Chepngetich Returns - Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field

Last year's winner and all-time #2 woman Ruth Chepngetich returns to the Nagoya Women's Marathon on Mar. 12 for another taste of its $250,000 prize money for 1st place. Nagoya is the world's biggest women-only marathon, and along with Chepngetich 2021 Valencia Marathon winner Nancy Jelagat and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Molly Seidel lend it a bit of cachet. But overall it's a very weak field for a platinum label race, one of the weakest in Nagoya history. 6 of the top 7 Japanese women entered, Ayuko Suzuki, Mao Uesugi, Mizuki Tanimoto, Yuka Suzuki, Chiharu Ikeda and Mirai Waku, have already qualified for October's MGC Race Olympic marathon trials, so while the Japanese group will probably try to run 2:19 or 2:20 however fast Chepngetich goes, there's not even a lot of drama around Nagoya being the last domestic chance to make the trials.

The only real drama on paper is whether snakebitten Tokyo Olympics marathon trials winner and 30 km NR holder Honami Maeda can make the cut, or even start. Maeda ran 5000 m and half marathon PBs last year, but between injuries and COVID  hasn't made it to the starting line of a marathon since the Olympics a year and a half ago. If she actually runs she'll have to finish in the top 3 Japanese women and under 2:28, in the top 6 and under 2:27, or under 2:24 regardless of place. With no other marathon inside the qualifying window, if that doesn't work out then she'll have to double overseas somewhere before the end of May to try to get a two-race average under 2:28.

None of the other Japanese women in the field are sub-2:28 caliber, but a half dozen or so around the 2:30 level are doubling after having run January's Osaka International Women's Marathon in hopes of rolling a bigger one and making the two-race average qualifying standard. High-potential debuts include 1:10 half marathoners Ryo Koido and Saya Nishitani, and from 2019 World University Games 10000 m bronze medalist Natsuki Sekiya.

Fuji TV will be broadcasting Nagoya live starting at 9:00 a.m. local time. Check back closer to race date for more info on following live.

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Nagoya, Aichi, 12 Mar. 2023

complete field listing

times listed are best within last 3 years except where noted

Ruth Chepngetich (Kenya) - 2:14:18 (1st, Chicago 2022)

Nancy Jelagat (Kenya) - 2:19:31 (1st, Valencia 2021)

Ayuko Suzuki (Japan Post) - 2:22:02 (8th, Berlin 2022)

Mao Uesugi (Starts) - 2:22:29 (2nd, Osaka Women's 2022)

Mizuki Tanimoto (Tenmaya) - 2:23:11 (4th, Osaka Women's 2022)

Honami Maeda (Tenmaya) - 2:23:30 (2nd, Osaka Women's 2021)

Molly Seidel (U.S.A.) - 2:24:42 (4th, NYC 2021) - withdrawn

Yuka Suzuki (Daiichi Seimei) - 2:25:02 (5th, Nagoya 2022)

Eloise Wellings (Australia) - 2:25:10 (6th, Nagoya 2022)

Chiharu Ikeda (Hitachi) - 2:25:59 (7th, Osaka Women's 2023)

Katharina Steinruck (Germany) - 2:25:59 (1st, Enschede 2021) - withdrawn

Mirai Waku (Univ. Ent.) - 2:26:30 (4th, Nagoya 2021)

Zhixuan Li (China) - 2:26:39 (1st, Shanghai 2020)

Xinyan Zhang (China) - 2:26:56 (1st, Hangzhou 2022)

Deshun Zhang (China) - 2:27:01 (2nd, Hangzhou 2022)

Isobel Batt-Doyle (Australia) - 2:28:10 (2nd, Melbourne 2022)

Ayano Ikemitsu (Kagoshima Ginko) - 2:28:26 (7th, Osaka Women's 2021)

Kaena Takeyama (Senko) - 2:29:20 (9th, Osaka Women's 2023)

Honoka Tanaike (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:29:45 (10th, Osaka Women's 2023)

Sarah Klein (Australia) - 2:30:10 (14th, Oregon WC 2022)

Anna Matsuda (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 2:30:19 (17th, Nagoya 2022)

Nana Sato (Starts) - 2:30:19 (18th, Nagoya 2022)

Saki Fukui (Mitsui Sumitomo Kaijo) - 2:30:31 (15th, Nagoya 2021)

Beverly Ramos (Puerto Rico) - 2:31:10 (20th, Oregon WC 2022)

Mayu Nishikawa (Starts) - 2:31:32 (20th, Nagoya 2022)

Sakiho Tsutsui (Yamada Holdings) - 2:32:04 (12th, Osaka Women's 2023)

Misato Horie (Sysmex) - 2:32:10 (1st, Osaka 2022)

Mao Kiyota (Suzuki) - 2:33:01 (13th, Osaka Women's 2023)

Sarah Pagano (U.S.A.) - 2:33:11 (8th, Chicago 2021)

Jeong-Hyun Choi (South Korea) - 2:33:31 (9th, Daegu 2022)

Nanami Aoki (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:33:32 (2nd, Hokkaido 2022)

Debut

Ryo Koido (Hitachi) - 1:10:20 (9th, National Corp. Half 2022)

Saya Nishitani (Otsuka Seiyaku) - 1:10:38 (9th, National Corp. Half 2021)

Mayu Hirata (Wacoal) - 1:11:15 (18th, National Corp. Half 2021)

Natsuki Sekiya (Daiichi Seimei) - 1:11:45 (7th, Osaka 2022)

photo © 2022 Nagoya Women's Marathon, all rights reserved

text © 2023 Brett Larner, all rights reserved