Previews18 Apr 2009


Breakthrough time for Tola and Ozaki? – Nagano Marathon preview

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Isaac Macharia of Kenya wins the 2008 Vidovdan 10k (© organsiers)

Kenyan Isaac Macharia and Irina Timofeyeva of Russia are among the pre-race favourites for Sunday’s (19) 11th annual Nagano Olympic Memorial Marathon, but others, including Ethiopian Girma Tola in the men’s race and Akemi Ozaki of Japan, will be looking to make an important breakthrough.

Men’s contest – Macharia v. Tola?

By far the fastest runner in the field is Isaac Macharia, who was second to Haile Gebrselassie in the 2008 Dubai Marathon with 2:07:16.  On paper he is the favorite.  Macharia won in Nagano in 2005 and finished third a year later. However, such an experience may not be an advantage, for the race will be contested on a new course this year.  So Simon Wangui, who won the 2008 Rock n Roll Marathon in San Diego with a personal best of 2:10:07, may be considered as a co-favorite.  He has broken 2:11 in his last three marathons, thus although he is not as fast as Macharia, Wangui is a much more consistent marathon runner. 

Girma Tola, who won the 2004 Enschede Marathon with 2:10:33, Norman Dlomo, who was third in the 2007 Milan Marathon with 2:10:39, Getulo Bayo, who was third in 2005 Zurich marathon with 2:10:45, and Yuriy  Hychun, who won 2008 Debno marathon with 2:10:59, all have sub-2:11 Marathon bests, and thus could contend for the top spot on the podium.  Among them, Girma Tola may be the best, for although he never cracked the 2:10 barrier, he was fourth at 10,000m in the 1999 World Championships and has a 10,000m best of 27:13.48 from 1999. He should have a much faster marathon in him.  Nagano could be his breakthrough race. 

Michitane Noda, who was ninth in the 2003 Fukuoka Marathon with 2:09:58, is the fastest among the Japanese.   Because Noda was a bronze medalist at 10,000m in 1994 World Junior Championships, a lot was expected of him, but Noda has yet to fulfill his promise.  However, in his latest marathon, Noda was 7th in the Beppu-Oita Marathon with 2:13:30, his fastest marathon since 2003. He may be ready for a breakthrough.  Another runner on the rise may be Masaru Takamizawa, the second fastest Japanese in the field.  Although he was only 16th with 2:20:13 in the last year’s Nagano Marathon, Takamizawa won the 2008 Hokkaido Marathon with 2:12:10 in August. Other Japanese in the field are Takehisa Okino, who was third in 2006 Beijing Marathon with 2:12:24, Masayuki Satouchi, who was fourth in 2000 Beppu-Oita marathon with 2:13:56, and Takashi Matsuyama, who was  15th in 2005 Lake Biwa Marathon with 2:14:13. 

Timofeyeva starts as favourite, local attention focused on Ozaki - women’s race

Turning attention to the women’s field, the fastest runner is legendary Derartu Tulu, two time Olympic 10000m champion, who recorded 2:23:30 in the 2005 World Championships.  Tulu has run in Nagano marathon before, having finished third in 2005. However, she has not run fast marathon recently.  Tulu ran two marathons in 2008, but failed to crack 2:35 in either race.  Thus the favorite role goes to Irina Timofeyeva, who won the 2008 Hamburg Marathon with 2:24:14 and finished seventh in the Beijing Olympics last year. Other invited runners from abroad are Irene Limika, who was fourth the 2008 Frankfurt Marathon with 2:28:31, and Tatiana Aryasova, who won the 2008 Los Angeles Marathon with 2:29:09.  For Limika, Frankfurt was her only Marathon, while Los Angeles was Aryasova’s first marathon in more than five years, thus they may also be on the verge of breakthrough. 

The fastest Japanese in the field is Akemi Ozaki, who finished fourth in the 2007 Tokyo Women’s Marathon with 2:28:39. Since her younger sister, Yoshimi Ozaki, made a spectacular breakthrough in the 2008 Tokyo women’s Marathon, winning in 2:23:30, Akemi need to show that big sister can also run a fast marathon.  Other Japanese in the field include Yukako Goto with the best of 2:33:51, Chihiro Tanaka with the best of 2:29:30, and Yoshimi Hoshino with the best of 2:35:58.

Three runners are invited from Greece, while Olympic medalists Naoko Takahashi and Eric Wainaina will be running as guest runner. 

The Nagano Marathon, which started a year after the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics to commemorate the event, is different from most of the well known Japanese marathons, like the Fukuoka, Tokyo, Lake Biwa, Osaka Ladies and Nagoya Women’s races.  First, the Nagano Marathon starts at 8:30AM, while most of the Japanese marathons start at noon. Furthermore, the Nagano Marathon is neither elite only marathon nor single gender race.  It is a huge race with both men and women competing side by side. 

Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

Invited Runners -
Men
Isaac Macharia (KEN), 2:07:16 2008 Dubai
Simon Wangui (KEN), 2:10:07 2008 Rock n Roll  San Diego
Girma Tola (ETH), 2:10:33 2004 Enschede
Norman Dlomo (RSA), 2:10:39 2007 Milano
Getulo Bayo (TAN), 2:10:45 2005 Zurich
Yuriy Hychun (UKR), 2:10:59 2008 Debno
Dimosthenis Evangelidis (GRE)
Georgios Hagigiannis (GRE)

Japanese
Michitane Noda, 2:09:58 2003 Fukuoka
Masaru Takamizawa, 2:12:10 2008 Hokkaido
Takehisa Okino, 2:12:24 2006 Beijing
Masayuki Satouchi, 2:13:56 2000 Beppu
Takashi Matsuyama, 2:14:13 2005 Lake Biwa

Women
Derartu Tulu  (ETH), 2:23:30 2005 WC
Irina Timofeyeva (RUS), 2:24:14 2008 Hamburg
Irene Limika (KEN), 2:28:31 2008 Frankfurt
Tatiana Aryasova (RUS), 2:29:09 2008 Los Angeles
Maria Pouloupati (GRE) 

Japanese
Akemi Ozaki, 2:28:39 2007 Tokyo
Yukako Goto, 2:33:51 2007 Osaka
Chihiro Tanaka, 2:29:30 2002 Nagoya 
Yoshimi Hoshino, 2:35:58 2005 Otawara

Guest Runners
Naoko Takahashi  
Eric Wainaina (KEN)
Eriko Asai 

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