Mizuki Noguchi (JPN) at real,- Berlin Marathon press conference (© Victah Sailer)
It took Mizuki Noguchi, 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 20 seconds, just over a year ago in Athens to become a national heroine in Japan. This weekend the 27-year-old will contest her first marathon since her Olympic triumph by running the real,- Berlin Marathon this Sunday (25).
Running under the eyes of an entire nation
There seem to be more Japanese media people than German journalists covering the race and Fuji TV will broadcast it live in Japan on Sunday and it would be a major upset should Noguchi not win. So far she has won three out of her four marathons. It was only at the World Championships in Paris in 2003 that she did not cross the line first, finishing second behind Catherine Ndereba.
“I know that Berlin usually has good weather conditions during the time of the marathon. And the course is flat. These were the reasons why I decided to go for this marathon”, said Noguchi. Her primary goal is not just winning: “I want to break the Japanese record.” It was a year ago that Yoko Shibui clocked 2:19:41 in Berlin. In 2004 this was the only sub-2:20 time by a woman. Shibui had beaten the famous Japanese record of Naoko Takahashi, who had become the first woman ever to run sub-2:20 in Berlin in 2001 (2:19:46).
National, if not Asian record, is the target
Stating that her aim was to run a new Japanese record one can expect that the Asian record will fall as well. This mark by the Chinese Yingjie Sun is just two seconds faster than Shibui’s record. Asked about the possibilities of breaking Paula Radcliffe’s World record of 2:15:25 Mizuki Noguchi said: “I want to run World record one day, but Paula’s time is a very strong mark. I would like to get nearer to it step by step.”
Asked about her Olympic triumph and Paula Radcliffe’s performance in Athens during today’s press conference Mizuki Noguchi said: “Already before the race in Athens I somehow had the impression that something was wrong with Paula. She was not as relaxed as usual. And I got that impression again during the race. Before the Olympic final my coach had told me that running in Athens will be an advantage for us, because in Japan we are used to very warm weather in the summer.”
“One day I would like to race against Paula Radcliffe again”, Noguchi stated. But it did not sound likely that this might happen before the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Best ever preparation
As last year, Noguchi has done her marathon training in high altitude at St. Moritz (Switzerland). She is reported to be in even better shape than before the Olympics, having run her longest training runs one to two minutes faster than in 2004. “Some people say that the training of Japanese women runners is crazy. And even European male runners who were training in St. Moritz at the same time where surprised when I did speed work on the track.” There was of course a reason for being surprised, because Noguchi did some REAL speed work. During this she ran 400 metres 45 times, covering 18k altogether. Her longest training runs were 40k.
Time trials for 30Km and 40Km resulted in 1:46 and 2:25 respectively, the fastest ever time for her on the training courses in Saint Moritz.
Comparing the Berlin Marathon with the race in Athens, Noguchi said: “In Athens I had to watch my rivals, it was more a tactical race. I feel much more relaxed in a race in which I can run my own pace as on Sunday.”
During her training camp in St. Moritz Mizuki Noguchi started picking up some German words. With some help she managed to count up to ten in German during the press conference. And suddenly she caused amusement when she stated: “Ich hasse Whisky.” – “I hate whisky.”
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
With training stats info also from Ken Nakamura
Complete Marathon Results for Noguchi:
2:25:35 1st Nagoya Women’s Marathon March 10, 2002
2:21:18 1st Osaka Ladies Marathon January 26, 2003
2:24:14 2nd World Championships, Paris August 31, 2003
2:26:20 1st Olympic Games, Athens August 22, 2004
