Skip to main content

Osaka International Women's Marathon Changes to Hillier New Course

Part of the course for the 42nd Osaka International Women's Marathon to be held on Jan. 29 next year will changed, doubling its maximum elevation difference to 18 m with a hilly new section. 2004 Athens Olympics marathon gold medalist and national record holder Mizuki Noguchi was optimistic about the course change helping to produce fast times, saying, "When there are moderate undulations it's easier to get into a rhythm."

Noguchi had success at the Olympics and elsewhere by attacking on hills. The new section of the Osaka International course on Nagahori-dori after 20 km features a series of uphills and downhills. Noguchi expects the section to play an important part in the race. "People might be thinking of changing the dynamic there, of shaking up the lead group. It's going to be a good thing."

Another key change on the course is the elimination of the turnaround point at Midosuji just before 30 km. "If there's a 180Ëš turn you have to slow down, and there's a chance of twisting your ankle," said Noguchi. "There'll be less chance of accidents now." On the new sections of the course spectators will now be able to get closer to the runners. "Their voices will really jump out at the runners," Noguchi said.

It has now been 17 years since Noguchi ran the Japanese national record of 2:19:12. But at last year's Osaka International Women's Marathon Mizuki Matsuda (Daihatsu) ran an event record 2:20:52. Hopes are high that with the course change Osaka will see a Japanese woman run 2:19 on Japanese soil for the first time. "I don't want people just to shoot for sub-2:20. Sub-2:20 is a must," Noguchi said. "These days 2:19 is a given at the international level, and people have to be hitting that kind of time."

source articles:
translated and edited by Brett Larner

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
Noguchi's comments ring true. At the very least, if you wish to compete against the world's best then you need to be posting 2:19 (ideally 2:15:37 if you want to win Berlin!). The gap between the World's best vs Japan's best marathoners seems quite large these days. I'm confident this generation of Japanese marathoners will raise their level next year.
September 29, 2022 at 11:10 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

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, 7Ëš at the start and rising to 12Ëš 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...
Post a Comment
Read more

47 Japanese Men Sub-2:10 in 4 Races from Feb. 2 to Mar. 2

It’s been a big month for Japanese men’s marathoning. Across four races in the 29 days from February 2nd to March 2nd, the Feb. 2 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon , Feb. 9 Nobeoka Nishi Nippon Marathon , Feb. 24 Osaka Marathon and Mar. 2 Tokyo Marathon , from 2:05:39 to 2:09:55 a total of 47 Japanese men broke 2:10 in the marathon. Ethiopia has had 48 under 2:10 so far in 2025, a lot of them in January, and all other countries combined a total of 59, so it’s pretty safe to say Japan is the country that’s been having the biggest impact on World Athletics’ top lists over the last month. Osaka is the heavyweight of the four races, with 28 of the sub-2:10s and four of the five fastest times including both 2:05 performances, Ryota Kondo ’s 2:05:39 debut for 2nd and Kyohei Hosoya ’s 2:05:58 PB. Tokyo was next with eleven sub-2:10 performances led by Tsubasa Ichiyama in a 2:06:00 PB, Beppu-Oita next with seven topped by a 2:06:07 debut by Hiroki Wakabayashi , and Nobeoka producing a 2:09:43 wi...
2 comments
Read more

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...
1 comment
Read more