Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview

The Nagoya Women's Marathon, the world's largest women-only marathon and the last race in the selection cycle for September's Tokyo World Championships, happens Sunday. Weather conditions are looking better than what they had in Tokyo and Osaka the last two weekends, 7˚ at the start and rising to 12˚ with sunny skies. The wind looks a bit stronger than ideal, but it could be worse. Fuji TV has the live broadcast starting at 9:00 a.m. Sunday local time, and if you've got a VPN you should be able to watch the TVer streaming. One option for a leaderboard is here, and another here. We'll have some coverage on @JRNLive.

Just like last time around there are three Ethiopian and Kenyan-born athletes at the top list, this time it being sub-2:20 women Sheila Chepkirui, winner in NYC last year, and Ruti Aga, winner in Xiamen in January, and last year's Nagoya runner-up Eunice Chebichii Chumba. But last year Yuka Ando still pulled off the win, so there's a chance that Rika Kaseda, 2:21:55 in Berlin in 2022, 4th last year in 2:22:11, and fresh off a 1:07:53 PB at the Marugame Half in February, could step up.

She's not alone in that, though. Australia's Isobel Batt-Doyle beat Kaseda in Marugame with a 1:07:17 NR, suggesting she's got something under 2:21:30 in store. Ando won last year in 2:21:18. And lurking in the background after a conservative 2:31:04 debut in Hokkaido last summer is 1:06:56 half marathoner Pauline Kamulu.

Kaseda is the only Japanese woman in the race under the 2:23:30 World Championships standard, but #2-ranked Sayaka Sato is also qualified via placing at last year's Osaka International Women's Marathon. They're the best bets to pick up a place on the Worlds team, with Mao Uesugi a little more distant an outlier. There's a lot of excitement, though, about the debut of mixed road 10 km and women-only half marathon NR holder Rino Goshima. Outside of ekidens Goshima hasn't raced since the Paris Olympics 10000 m, but if she's on then she should be in contention for the top Japanese spot.

What do they need to do to make the Tokyo team? The only clear route is to make it to the top of the JMC Series IV rankings, currently occupied by Ando after her 2:23:37 for top Japanese in Tokyo last weekend. Goshima can't do that off one race, but Kaseda needs to be the top Japanese in 2:19:47 to pass Ando by. Sato and others would need to be a bit faster than that. The other two members of the Tokyo team will be chosen through the black box of the JAAF's evaluation of performances here, in the Osaka Women's Marathon, and elsewhere. They don't like putting people on national teams off a debut marathon, so Goshima would have to do something really special to have a shot.

Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field Highlights

Nagoya, Aichi, 9 Mar. 2025

complete field listing

times listed are athletes' best within last 3 years except where noted

Sheila Chepkirui (Kenya) - 2:17:29 (Valencia 2022)

Ruti Aga (Ethiopia) - 2:18:09 (Dongying 2023)

Eunice Chebichii Chumba (Bahrain) - 2:20:02 (Seoul 2022)

Rika Kaseda (Japan/Daihatsu) - 2:21:55 (Berlin 2022)

Sayaka Sato (Japan/Sekisui Kagaku) - 2:22:13 (Berlin 2022)

Isobel Batt-Doyle (Australia) - 2:22:59 (Valencia 2024)

Natasha Wodak (Canada) - 2:23:12 (Berlin 2022)

Mao Uesugi (Japan/Tokyo Metro) - 2:24:16 (Nagoya 2023)

Yumi Yoshikawa (Japan/Chiba T&F Assoc.) - 2:25:20 (Osaka Women's 2023)

Yuyu Xia (China) - 2:25:45 (Nagoya 2024)

Fabienne Konigstein (Germany) - 2:25:48 (Hamburg 2023)

Li Bai (China) - 2:26:33 (Wuxi 2023)

Cuomu Ciren (China) - 2:26:47 (Hengshui 2024)

Sakiho Tsutsui (Japan/Univ. Ent.) - 2:26:51 (Rotterdam 2024)

Natsuki Omori (Japan/Daihatsu) - 2:26:54 (Nagoya 2024)

Dan Li (China) - 2:27:32 (Wuxi 2024)

Kaede Takeyama (Japan/Senko) - 2:29:20 (Osaka Women's 2023)

Yuri Mitsune (Japan/18 Ginko) - 2:29:49 (Nagoya 2024)

Pauline Kamulu (Kenya/Route Inn Hotels) - 2:31:04 (Hokkaido 2024)

Ayumi Morita (Japan/Tokyo Metro) - 2:31:38 (Tokyo 2024)

Debut

Rino Goshima (Japan/Shiseido) - 1:08:03 (National Corporate Half 2022)

Leanne Pompeani (Australia) - 1:09:01 (Melbourne 2024)

Yuna Wada (Japan/Japan Post) - 32:49.59 (National Championships 10000 m 2023)

Goto Drops 2nd-Straight WR - National Championships Day Three Highlights

Just over a month since his 17th birthday, Taiju Goto proved his 48.31 U18 WR in the men's 400 mH heats yesterday wasn't a fluke as he bettered that in the final on the last day of the 110th National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya. Slow in the start, Goto picked up momentum coming up to 200 m before really getting into gear, pulling away from the rest of the field in the last 100 m to win in 48.09, another U18 WR, a new U20 NR, and a run that made him the first high schooler ever to with the Nationals 400 mH. Now only 0.20 off the senior NR, Goto joins the list of Rakunan H.S. talent to be re-writing the record books that includes Yoshihide Kiryu , Ryuji Miura , Keita Sato and Toshinari Takaoka . Another Nationals MR went down, this one in the women's 3000 mSC thanks to NR holder Miu Saito . Having taken 3rd in the 5000 m 2 days ago, Saito started out a little on the conservative side with company from last year's winner Manami Nishiyama in the first 1000 ...

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

Nagoya Asian Games Team Announced

Following this past weekend's National Championships, the JAAF has announced the complete lineup of 41 women and 45 men for September's Nagoya Asian Games national team. Times listed are athletes' 2025-26 best. Women 100 m Midori Mikase (Sumitomo Denko) - 11.33 Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 11.35 200 m Abigail Fuka Ido (Toho Ginko) - 22.79 Aiko Iki (Osaka Gas) - 23.41 400 m Nanako Matsumoto (Toho Ginko) - 52.14 800 m Rin Kubo (Sekisui Kagaku) - 1:59.52 Ayano Shiomi (Iwatani Sangyo) - 2:01.01 1500 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 4:04.16 Mizuki Michishita (Sekisui Kagaku) - 4:10.48 5000 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 14:34.10 Yuma Yamamoto (Sekisui Kagaku) - 14;59.89 10000 m Nozomi Tanaka (Toyota Jidoshokki) - 30:54.40 Ririka Hironaka (Uniqlo) - 30:56.32 100 mH Hitomi Nakajima (Hasegawa) - 12.71 Mako Fukube (NKK) - 12.72 400 mH Honoka Aoki (Zenrin) - 55.92 Satsuki Umehara (Sumitomo Denko) - 56.22 3000 mSC Miu Saito (Panasonic) - 9:24.72 Manami Nishiyama (Mitsui...

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