Skip to main content

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
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

Buy Me A Coffee
Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
With Ruth Chepngetich running it is going to be a fast time.

Did Honami Maeda really get bitten by a snake or was that a figure of speech given her litany of injuries of late?

I have no doubt Honami Maeda, if fully fit, will post a MGC qualifying time. I'm really hoping she is at or near peak fitness and can post a time that will remind people of how good she is.

I am actually impressed with the field. Having Molly Seidel appear and see how she manages after all her injuries last year is a surprise entry. Ayuko Suzuki running after her smashing PB performance at Berlin last year will be good to see. I am very surprised to see Mao Uesugi running in this event as she only ran in Osaka on 29 Jan! I know she wasn't satisfied with her time in Osaka but it seems there is not much to gain from running here (perhaps some prize money?) rather the potential of an overuse injury?

What I most enjoy with the Nagoya Marathon is the exceptional tv coverage like we had in the Osaka Marathon. I'm looking forward to it already.
February 17, 2023 at 11:07 AM
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