RESOURCES FOR RACE DIRECTORS

Yuri Kano wins Nagoya Women’s Marathon 

By K Ken Nakamura

Making her move over the uphill after 31Km, Yuri Kano won the 2010 Nagoya Women’s Marathon with 2:27:11. It was her first marathon victory at big three domestic marathons (Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo) for Kano, whose only marathon victory previously was at the 2007 Hokkaido Marathon. “I have promised myself to challenge for a victory many times before but I was unable to attain my goal previously. So this time I was determined to win; I did not care about the time. I think I have moved up to a runner in higher level. It was not easy when I made my move, but I was able to pull away from other runners quite easily, so I decided to continue to push the pace,” said Kano after the race. When asked to comment about the warm weather, Kano explained, “I was concentrating on my race and I have good experience with warm weather marathon, so it did not bother me.” The race doubled as a national championships, and thus Kano is the national champion at the marathon. 

Derartu Tulu, who was considered to be a co-favorite along with Kano, dropped off the pace after the half way but then worked her way back to finish second in 2:28:13, one minute two seconds behind the winner. For Hiromi Ominami, running 20th marathon of her career, it was her sixth Nagoya Women’s Marathon, and since she will be moving from Nagoya, which has been her home for last 16 years, to Tokyo next month, she was determined to win the race. Unfortunately, Ominami was unable to stay with Kano when she surged and finished third. Highly regarded marathon debutantes, Yoko Miyauchi and Remi Nakazato, did not fare well, finishing eleventh and twelfth, respectively, but another debutante Mai Ito surprised everyone. The last runner to stay with Kano, Ito, who decided to run the Nagoya Women’s marathon last month, finished very respectable fourth with 2:29:13. Akane Wakita, a protégé of Yoshio Koide, improved her personal best by little over a minute, but it was little disappointing considering her talent. However, Koide promised that Wakita will be running the marathon at the London Olympics. 

How the race unfolded:
With Hiromi Ominami leading almost from the start, the first Km was covered in fast 3:22, but the pace slowed soon and the second Km was covered in 3:38. The weather is relatively warm, but the wind, which historically caused problem, is absent. The lead group still led by Ominami and consisting of approximately 20 runners passed 5Km in 17:53. Two Russians, Tatyana Aryasova and Lyudmila Denisova were not running well. Aryasova fell off the pace early and Denisova dropped out of the race before 5Km. 

The pace has picked up a bit after 5Km and the 10Km split was 35:14. After 15Km (52:43), the next Km was covered in 3:23 and a few runners started to fall of the pace. Mayumi Fujita is one such casualty. However, she never really faded and finished respectable fifth in 2:29:36. Ominami continued to push the pace, covering 19 to 20Km in fast 3:11; she passed the 20Km in 1:10:01. After passing half marathon in 1:13:51, the pace has increased from 23Km (23 to 24Km was covered in 3:22 and 24 to 25Km in 3:23), and thus the lead pack started to stretch into a single file. In front, Ominami, Kano and marathon debutante Mai Ito formed the lead group, followed closely by Derartu Tulu and Yuko Machida. Akane Wakita and two marathon debutantes Remi Nakazato and Yoko Miyauchi were unable to keep up with the leaders and fell off the pace. The pace continued to be hot (25 to 26Km in 3:26, followed by 26 to 27Km in 3:24) Yuri Kano took over the lead temporarily at 27Km, but Ominami took it back. Meanwhile Machida fell off the pace after 26Km leaving Tulu as the only close pursuer of the lead pack. Slowly but surely, the gap started to develop between three leaders and Tulu after 27Km. After 29Km, Kano again moved into the front to push the pace. Approaching 30Km, Ominami started to drift back. By 30Km (1:44:36), the lead pack was reduced to Kano and Ito. A Km between 30 to 31Km was covered in 3:22. Then over the uphill after 31Km, although the pace did not increase, Ito also started to fall behind. Kano continued to push the pace and 32 to 33Km in 3:27 and 33 to 34Km in 3:24. By 35Km (2:01:53) Ito was 19 seconds behind Kano. Ominami has not given up, but she has fallen 51 seconds behind Kano by 35Km. Kano passed 5Km to go point in 2:09:35. Meanwhile Tulu, who was 11 seconds behind Ominami started to close the gap on her and just after 5Km to go with the race, Tulu passed Ominami to move up into third. As Ito’s pace dropped, at 38.6Km Tulu also passed her. However, Tulu, who was minute and two seconds behind Kano at 35Km, was unable to gain much on Kano as she continued to run strongly. Kano passed 3Km to go point in 2:16:41, while Tulu passed the same point in 2:17:41. Meanwhile, Ito, a marathon debutante was suffering and just before 40Km, she was passed by Ominami. Up front, Kano’s pace dropped slightly, but she was never threatened by her pursuers and won comfortably in 2:27:11, minute and two seconds ahead of Tulu. 

