Bruna Genovese (ITA) - 2:26:34 - wins the 2004 Tokyo Women's Marathon (© AFP / Getty Images)
Tokyo, JapanBruna Genovese of Italy came from behind to win the Tokyo Women's Marathon this morning, Sunday (21 Nov). Genovese, who was 51 seconds behind at 35Km, passed the leader Ethiopian Elfenesh Alemu at 40.7Km to win with 2:26:34.
Perhaps it is becoming the ‘Italian way’ to win major marathons, for Stefano Baldini in this summer’s Athens Olympics and Gelindo Bordin in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, came from behind for famous wins too.
With the temperature of 17C and sunny sky at the start, the day was little too warm for the Marathon. However, legendary marathon runner Toshihiko Seko, who was at the stadium confirmed, "this is nothing compared to last year.”
Although two pace setters - Aliba Ivanova and Restituta Joseph - ran near the designated pace covering the first 5Km in 16:52, the pack did not follow them closely. At 6.6Km, the chase pack was about 13 seconds behind.
By 10Km (33:52) five runners - Masako Chiba, Sun Yingjie, Gete Wami, Elfenesh Alemu and Aki Fujikawa - caught up with the pace makers. Other invited runners including Genovese and Alice Chelangat were already behind by eight seconds.
"The leaders were fast and thus I could not keep up with them. I stayed behind with the second pack so I can run with my own rhythm," admitted Genovese after the race. "Several times during the race I thought of chasing the lead pack, but I was reluctant to do so because of the wind. However, I remember that the race is over 42.195Km and the real racing only starts at 31Km. So, I was careful not to expend too much energy," concluded Genovese, who was third in the 2001 edition and fourth in the 2003 edition. So Genovese, continued to run in the second pack with her own rhythm.
After passing 15Km in 50:50, one of the pacemakers Ivanova dropped out early. The next casualty was Fujikawa, who started to lose contact around 16Km.
The lead pack of five passed 20Km in 1:07:53, and the half marathon in 1:11:46. The pace was still reasonable, but because Tokyo Marathon course is famous for the 30m rise from 36Km to 39Km, the half marathon time cannot be doubled to predict the final time.
Chiba, the top Japanese, looked very good at this stage. As she turned around to head home, she smiled and waved. Fujikawa was then 42 second behind, while Genovese, Chelangat and Shimahara were 55 seconds behind at the turn around point.
The lead pack of five passed 20Km in 1:07:53, and the half marathon in 1:11:46. The final pace maker Restituta Joseph dropped out soon after the half way, which forced Chiba into the lead. Chiba who later said, "I was thinking of 2:26," started to push the pace. She had to do so to keep the pace honest, to keep the pace under 2:26 marathon pace.
Sun who had a cold last week was gone from the lead pack by 27.2Km, and after 30Km (1:42:35), Wami lost contact with Alemu and Chiba.
While Chiba and Alemu fought it out in the front, the second pack was moving into closer contention. Genovese caught Sun at 32.5Km and Wami at 34.5Km. After passing 35Km in 2:00:23, the hill started at 36Km. Genovese, who was 51 seconds behind Chiba and Alemu at 35Km, started to close the gap, as the pace started to die. While 35Km to 36Km was covered in 3:36, the next Km took 3:40. The following Km was even slower at 3:47. The 2:26 was slipping away from Chiba.
At 39Km, Genovese, who was 20 seconds behind, was making up the ground fast. At 39.2Km. Alemu moved ahead of Chiba, but something was not quite right with Alemu. "The back of my calf and the bottom of my feet were hurting since 35Km.” So though by 40Km (2:18:57), Alemu was 6 seconds ahead, Genovese was moving up fast.
Genovese passed Chiba at 40.4Km and Alemu 300m later, and Shimahara was not too far behind, for as they entered the stadium, Shimahara passed both Chiba and Alemu.
Genovese winning time was 2:26:34, but with the first Japanese Shimahara failing to break 2:26 and none of the locals were selected automatically for the World Championships marathon team.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
Results:
1. Bruna Genovese (ITA) 2:26:34
2. Kiyoko Shimahara 2:26:43
3. Elfenesh Alemu (ETH) 2:26:58
4. Masako Chiba 2:27:02
5. Zivile Balciunaite (LTU) 2:27:28
6. Sun Yingjie (CHN) 2:29:24
7. Alice Chelangat (KEN) 2:31:14
8. Gete Wami (ETH) 2:32:07
9. Yumiko Okamoto 2:32:21
10. Shiho Takai 2:34:03
