Josiah Thugwane of South Africa (© Getty Images)
The sixth edition of the Nagano Marathon will take place on Sunday 11 April. The Nagano Marathon was inaugurated in 1999 to commemorate the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games. This new marathon replaced the old Shinmai Marathon, which was run in Nagano since 1958. For the first five editions, from 1999 to 2003, the course was point to point with severe downhill at the start of the race.
The course, which toured the facilities used during the Winter Olympics, loses 120m of elevation in the first 5km, before losing 200m of elevation over the entire distance. Thus, for example, in the first edition of the race the 5km split was incredible 14:19. The initial steep downhill does not help the runners, however, because they tend to run too fast initially and pay it later in the race.
To correct the problem the course was modified for this year’s race. The new course still finishes in the Nagano Olympic Main stadium but it starts at the Nagano Sports Park and is essentially flat.
Although the men’s course record is 2:10:17 by Eric Wainaina, two-time Olympic medallist, and the women’s course record is 2:24:55 by Elfenesh Alemu, these are exceptional times considering the difficulties of the Nagano marathon. It will be very interesting to see how the new flat course will affect the performances.
Most of the international marathons in Japan (e.g. Fukuoka Marathon or Osaka Ladies Marathon) are for elite runners with tough qualifying standards. However, the Nagano Marathon is different. Approximately 5000 non-elite runners will be taking part along with three former Olympic Champions: Josiah Thugwane, Fatuma Roba, and Valentina Yegorova.
Thugwane and Roba won the 1996 Olympic Marathon while Yegorova was the 1992 Olympic Champion and finished second in 1996. In Nagano, Yegorova won the inaugural race in 1999 while Thugwane won the 2002 edition and finished second in 2003. Roba’s best finish was in 2002 when she was second.
Thugwane has the fastest personal best of the field but his time of 2:07:28 was recorded over six years ago. Thus the best runner in the field, perhaps, is Alemayehu Simretu of Ethiopia who won the 2000 and 2001 Torino Marathon. Simretu recorded a personal best 2:07:45 when winning the 2001 Torino Marathon.
Additionally, Douglas Wakiihuri, the 1987 World champion and 1988 Olympic silver medalist, will be a guest runner and will act as the pace maker.
Turning the attention to the women’s field, two-time defending champion, Madina Biktagirova will try to win the Nagano Marathon for the third time. Last year Alevtina Ivanova of Russia broke away at 25km, but was overhauled by Biktagirova at 40km. Both Ivanova and Biktagirova, who also won in 2002, are invited back again this year. The runner with the best chance to upset the two-time champion is Shitaye Gemechu who was fourth with 2:26:15 in the 2002 Berlin marathon.
None of the invited Japanese runners are world class. The best Japanese are Shigekatsu Kondo and Satoshi Watanabe who has the personal best of 2:11:14 and 2:11:18 respectively. On the women’s side Asami Obi, who has the personal best of 2:34:39, is the fastest Japanese in the field.
List of Elite Runners
Men
Name Personal Best Venue
Josiah Thugwane (RSA) 2:07:28 1997 Fukuoka
Alemayehu Simretu (ETH) 2:07:45 2001 Torino
Adam Dobrzynski (POL) 2:12:29 2001 Berlin
Moges Taye (ETH) 2:12:45 2003 Tiberias
Roderic De Highden (AUS) 2:13:53 1999 Fukuoka
Japanese
Shigekatsu Kondo 2:11:14 2001 Beppu
Satoshi Watanabe 2:11:18 2003 Lake Biwa
Yasuhiro Karasu 2:13:04 1999 Nobeoka
Manabu Itayama Debut 1:02:38 half marathon
Satoshi Nishizawa 2:21:21 2003 Fukuoka
Takashi Okubo 2:21:43 2004 Tokyo
Women
Fatuma Roba (ETH) 2:23:21 1998 Boston
Madina Biktagirova (RUS) 2:24:46 1997 Berlin
Shitaye Gemechu (ETH) 2:26:15 2002 Berlin
Alevtina Ivanova (RUS) 2:29:05 2003 Nagano
Natalya Berkut (UKR) 2:35:24 2003 New York
Valentina Yegorova (RUS) 2:23:33 1994 Boston
Japanese
Asami Obi 2:34:39 2002 Nagoya
Yoshimi Hoshino 2:39:13 2003 Otawara
Ai Toyama 2:46:00 2003 Hokkaido
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
