathon the window for Japanese athletes to get onto the JAAF's shortlist closed. Who's on it? The final decision won't be made until Mar. 26, but let's look through the selection criteria and see who's guaranteed, who's pretty likely, and who has a chance. 1. Marathon medalists at the Paris Olympics - There weren't any, so nobody makes the team this way. Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) and Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) were the top placers, both of them running PBs in the Olympics to finish 6th. You'd think that would count for something a year later, but you'd think wrong. 2. JMC Series IV Champions - The top point scorers in the Japan Marathon Championship Series IV, which ran from April, 2023 to March, 2025, earn places on the marathon teams along with cash prizes. For women that's Yuka ...

japan running news

Search This Blog