Skip to main content

World University Games Half Marathon Gold Medalist Yuka Suzuki Going for Collegiate Record in Debut at Nagoya Women's Marathon


Part of the qualification process for this summer's Oregon World Championships and the 2024 Paris Olympics marathon trials, the Nagoya Women's Marathon takes place this Sunday, Mar. 13. One of the women who will be lining up is star 22-year-old collegiate distance runner Yuka Suzuki. A 4th-year at Daito Bunka University with a best of 31:37.88 for 10000 m, Suzuki won the gold medal in the World University Games half marathon her 2nd year of college. Ever since then, the Olympics have been a clear target. "I want to go for the Paris Olympics, and even higher goals," she says. "That's why I want to run my first marathon before I graduate." 

Suzuki also has an artistic side. Holding up a picture she drew she says, "This is the scene of entering Nagoya Dome right before the finish. When I was young I wanted to be a manga or anime artist." She has painted since she was a child, and sometimes she gives teammates drawings or paintings for their birthdays.

Suzuki's goal in Nagoya is to break the collegiate women's marathon record of 2:26:46, set 8 years ago by Sairi Maeda. "I'm going after it seriously," she says. "I want to run confidently. If I can run up to my potential then there's nothing to be afraid of."

Translator's note: The silver medalist behind Suzuki at the 2019 World University Games, Rika Kaseda, made her marathon debut in Tokyo last weekend, running 2:28:29 for 11th.

source article:
translated and edited by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

'Kobe 2024: Aitchison, Athmani Lead Record-Breaking Thursday'

  https://www.paralympic.org/news/kobe-2024-para-athletics-world-championships-aitchison-athmani-lead-record-breaking-thursday Complete results and daily schedule from the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships are here .
Post a Comment
Read more

Hirayama Breaks Osaka Half CR, Martinez Set Puerto Rican NR

The Osaka Half Marathon took another big step up the domestic half marathon rankings from a mass-participation race run alongside the Osaka International Women's Marathon to one of the country's top-tier races. In the women's race, the debuting Jecinta Nyokabi (Denso) went out fast, only to be run down by veteran Yumi Yoshikawa (Canon AC) by 10 km. Nyokabi faded to 6th in 1:10:41, but Yoshikawa pushed on to a PB 1:09:14 for the win. Rina Shimizu (Noritz), Yuna Takahashi (Shimamura) and Makoto Tsuchiya (Ritsumeikan Univ.) all broke 70 minutes, Tsuchiya taking the Kansai Region collegiate title in 1:09:32 for 4th overall. Everyone in the top 10 who wasn't debuting ran a PB, a mark of how fast the day was even with cold and windy conditions. The men's race went out on sub-61 pace courtesy of Yudai Shimazu (GMO), then got a big injection of speed when Kyuma Yokota (Toyota Kyushu) took off close to 60-flat pace. Yokota opened a 10-second lead by 15 km, but over ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marugame, Beppu-Oita and More - Weekend Preview

After the Osaka International Women's Marathon and Osaka Half Marathon last weekend Japan's winter road season rolls on with 3 big races Sunday. The Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon has a good field up front in the women's race with 5 runners, Eilish McColgan , Dolphine Omare , Isobel Batt-Doyle , Charlotte Purdue and Yuka Ando , with sub-1:09 bests and the debut of #1 collegiate runner Sarah Wanjiru of Daito Bunka University . 3 men in Marugame have recent sub-60 times, Emmanuel Maru , Richard Etir and Kotaro Shinohara leading the way. Shinohara was one of 2 Japanese men to break 60 at Marugame last year and missed the NR by 3 seconds in 59:30. After a 42:53 CR on his 15.3 km leg at the New Year Ekiden on Jan.1, 45:06 pace for 10 miles, he's looking to pick up at least another 4 seconds this time around. 14 other men in the field are at the 60-minute level, and Chuo University 's sub-28 10000 m runner Yamato Hamaguchi is making a highly anticip...
1 comment
Read more