Weather: Sunny; temperature: 16.4C; humidity: 17%; wind: 1.2m/s NE

Results: (JPN unless otherwise noted) 
1) Yuri Kano 2:27:11 (17:53,17:21,17:30,17;17,17:22,17:13,17:17,17:39,7:39)
2) Derartu Tulu (ETH) 2:28:13 
3) Hiromi Ominami 2:28:35 
4) Mai Ito 2:29:13 debut 
5) Mayumi Fujita 2:29:36 
6) Akane Wakita 2:29:54 
7) Mika Okunaga 2:30:19 
8) Yuko Machida 2:31:42 
9) Aimi Horikoshi 2:32:44 
10) Rose Nyangacha (KEN) 2:33:16 
11) Yoko Miyauchi 2:33:36 
12) Remi Nakazato 2:34:29 
13) Shoko Miyazaki 2:34:34 
14) Eri Okubo 2:35:34 
15) Yukiko Makihara 2:36:11 
16) Nozomi Iijima 2:38:04 
…
19) Tatyana Aryasova (RUS) 2:41:03 
20) Wang Jiali (CHN) 2:41.27

Splits: 
5Km 17:53 Hiromi Ominami 
Yukko Makihara 
Rose Nyangacha 
Derartu Tulu 
Yuri Kano 
Remi Nakazato 
17:54 Ikuyo Yamashita 
Kaori Akagawa 
Aimi Horikoshi 
Mika Okunaga 
Shoko Miyazaki 
Akane Wakita 
Mayumi Fujita 
17:55 Tomomi Higuchi 
Yoko Miyuchi 
Eri Okubo 
Mai Ito
10Km 35:14 (17:21) Hiromi Ominami 
Rose Nyangacha 
Yuri Kano 
Remi Nakazato 
Derartu Tulu 
35:15 Akane Wakita 
Ikuyo Yamashita 
Shoko Miyazaki 
Kaori Akagawa 
Yoko Miyauchi 
Mika Okunaga 
Mai Ito 
Aimi Horikoshi 
Tomomi Higuchi 
Yuko Machida 
35:16 Mayumi Fujita 
Yukiko Makihara 
Rose Nyangacha (KEN) 
15Km 52:43 (17:29) Hiromi Ominami 
Remi Nakazato 
52:44 Yuri Kano 
Shoko Miyazaki 
Ikuyo Yamashita 
Mai Ito 
Kaori Akagawa 
Yoko Miyauchi 
Derartu Tulu 
Akane Wakita 
52:45 Mika Okunaga 
Aimi Horikoshi 
52:46 Rose Nyangacha 
Tomomi Higuchi 
Yuko Machida 
52:48 Mayumi Fujita 
20Km 1:10:01 (17:18) Hiromi Ominami 
Yuri Kano 
Remi Nakazato 
Ikuyo Yamashita 
Akane Wakita 
Shoko Miyazaki 
Derartu Tulu 
Yoko Miyazaki 
1:10:02 Mai Ito 
Mika Okunaga 
Aimi Horikoshi 
Mayumi Fujita 
Yuko Machida 
1:10:17 Rose Nyangacha 
Half 1:13:51 Hiromi Ominami 
Yuri Kano 
Remi Nakazato 
Shoko Miyazaki 
1:13:52 Ikuyo Yamashita 
Akane Wakita 
Mai Ito 
Derartu Tulu 
Yoko Miyauchi 
1:13:53 Yuko Machida 
Aimi Horikoshi 
1:13:54 Mika Okunaga 
1:13:58 Mayumi Fujita 
1:14:22 Rose Nyangacha 
25Km 1:27:22 (17:21) Hiromi Ominami
1:27:23 Yuri Kano 
Mai Ito 
Derartu Tulu 
1:27:24 Yuko Machida
1:27:31 Aimi Horikoshi 
Akane Wakita 
1:27:33 Ikuyo Yamashita 
Remi Nakazato 
1:27:38 Yoko Miyauchi 
1:27:45 Shoko Miyazaki 
1:27:48 Mayumi Fujita 
1:27:57 Mika Okunaga 
1:28:29 Rose Nyangacha 
30Km 1:44:36 (17:13) Yuri Kano 
Mai Ito 
1:44:37 Hiromi Ominami
1:45:00 Derartu Tulu 
1:45:25 Mayumi Fujita 
Yuko Machida 
1:45:32 Akane Wakita 
1:45:41 Aimi Horikoshi 
1:45:58 Mika Okunaga 
Remi Nakazato 
1:46:01 Yoko Miyauchi 
1:46:08 Shoko Miyazaki 
1:46:32 Rose Nyangacha 
35Km 2:01:53 (17:17) Yuri Kano 
2:02:12 Mai Ito 
2:02:44 Hiromi Ominami 
2:02:55 Derartu Tulu 
2:03:19 Mayumi Fujita 
2:03:38 Yuko Machida 
2:03:39 Akane Wakita 
2:04:10 Mika Okunaga 
2:04:38 Aimi Horikoshi 
2:05:02 Remi Nakazato 
2:05:05 Yoko Miyauchi 
2:05:10 Rose Nyangacha 
40Km 2:19:32 (17:39) Yuri Kano 
2:20:33 Derartu Tulu 
2:20:54 Hiromi Ominami 
2:20:55 Mai Ito 
2:21:39 Mayumi Fujita 
2:22:07 Akane Wakita 
2:22:25 Mika Okunaga 
2:22:44 Yuko Machida
2:24:11 Aimi Horikoshi 
2:24:44 Rose Nyangacha 
2:25:11 Yoko Miyauchi 
2:25:26 Shoko Miyazaki 
2:25:36 Remi Nakazato 
Finish 2:27:11 (7:39) Yuri Kano