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'Assefa Smashes World Marathon Record in Berlin with 2:11:53, Kipchoge Achieves Record Fifth Win'

https://worldathletics.org/news/report/tigst-assefa-world-marathon-record-berlin-kipchoge-2023

Japanese half marathon national record holders Yusuke Ogura (Yakult) and Hitomi Niiya (Sekisui Kagaku) both ran the Berlin Marathon. Ogura finished 51st in 2:17:39 a few steps ahead of women's runner-up Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, with Niiya 11th in 2:23:08. Although Niiya’s run was billed as an attempt at the 2:19:12 national record, she was never on NR pace and slowed continuously after 10 km. Complete results.
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Stefan said…
I was confident Niiya would break the National record on the back of her strong debut effort at the Tokyo marathon last year and her very fast Houston marathon earlier this year. Given the excellent training camp, the favourable weather conditions on the day, the use of the new Adidas 'super' shoe, her confidence and especially considering she decided not to take part in the MGC race I expected her to break the National Record. It is a shame she didn't and fell off the pace so early. It is a disappointing outcome and it highlights the ever widening gap between the best in the world and one of the best in Japan. I now eagerly look forward to the MGC race on Oct 15 and hope for the same excitement we had 4 years ago!
September 25, 2023 at 4:54 PM
Brett Larner said…
Never a safe bet to use words like "confident" and "expect" to describe someone's chances of breaking a record, let alone one set by an Olympic gold medalist who was one of the most accomplished half-marathoners in history.
September 26, 2023 at 6:30 PM
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