Skip to main content

Yuka Ando Runs Down Asian Games Gold Medalist Chumba to Win Nagoya Women's Marathon


Back where she'd run her best in 2017 only to finish 2nd behind Kenyan-born Bahraini doper Eunice Kirwa, Yuka Ando ran down another Kenyan-born Bahraini named Eunice, in this case 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist Eunice Chebichii Chumba, to win the Nagoya Women's Marathon in a 2:21:18 PB.

Ando and the other top Japanese women in the race, Ayuko Suzuki and Rika Kaseda, had the hopeless task of running a 2:18:58 to make the Paris Olympics team, almost 3 minutes faster than any of them had run before. Hopeless, but not to say they didn't take a serious swing at it. The first 5 km was perfect, 16:28 projecting to exactly 2:18:58, but after that the quartet of pacers struggled to keep things steady. By 13 km pacers Charlotte Purdue and Judith Korir had dropped out of the lead pack, leaving the other two to try to keep it together. At halfway it was down to the three Japanese favorites, Chumba, Oregon World Championships gold medalist Gotytom Gebreslase and Romanian Kenyan Delvine Relin Meringor in 1:09:56, and a faster 5km from 20 to 25 km shook Meringor off the back.

Surges for position at the 25 km drink table put some separation between the five remaining leaders, and that's where the action began. With 2:17:29 marathoner Sheila Chepkirui still leading them Gotytom and Chumba pulled away, their projected finish ticking toward 2:19-flat. Ando and Kaseda stayed in pursuit, leaving Suzuki alone in back. By 30 km Gotytom and Chumba were 30 seconds up on Ando and Kaseda, who had 10 seconds on Suzuki. Nearing 35 km Ando dropped Kaseda and started to close on the two leaders, and just as it looked like she was in range Gotytom suddenly stopped and pulled off the course. As Ando, then Kaseda, then Suzuki went by Gotytom stretched her left leg and made a few attempts to get going again, but within just a few m she was out for good.

With less than 5 km to go everything started contracting, Ando making contact with Chumba at almost the exact same time that Suzuki passed Kaseda, the gap between the two pairs also shrinking. It came down to the last 800 m for Ando to make her final move, kicking away from Chumba for the win in 2:21:18, 18 seconds better than in her runner-up finish 7 years ago. Chumba was next in 2:21:25, Suzuki taking 3rd in a PB 2:21:33 despite falling flat on her face with 100m to go, and Kaseda 4th just off her best in 2:22:11.

Japanese women originally had to run 2:21:41 or better to score the third spot on the Paris team, before Honami Maeda raised the bar to 2:18:58 with her NR in Osaka in January. Both Ando and Suzuki cleared that original mark, no small task. "Thank you to everyone who helped me get here and run my best," Ando said post-race. "I may not be going to Paris, but I got the win here. I'm happy."

Coming up from the second pack, Yuyu Xia ran a PB 2:25:45 to become the fourth Chinese woman to get the 2:26:50 Olympic standard. That was enough to put her at 2nd-fastest among them, the 3rd-fastest Zhixuan Li finishing 11th in 2:28:49 after getting the standard in Nagoya last year in 2:26:28. Li Bai was bumped to 4th with a 2:26:33 in Wuxi last year, but with almost two months still to go to the deadline it's still up in the air who will make it onto the Chinese team.

But with Nagoya the Paris Olympics Japanese marathon teams is set. Trials winner Yuka Suzuki, 2:24:09, 2nd-placer Mao Ichiyama, 2:20:29, and NR holder Honami Maeda, 2:18:59, will join men's team Naoki Koyama, 2:06:33, Akira Akasaki, 2:09:01 and Suguru Osako, 2:05:29, in representing Japan come August.

