The 2004 Tokyo Women’s International Marathon, which doubles as the selection race for the Japanese marathon team for the 10th World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, will be held on Sunday 21 November 2004.
The race, which starts and finishes in the national stadium, the venue of the 1964 Olympic Games as well as 1991 World Championships in Athletics, is in its 26th edition, having been inaugurated in 1979 as the first officially recognized annual women’s only marathon. Adriaan Paulen, the President of the IAAF at the time, was present for the first edition of the race.
Alemu returns to defend
The defending champion Elfnesh Alemu of Ethiopia is running again this year, having finished fourth in 2002 and first in 2003. Last year Alemu caught the reigning (at the time) Olympic Marathon champion Naoko Takahashi at 39Km, and won in 2:24:47.
Alemu has been running better than ever this year. After an epic battle with kenya’s World champion Catherine Ndereba, Alemu finished a close second at the 2004 Boston Marathon. In the Athens Olympic Games, she was the only runner who tried to stay with the eventual gold medallist Mizuki Noguchi. Alemu eventually finished fourth after running in the medal position for most of the race.
Yingjie- the main threat?
Sun Yingjie of China, the 2004 World Half Marathon champion is the fastest runner in the field holding the Asian Marathon record with 2:19:39 from the 2003 Beijing Marathon. Sun Yingjie, of course, was the bronze medallist at the 10,000m in the 2003 World Championships, where she pushed the pace for much of the race, and was instrumental in making the contest a classic. She also won the 5000m and 10,000m in the 2002 Asian Games.
Only eighth at 5000m and sixth at 10,000m in Athens, was only seventh in the 2004 London Marathon with 2:28:32, Sun Yingjie won the 2004 Beijing Marathon on October 17 with 2:24:11. She is not new to the relatively difficult course in Tokyo, where she finished seventh in 1999.
Wami is in great shape
Gete Wami of Ethiopia, perhaps, has the greatest marathon potential. Wami, the 1999 World 10,000m champion at 10,000m as well as 2000 Olympic silver medalist at the same distance and the bronze medalist at 5000m, made a spectacular marathon debut in the 2002 Amsterdam marathon where she won with 2:22:19. It was the world’s second fastest marathon debut time in history. Because Wami dropped out of the 2004 London Marathon, her first marathon after maternity leave, she has a lot to prove in Tokyo but according to her manager, she is in great shape.
Quality pace
Other invited runners of note are Bruna Genovese of Italy and Alice Chelangat of Kenya, who was 10th and 11th respectively at the Athens Olympics. Genovese has placed well in the Tokyo Women’s Marathon, taking third in 2001 (2:25:35) and fourth in 2003 (2:34:32). More recently she was second in 2004 Rome Marathon (2:29:03). Chelangat, who set her best time of 2:26:36 in 2001, was second in the 2004 Hamburg marathon with 2:28:58.
Alina Ivanova and Restituta Joseph, the designated pace setters, are both international class runners. Ivanova, who was eighth in 2004 London Marathon with 2:28:48, recorded her best of 2:25:34 when she was seventh in London in 2001. Joseph, a renowned half marathon runner, has acted as the pace maker in the Japanese marathon before. Joseph, who has the half marathon best of 1:07:59 from 2000, was fifteenth in the 2001 World Half Marathon championships.
Chiba leads ‘home’ challenge for honours and Helsinki
For the Japanese, the race is especially important because Tokyo Women’s Marathon is one of the three marathons designated as the World Championships qualifying race. The first Japanese home will be automatically selected for the 2005 World Championships marathon team, provided she records a sub 2:26 Marathon time.
The best Japanese in the field is Masako Chiba, two-time bronze medallist at the World Championships. She was third at 10,000m in 1997 and third in the Marathon in 2003. Chiba has a personal best of 2:21:45 which she recorded in the 2003 Osaka Ladies Marathon, which is the second fastest time among the starters. More recently Chiba, who won the 2004 Hokkaido Marathon (August - 2:26:50), was a reserve for the Olympic Marathon team. This is her second start at the Tokyo Women’s Marathon, after setting a blazing pace in 1999. Then she passed 5Km in 16:18 and 10Km in 32:44, only to hit the wall and finished disappointing fifth with 2:29:00.
Other Japanese of note are Aki Fujikawa and Kiyoko Shihamara. Fujikawa’s debut, 2:27:42 in the 1999 Osaka Ladies Marathon, was quite respectable. Last March at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon, she finally improved her personal best to 2:27:06. Kiyoko Shimahara, has the personal best of 2:28:17 recorded at a low-key race in 2003. More importantly she was third in the 2003 edition of the Tokyo Women’s Marathon when she finished third behind Alemu and Naoko Takahashi with 2:31:10.
The marathon debut by a good half marathon runner is something to look forward to in every marathon race. The runner in such a position in Sunday’s race is Yuko Manabe, who has the half marathon best of 1:09:36 from 2002.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
UPDATE-
Quotes from Friday 19 November press conference:
Sun Yingjie: "I caught cold last week, so I must say I am not in good condition for the marathon. However, I would like to do my best on Sunday," said Sun Yingjie who opted for the 5000m and 10,000m in the Athens Olympics, because of an injury she sustained in the previous year.
Elfenesh Alemu: "I have been training for this marathon since September, so I am in good shape. From my experience of running twice here before, I think this is a good course. However, the weather can be unpredictable. It has been warm and it was been windy and rainy."
Gete Wami: "Whether I will be concentrating on track or the marathon in the future, I don't really know at this point. It all depends on how fast I can run the marathon, for Ethiopian championships teams are determined by time. I will concentrate on the event I can represent my country."
List of Invited Runners with their personal bests:
Elfnesh Alemu (ETH) 2:24:29 2001 London
Sun Yingjie (CHN) 2:19:39 2003 Beijing
Gete Wami (ETH) 2:22:19 2002 Amsterdam
Bruna Genovese (ITA) 2:25:35 2001 Tokyo
Alice Chelangat (KEN) 2:26:36 2001 Milano
Elzbieta Jarosz (POL) 2:30:15 2001 Twin Cities
Zivile Balciunaite (LTU) 2:30:45 2003 Dublin
Japanese
Masako Chiba 2:21:45 2003 Osaka
Kayoko Obata 2:25:14 2000 Osaka
Aki Fujikawa 2:27:06 2004 Nagoya
Kiyoko Shimahara 2:28:17 2003 Katsuta
Shiho Takai 2:31:51 2003 Nagoya
Ai Ichimaru 2:37:07 2003 Osaka
Yuko Manabe Debut Half 1:09:36
Pace Makers
Alina Ivanova (RUS) 2:25:34 2001 London
Restituta Joseph (TAN) Half Marathon 1:07:59
