Kenyan distance runner Sheila Chepkirui (© Getty Images)
Four months after winning the New York City Marathon, Sheila Chepkirui is hopeful of securing another major victory on the roads when she competes at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon – a World Athletics Platinum Label road race – on Sunday (9).
The 34-year-old, formerly a track specialist, made a stunning marathon debut in 2022 with a 2:17:29 run in Valencia. She followed that with sub-2:20 performances in London and Berlin, then achieved the biggest victory of her career to date in New York last year, winning in 2:24:35 to beat a field that included global gold medallists Hellen Obiri and Vivian Cheruiyot.
Chepkirui is the fastest entrant for Sunday’s race, but she may not have it all her own way. Ruti Aga, who has finished on the podium at seven World Marathon Majors, heads to Nagoya off the back of a 2:18:46 triumph in Xiamen in January. As a past winner in Tokyo, Aga is no stranger to marathons in Japan.
Bahrain’s Asian Games champion Eunice Chumba finished second in Nagoya last year and fourth in New York. The 31-year-old, who has a PB of 2:20:02, will be keen to make it on to the podium again.
Sunday’s race represents the final opportunity for Japanese women to secure a place on the team for the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, so domestic competition is expected to be fierce.
Sixteen years after making her Nagoya debut, Hitomi Niiya returns to the race looking to improve on her eighth-place finish from 2009. After her last run in Nagoya, the 37-year-old took a break from marathons and then returned to the classic distance in 2022. She improved her PB to 2:19:24 in Houston in 2023, having also set national records for 10,000m and the half marathon in 2020.
Rika Kaseda represented Japan at the 2023 World Championships, so will be keen to wear the national vest once again when Tokyo hosts the World Championships this year. Meanwhile, Rino Goshima, who competed over 10,000m at the Paris 2024 Olympics, will be making her marathon debut.
About 20,000 runners are expected to compete at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon, making it the world’s largest women’s marathon.
Elite field
Sheila Chepkirui (KEN) 2:17:29
Ruti Aga (ETH) 2:18:09
Hitomi Niiya (JPN) 2:19:24
Eunice Chumba (BRN) 2:20:02
Rika Kaseda (JPN) 2:21:55
Sayaka Sato (JPN) 2:22:13
Mao Uesugi (JPN) 2:22:29
Isobel Batt-Doyle (AUS) 2:22:59
Yuki Nakamura (JPN) 2:24:22
Kaede Kawamura (JPN) 2:25:44
Xia Yuyu (CHN) 2:25:45
Fabienne Konigstein (GER) 2:25:48
Bai Li (CHN) 2:26:33
Ciren Cuomu (CHN) 2:26:47
Sakiho Tsutsui (JPN) 2:26:51
Li Dan (CHN) 2:26:59
Natasha Wodak (CAN) 2:27:54
Natosha Rogers (USA) 2:34:51
Rino Goshima (JPN) debut
Leanne Pompeani (AUS) debut