Nagoya Women's Marathon

Nagoya, Aichi, 10 March 2024

1. Yuka Ando (Japan/Wacoal) - 2:21:18 - PB
2. Eunice Chebichii Chumba (Bahrain) - 2:21:25
3. Ayuko Suzuki (Japan/Japan Post) - 2:21:33 - PB
4. Rika Kaseda (Japan/Daihatsu) - 2:22:11
5. Yuyu Xia (China) - 2:25:45 - PB
6. Delvine Relin Meringor (Romania) - 2:26:09
7. Hikari Onishi (Japan/Japan Post) - 2:26:12
8. Natsuki Omori (Japan/Daihatsu) - 2:26:54
9. Camille French (New Zealand) - 2:28:23
10. Giovanna Epis (Italy) - 2:28:24
11. Zhixuan Li (China) - 2:28:49
12. Akino Asahina (Japan/Senko) - 2:28:59 - debut
13. Yuri Mitsune (Japan/18 Ginko) - 2:29:49 - PB
14. Yuki Nakamura (Japan/Panasonic) - 2:30:31 - debut
15. Momoko Watanabe (Japan/Tenmaya) - 2:30:43
16. Kaena Takeyama (Japan/Senko) - 2:31:52
17. Honoka Tanaike (Japan/Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:32:11
18. Yukari Nagatomo (Japan/Memolead) - 2:33:46 - debut
19. Yuri Karasawa (Japan/Kyudenko) - 2:36:55
20. Jingfen Li (China) - 2:38:19
21. Rosie Weber (Australia) - 2:38:47 - PB
22. Beverley Ramos (Puerto Rico) - 2:39:11
23. Debbie Donald (New Zealand) - 2:40:39 - PB
24. Mai Fujisawa (Japan/Sapporo Excel AC) - 2:41:46
25. Tomomi Sawahata (Japan/Saitama T&F Assoc.) - 2:44:34
26. Fuuka Hirokawa (Japan/OBRS) - 2:45:27
27. Yukari Seimiya (Japan/Kofu T&F Assoc.) - 2:46:33
28. Lexy Gilmour (Australia) - 2:47:24 - debut
29. Yuki Koga (Japan/Shonai RT) - 2:47:31 - PB
30. Izumi Onodera (Japan/Chiba T&F Assoc.) - 2:48:26 - PB
31. Yuko Kikuchi (Japan/Shimamura) - 2:49:00
-----
DNF - Violah Cheptoo (Kenya)
DNF - Gotytom Gebreslase (Ethiopia)
DNF - Eloise Wellings (Australia)

© 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved

Buy Me A Coffee

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Stefan said…
What an exciting race!
Very happy for Yuka Ando to post a victory and achieve a PB. It must be a bitter sweet feeling to win but miss out on Olympic selection.
Since 2020, Yuka Ando and Mizuki Matsuda have been the most consistent high performers in marathons with their times around the 2:21-2:22 range. It was satisfying to see her rewarded with a victory here but I think this is her ceiling and sub 2:20 is a bridge too far not to mention sub 2:18.59! It's good to see how Honami Maeda's new National Record has driven not only Yuka Ando but also Ayuko Suzuki and Rika Kaseda to either a PB or very fast personal time.
By the way, great sportsmanship by Rika Kaseda to speed up to hand her drink bottle to Ayuko Suzuki at the 10k drink station when she missed her own bottle and made 2 failed attempts to get cups of water.
I totally missed Ayuko Suzuki falling down. I just caught it now when re-watching the finish. Glad she still got her PB. She has a fighting spirit. It would have been easy for her to have switched off when she lost contact with Ando and Kaseda not long after 25k and coasted to a 2:24 or slower time but she raced till the very end.
4 years on, this MGC format proved very exciting once again.
March 11, 2024 at 2:30 PM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Matsumoto Marathon Canceled After Fraudulently Hiding Past Financial Losses

On Apr. 23 the city government of Matsumoto, Nagano announced that it was canceling this fall's Matsumoto Marathon after discovering accounting fraud in the event's operation. "We are going to conduct a review of how the race has been conducted up to now," a statement from the city read. Mayor Yoshinao Gaun apologized at a press conference, saying, "We sincerely apologize for letting down everyone involved in putting the event together." The Matsumoto Marathon is run by an executive committee made up of representatives from the city, the Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Shinano Mainichi Newspaper, and the relevant track and field associations. According to city officials, financial records for the November, 2023 edition of the race were fraudulently manipulated. Income from participants' entry fees was lower than expected, and although the city managed to get the Shinano Mainichi, to which it had outsourced overall event management, to r...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges.  Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...
2 comments
Read more

10 Meet Records and a National Record at Hyogo Relay Carnival

The grand prix distance events were absent from the program this year at the 73rd Hyogo Relay Carnival , with the top performances in the women's 5000 m and men's 10000 m Asics Challenge races going to steepler Yuzu Nishide (Daihatsu) in 15:49.48 and Japan-based Kenyan Emmanuel Kiplagat (Mitsubishi Juko) in 28:12.42. But there were a lot of new meet records, and one national record. Ryosuke Kusumi (Shiga) set a T37-class NR of 58.35 m in the para men's 400 m. Kairi Ikeno (Suma Gakuen H.S.) came less than 2 seconds short of a new high school record in the women's 2000 m , beating her own MR from last year by over 3 seconds in 5:55.36, almost 17 seconds ahead of 2nd place. The top 5 all broke or tied the men's high jump meet record, with both Yuto Seko (FAAS) and Tomohiro Shinno (Kyudenko) clearing 2.25 m and Takashi Eto (Kobe Digital Labo), Chao-Hsuan Fu (Taiwan) and Naoto Hasegawa (Niigata Albirex RC) clearing 2.20 m. Yuki Hashioka (Fujitsu) won the men...
Post a Comment
Read more