Harumi Hiroyama winning the 2006 Nagoya Women's Marathon (© Kazutaka Eguchi/Agence SHOT)
Passing Yoko Shibui with one kilometre to go, Harumi Hiroyama, ran to a 2:23:26 victory at the Nagoya International Women’s Marathon.
“It was a hard race from about the half way, but I wasn’t about to give up,” said Hiroyama, who overcame a 57 second deficit at 30 Km to win her first marathon at age 37. “After 35 kilometres I was able to see Shibui ahead of me, but I could not close the gap fast enough.”
Shibui, a former World record holder in the Marathon, took the lead immediately within the Mizuho stadium, reaching the first kilometre in 3:14. Continuing to lead, Shibui reached the 5Km mark in 16:42, building a five second lead over the nine runner chase pack. Although she extended her lead to 15 seconds at one point, a lead pack of six regained contact by the 10th kilometer. But Shibui broke away again and ran virtually alone, reaching the half in 1:10:24, more than two minutes ahead of Naoko Takahashi’s course record. But Shibui may have been too ambitious with her pace, for although she denied that it affected her training, she did have some injury problems in January.
By the 25th kilometre (1:23:33) though, Shibui began to slow, covering the five kilometers between 25 and 30 in 17 minutes. Slowing even more after 30 kilometres, Hiroyama began to make up ground. By the 40th kilometre, Hiroyama managed to cut to deficit to 20 seconds.
With slightly more than one kilomtre to go, Hiroyama finally pulled ahead to of a faltering Shibui to win by more than 30 seconds.
While shy of her 2:22:56 personal best, Hiroyama was pleased.
“I finally won a marathon. I will continue to run the marathon in the future, so I hope my fans will continue to cheer me along the course.”
Ken Nakamura with assistance from Akihiro Onishi for the IAAF
Results:
(weather: rain; temperature 11.1C; humidity: 86%; wind 1.9m/s North)
1. Harumi Hiroyama, 2:23:26
2. Yoko Shibui, 2:23:58
3. Chika Horie, 2:28:01
4. Alina Tecta Gherasim (ROM), 2:29:30
5. Yuko Machida, 2:29:48
6. Yasuko Hashimoto, 2:29:53
7. Ayumi Hayashi, 2:29:59
8. Hiromi Ominami, 2:30:23
9. Seboka Mulu (ETH), 2:30:41
10. Mika Hikichi, 2:31:03
11. Alina Ivanova (RUS), 2:32:23
12. Maya Nishio, 2:33:15
13. Kazue Ogoshi, 2:34:08
14. Miho Notagashira, 2:35:49
Splits:
5Km
Yoko Shibui 16:42
Natalya Berkut 16:47
Alevtina Ivanova 16:47
Grazyna Syrek 16:48
Kazue Ogoshi 16:48
Harumi Hiroyama 16:48
10Km
Yoko Shibui 33:38 (16:56)
Alevtina Ivanova 33:38
Grazyna Syrek 33:38
Natalya Berkut 33:38
Harumi Hiroyama 33:38
15Km
Yoko Shibui 50:14 (16:36)
Alevtina Ivanova 50:35
Harumi Hiroyama 50:35
20Km
Yoko Shibui 1:06:44 (16:30)
Alevtina Ivanova 1:07:23
Harumi Hiroyama 1:07:23
Half
Yoko Shibui 1:10:24
25Km
Yoko Shibui 1:23:33 (16:49)
Harumi Hiroyama 1:24:17
30Km
Yoko Shibui 1:40:33 (17:00)
Harumi Hiroyama 1:41:30
35Km
Yoko Shibui 1:58:03 (17:30)
Harumi Hiroyama 1:58:42
40Km
Yoko Shibui 2:15:54 (17:51)
Harumi Hiroyama 2:16:14
