K. Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

Lornah Kiplagat of Kenya who said, “I did not come all the way from Kenya to finish second,” in the pre-race interview surged at the 35Km and won the Osaka International Ladies Marathon in 2:23:55 on Sunday, 27 January, ahead of Harumi Hiroyama.  Kiplagat thus became the first African to win the Osaka International Ladies Marathon in its history. 

This was supposed to be the race of redemption for Hiroyama who was overlooked by Olympic team selectors two years ago after finishing second to Lidia Simon.  “I was quite interested in Hiroyama’s race, and was bit concerned before the race because she did not seem in the best shape, but once the race started, Hiroyama ran a very relaxed race, at least in the beginning,” said Mitsuyo Wada (Yoshida), who finished fourth in the 1994 Osaka Ladies Marathon.

Although the weather forecast called for rain on Sunday, the day was quite fine for the marathon.  With a temperature at the start of 9.5C, and humidity of 67%, the race day conditions would have been near perfect, if there had been no wind.  Unfortunately, it was a windy day, and the wind chill factor made the day quite cold.  Luminita Talpos of Romania lead the race initially, but it was Lornah Kiplagat who led the lead pack out of Nagai stadium.  “Lornah usually trains for the marathon in Europe, but for this race she trained for two and a half month in Kenya,” said her husband/coach Pieter Langerhorst, which implied that she was really focusing on this race.  After the pack of 20 runners passed 2Km in 6:53, Kiplagat picked up the pace, and thus began the race of attrition.

Twelve runners passed 5Km in 16:50.  Kiplagat who said, “All my previous marathon races were mixed races.  This is my first women only marathon,” ran alone near the center of the road, while the rest of the lead pack ran closer to the sidewalk.  After the race Kiplagat told Tatsuo Terada the reason for running alone near the center of the road: “I did not want to tangle with the other runners.” 

By 8Km the lead pack was reduced to nine runners - Kiplagat, Elfnesh Alemu, Talpos, Fatuma Roba, Hiroyama, Ikumi Nagayama, Dulce Rodriguez, Haruko Okamoto and debutante Nami Kurosawa.  The 10Km checkpoint was passed in 33:21.  “The pace may be too fast for Okamoto and Nagayama,” said concerned TV commentator Akemi Masuda, who ran the Olympic Marathon in 1984.  Although the pace was not even, the pack stayed together until 18Km at which point Ikumi Nagayama started to fall off from the lead pack.  Nagayama who was fourth at the 1500m in the 1998 Asian Games was running her second marathon, having recorded 2:27:44 in her debut at the 2001 Nagoya Women’s Marathon.  She was to finish a disappointing 20th.  One kilometer later, Rodriguez of Mexico was the next casualty.  The race of attrition continued as the pack passed 20Km in 1:07:19 and the half marathon in 1:11:06.  Talpos and then Kurosawa fell behind the lead pack next. 

Fatuma Roba, the 1996 Olympic Marathon Champion who said, “My training at Addis Ababa went well,” before the race, was the first to break the race open.  She surged hard at 22.4Km in her attempt to break away from her rivals.  Despite covering the 23rd and 24th Km in 3:15 and 3:12 respectively, Roba could not open a decisive gap on the chase pack, and by 25Km (1:24:10), three runners - Kiplagat, Hiroyama and Alemu - caught up with her. 

The reigning double national champion at 5000m and 10000m, Haruko Okamoto, unfortunately fell behind at 23.5Km.  However, she was not finished.  Although by her own admission, Okamoto was not in top shape and she was only hoping to break 2:30, she did not completely fall apart despite the overly ambitious early pace.   In her previous marathons, she never run with the leaders.  In Osaka, however, Okamoto was determined to run with the lead pack. 

Four runners - Kiplagat, Hiroyama, Roba and Alemu - stayed together for the next 5Km, with Hiroyama doing most of the leading into the wind.  After passing 30Km in 1:41:15, first Roba and then Alemu fell behind.  The race thus developed into a duel between Kiplagat and Hiroyama, with Kiplagat tucked behind Hiroyama. 

Keisuke Sawaki (1967 World University Games’ Champion at 5000m and 10000m), who was commentating for the television said, “I think Hiroyama should concentrate on winning.”   In the post-race interview, Tsutomu Hiroyama, the husband/coach agreed. 

Meanwhile Okamoto was steadily moving up.  Around 33.4Km Okamoto passed Alemu to move into fourth position.  A kilometre later, Alemu dropped out.  The duel between Kiplagat and Hiroyama continued.  Soon after passing 35Km in 1:58:54 Kiplagat slowly forged ahead of Hiroyama, who said that she hoped it would be a “the sprint finish on the track,” in the pre-race interview.

“I did not plan any race strategy.  I just went for it because I felt good and felt that I can pick up the pace,” said Kiplagat in the winner’s interview.  By 37Km, Hiroyama was 30m behind Kiplagat.   Kiplagat passed 40Km in 2:16:19, while Hiroyama was 24 seconds behind.   “Although Kiplagat led early in the race, she was smart for not leading between 22Km to 34Km.  Hiroyama too had a chance to win, but during the race she did not always concentrate on winning, which may have contributed, to her loss,” analyzed Mitsuyo Wada who won the 1993 Paris Marathon.  Meanwhile Okamoto passed Roba around 39Km and moved into third. 

At the end Kiplagat won in 2:23:55, while Hiroyama was second in 2:24:34.  Okamoto who was ninth at the 10,000m in Edmonton was third in 2:27:01, improving her Personal Best by more than eight minutes.  Both Kerry McCann of Australia and Tomoe Abe also ran well.  McCann moved up from tenth at 25Km to seventh 10Km later.  She moved up two more places in the next 5Km and finally finished fourth in 2:28:30.   Abe, a marathon bronze medallist at the 1993 World Championships, lost contact with the leaders early, but, running her own race; she moved up from 15th at 20Km to 8th in 35Km.  She finished fifth in 2:28:30.

1)    Lornah Kiplagat   (KEN)  2:23:55
2)   Harumi Hiroyama  2:24:34 
3)   Haruko Okamoto  2:27:01
4)   Kerry McCann  (AUS)  2:28:30
5) Tomoe Abe   2:29:16 
6)   Ryoko Kitajima  2:29:20 
7)   Fatuma Roba  (ETH)  2:29:31
8)   Cristina Pomacu  (ROM) 2:31:17
9)   Kaoru Yamada  2:33:41
10)  Ai Sugihara  2:34:39

Splits for the leader :
5Km     16:50           Kiplagat
10Km    33:21 (16:31)   Kiplagat
15Km    50:29 (17:08)   Kiplagat
20Km    1:07:19 (16:50)         Talpos
25Km    1:24:10 (16:51)         Roba

30Km    1:41:15 (17:05) Hiroyama

35Km    1:58:54 (17:39)         Hiroyama

40Km    2:16:19 (17:25) Kiplagat