Skip to main content

Nagoya Women's Marathon Announces Elite Field

by Brett Larner

In its second year as a mass-participation women-only marathon the Mar. 10 Nagoya Women's Marathon released its elite field on Feb. 21.  For Japanese women it is the last chance to make the 2013 World Championships in a domestic race, with Boston and London remaining within in the qualifying window.  National record holder Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) tops the list after having pulled out of the Osaka International Women's Marathon for the second year in a row.  She made a comeback to the marathon in Nagoya last year after her Osaka pullout.  Will she start in Nagoya this year?  Place your bets now.  London Olympians Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya) and Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu), both winners of other domestic women's marathons, and last year's Tokyo Marathon 4th-placer Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC) round out the top end of the domestic field.

The overseas field is strong.  Kenyan Georgina Rono looks like the favorite for the win with a 2:21:39 in Frankfurt last year, several minutes ahead of countrywoman Margaret Agai and Ethiopian Genet Getaneh.  Latvian veteran Jelena Prokopcuka is in the upper echelon on paper but will need a perfect day to contend in the top pack.  Multiple World Cross-Country Championships medalist Worknesh Kidane (Ethiopia) is also in the field.  Interesting debutantes overseas and domestic alike include 2010 Kagawa Marugame International Half Marathon winner Nicole Chapple (Australia), 2008 World Cross-Country Championships silver medalist Mestawet Tufa (Ethiopia) and, in the general division, two-time Ome 30 km winner Asami Kato (Team Panasonic).

The Nagoya Women's Marathon will once again be broadcast live.  Check back closer to race date for online viewing details.  JRN will cover the race live via Twitter @JRNLive.

2013 Nagoya Women's Marathon Elite Field
Nagoya, 3/10/13
click here for complete field listing

11. Mizuki Noguchi (Team Sysmex) - 2:19:12 (Berlin 2005)
1. Georgina Rono (Kenya) - 2:21:39 (Frankfurt 2012)
2. Jelena Prokopcuka (Latvia) - 2:22:56 (Osaka Women's 2005)
12. Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya) - 2:23:23 (Osaka Women's 2012)
3. Margaret Agai (Kenya) - 2:24:17 (Shanghai 2012)
4. Genet Getaneh (Ethiopia) - 2:25:38 (Amsterdam 2012)
13. Eri Okubo (Second Wind AC) - 2:26:08 (Tokyo 2012)
14. Yoko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 2:26:23 (Nagoya Women's 2012)
15. Ryoko Kizaki (Team Daihatsu) - 2:26:32 (Yokohama Women's Nov. 2011)
16. Kaoru Nagao (Team Univ. Ent.) - 2:26:58 (Yokohama Women's Feb. 2011)
5. Yuliya Ruban (Ukraine) - 2:27:10 (Torino 2011)
6. Werknesh Kidane (Ethiopia) - 2:27:15 (Dubai 2011)
17. Eri Hayakawa (Team Toto) - 2:28:11 (Honolulu 2004)
7. Berhane Dibaba (Ethiopia) - 2:29:22 (Valencia 2012)
18. Sumiko Suzuki (Team Hokuren) - 2:29:25 (Tokyo 2012)
19. Misato Horie (Team Noritz) - 2:31:39 (Nagoya Women's 2012)
21. Kumi Ogura (Team Shikoku Denryoku) - debuting at Feb. 24 Asian Marathon Championships

Debut
8. Nicole Chapple (Australia) - 1:08:37 (Marugame Half 2010)
9. Mestawet Tufa (Ethiopia) - 1:08:48 (New Delhi 2010)
20. Shino Saito (Team Shimamura) - 1:10:51 (National Corporate Half 2010)
Asami Kato (Team Panasonic) - 1:11:21 (Sendai 2012)

Pacers
57. Yuka Hakoyama (Team Wacoal)
58. Rei Ohara (Team Tenmaya)
59. Mariya Konovalova (Russia)
60. Alina Prokopeva (Russia)

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
all rights reserved

Comments

Most-Read This Week

World Championships Medalist Racewalking Coach Mizuho Sakai Recognized With Highest Coaching Honor

The 2023 Mizuno Sports Mentor Awards recognizing excellence in coaching were held Apr. 23 in Tokyo. Toyo University assistant coach and race walking coach Mizuho Sakai was given a gold award, the program's highest honor, and expressed her thanks and joy in a speech at the award ceremony. The coach of 2023 Budapest World Championships men's 35 km race walk bronze medalist Masatora Kawano , Sakai said, "This is an incredible honor and I'm truly grateful. As a child I wanted to be in the sporting world and I've spent my life in that world. My end goal was always to play a supporting role for other athletes, so I'm honored to be recognized in this way." Sakai's husband Toshiyuki Sakai , head coach of Toyo's three-time Hakone Ekiden champion team, attended the awards gala with her and was also introduced to the audience. After bowing he took a seat in front of her and watched with warmth as she received recognition for her outstanding work. The Mizun

Hirabayashi Runs PB at Shanghai Half, WR Holder Nakata Dominates Fuji Five Lakes - Weekend Road Roundup

Returning to the roads after his 2:06:18 win at February's Osaka Marathon, Kiyoto Hirabayashi (Koku Gakuin University) took 5th at Sunday's Shanghai Half Marathon in a PB 1:01:23, just under a minute behind winner Roncer Kipkorir Konga (Kenya) who clocked a CR 1:00:29. After inexplicably running the equivalent of a sub-59 half marathon to win the Hakone Ekiden's Third Stage, Aoi Ota (Aoyama Gakuin Univ.) was back to running performances consistent with his other PBs with a 1:02:30 for 8th. His AGU teammate Kyosuke Hiramatsu was 10th in 1:04:00. Women's winner Magdalena Shauri (Tanzania) also set a new CR in 1:09:57. Aoyama Gakuin runners took the top four spots in the men's half marathon at the Aomori Sakura Marathon , with Hakone alternate Kosei Shiraishi getting the win in 1:04:32 and B-team members Shunto Hamakawa and Kei Kitamura 2nd and 3rd in 1:04:45 and 1:04:48. Club runners took the other division titles, Hina Shinozaki winning the women's half

The Ivy League at the Izumo Ekiden in Review

Last week I was contacted by Will Geiken , who I'd met years ago when he was a part of the Ivy League Select Team at the Izumo Ekiden . He was looking for historical results from Izumo and lists of past team members, and I was able to put together a pretty much complete history, only missing the alternates from 1998 to 2010 and a little shaky on the reverse transliterations of some of the names from katakana back into the Western alphabet for the same years. Feel free to send corrections or additions to alternate lists. It's interesting to go back and see some names that went on to be familiar, to see the people who made an impact like Princeton's Paul Morrison , Cornell's Max King , Stanford's Brendan Gregg in one of the years the team opened up beyond the Ivy League, Cornell's Ben de Haan , Princeton's Matt McDonald , and Harvard's Hugo Milner last year, and some of the people who struggled with the format. 1998 Team: 15th of 21 overall, 2:14:10 (43