Currently the #10-ranked Japanese man in the marathon with the fastest-ever domestic time at the elite Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon, Tsubasa Ichiyama (Sunbelx) made his international debut at Sunday's Copenhagen Marathon, literally an international debut as it was his first time outside the country. Ichiyama hoped to be in contention to break the 2:08:23 CR and go for the win, and with cool and breezy conditions ran easy in the lead group through 30 km. But something ate away at almost everyone as time went by, several people in the lead men's and women's groups saying humidity, and past 30 km Ichiyama fell off. Falling as low as 9th, he rallied after 40 km to finish 8th in 2:13:07.
"It was different than in Japanese races," he said. "I'm used to bigger packs and more even pacing, but this was a kind of racing I hadn't done before. There's a lot to think about. I didn't feel like I was sweating a lot, but I got really thirsty and started skipping my drinks and only going for water." Paris Olympics-bound Kenyan-born Bahraini Abdi Ali Gelelchu took the win in 2:09:11 with Gadisa Birhanu next in 2:09:55 in his 4th marathon since December and fellow Ethiopian Abebaw Muniye 3rd in 2:10:27.
Also in the men's race, Japanese-based Mongolian Ser-Od Bat-Ochir was in Copenhagen to try to hang on to his 80th-place position in the 80-deep Paris Olympics quota. On the cusp of becoming the first person to ever make six Olympic marathons, Bat-Ochir needed to run at least 2:09:40 to move up to 79th, and he was at risk of being knocked out of 80th in Copenhagen by Canada's Ben Preisner, who needed a 2:11:22 to overtake Ser-Od, Denmark's Jacob Simonsen, who needed a 2:10:13 and top Danish position, and, running simultaneously in Prague, Mongolian rival Bjambajav Tseveenravdan, who needed 2:09:33.
Ser-Od went with the lead group through halfway on 2:08:32 pace before losing touch, and by 25 km he was over what he needed to run 2:09:40. Prague had started half an hour earlier than Copenhagen, and when word came through that Byambajav had run 2:13:22 for 6th that took some of the pressure off. Preisner and Simonsen both went out with the 2:09:59 second group, and when Preisner, who had DNFd last weekend in Hamburg, dropped off it all came down to Simonsen. He stayed in the low 2:10 range, about a minute faster than his 2:11:22 PB from Valencia last year, through 30 km, but like most others he stalled and ultimately crossed the line in 2:11:24 for 7th. With that, Ser-Od held on to 80th despite his 2:19:25 finish in 14th, surviving the day inside the Olympic quota.
Having already made the Olympics with a then-NR 2:26:32 in Tokyo in March, Ser-Od's protege Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh had already had Copenhagen on her schedule as a backup in case she missed the mark in Tokyo and opted to use it to try for something more ambitious as a dry run for Paris. "I'm going to run up front and not care about time," she told JRN pre-race. By 10 km Khishigsaikhan had a 2-second lead over a chase group of five Africans including CR holder Rodah Jepkorir, and by 20 km that was up to 1:09, not quite on CR pace but with a 2:23:45 projection a full minute under rival Munkhzaya Bayartsogt's NR from Seoul in March.
Khishigsaikhan held that lead through 30 km, but as she slowed in the last part of the race the remnants of the chase group closed, then passed her. Ultimately she finished 4th in 2:28:48, holding off Kenyan Caroline Jebet Korir but gunned down just before 40 km by Finnish NR holder Alisa Vainio. Margaret Agai of Kenya took the win in 2:27:31, compatriot Mercy Kwambai 2nd in 2:28:12 and Vainio 3rd in 2:28:21. "Six months ago I would have been happy with this time," Khishigsaikhan said, having run a 2:28:33 PB at the time at December's Taipei Marathon, "but now....I wish I'd been able to hold on a bit longer."
45th Copenhagen Marathon
Copenhagen, Denmark, 5 May 2024
Men
1. Abdi Ali Gelelchu (Bahrain) - 2:09:11
2. Gadisa Birhanu (Ethiopia) - 2:09:55
3. Abebaw Muniye (Ethiopia) - 2:10:27
4. Enock Kinyamal (Kenya) - 2:10:33
5. James Kiplagat (Kenya) - 2:10:58
6. Archie Casteel (Sweden) - 2:11:23
7. Jacob Simonsen (Denmark) - 2:11:24
8. Tsubasa Ichiyama (Japan/Sunbelx) - 2:13:07
9. Adam Lipschitz (South Africa) - 2:13:48
10. Lee Wesselius (Canada) - 2:15:31
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14. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Shin Nihon Jusetsu) - 2:19:25
Women
1. Margaret Agai (Kenya) - 2:27:31
2. Mercy Kwambai (Kenya) - 2:28:12
3. Alisa Vainio (Finland) - 2:28:21
4. Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh (Mongolia) - 2:28:48
5. Caroline Jebet Korir (Kenya) - 2:30:12
6. Deratu Hailu (Ethiopia) - 2:32:50
7. Sylvia Kiberenge (Denmark) - 2:34:05
8. Heather Townsend (Great Britain) - 2:37:31
9. Lorena Meningand (France) - 2:38:05
10. Sara Schou Kristensen (Denmark) - 2:38:38
text and photos © 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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