Naoko Takahashi wins 2002 real-Berlin Marathon (© Victah Sailer)
Seven weeks after winning the 2002 Berlin Marathon in 2:21:49, Japan’s reigning Olympic Marathon champion Naoko Takahashi will attempt to win the Tokyo Ladies Marathon this Sunday 17 November 2002.
The 2002 Tokyo Ladies Marathon will be Takahashi’s first Marathon on Japanese soil since the 2000 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, at which she qualified for the 2000 Olympic team.
On Sunday, she will try to extend her winning streak to seven races and attempt to qualify for the 2003 World Championships. The selection criteria set by the Japanese AAF requires her to be the first Japanese home with a sub 2:26 clocking. Furthermore the World Championships is one of the qualifying races for the 2004 Athens Olympic team. By winning a medal in Paris, provided no other Japanese finishes ahead of her, Takahashi will be guaranteed a team berth for Athens to defend her title.
The 30m elevation gain between 36Km to 39Km on the course means the Tokyo race is not fast but still the course record is an impressive 2:22:12 which was set by Eri Yamaguchi in 1999.
It is expected that Takahashi will challenge the course record on Sunday. However, she is far from 100%. In fact, many believe she is in no condition to run a marathon, for she has a stress fracture of her rib, a problem which was diagnosed on November 5. However, Takahashi is still training with the plan (as of Wednesday 13 November) of running the race.
A seven week break between Marathons, is unheard of in recent times. However, it was not unusual a few decades ago. Frank Shorter ran the US Olympic trial marathon on July 9, 1972 before winning a gold in Munich two months later on September 10, 1972. His successor as the Olympic champion, Waldemar Cierpinski won the national championships on May 30, 1976 before winning in Montreal on July 31, 1976, two months later. One of the most prolific marathon runners of his time, Bill Rodgers won both the New York Marathon (Oct 23, 1977) and Fukuoka marathon (December 4, 1977) within six weeks. Derek Clayton set a world best of 2:08:33.6 eleven days after running a 2:17:26 Marathon. To cap it off, Clayton ran another marathon (finished second to Ron Hill with 2:15:40) 51 days later. He ran three marathons in 62 days.
The Tokyo Ladies Marathon is the first annual women’s only Marathon in history, having been inaugurated in 1979. Like many of the Japanese Marathons, it is an elite only race, although the entry standard is comparatively somewhat lower than the Tokyo Marathon for men, for example. The entry is limited to runners who have recorded one of the following criteria: 3:15 marathon, 2:13 30Km, 1:30 half marathon, 1:25 20Km or 35min 10Km. The field is limited to approximately 300 runners. Despite the strict entry standards, because Naoko Takahashi, such is her popularity that the organizers have been flooded with entry requests. Well over 400 runners applied, and many of them were turned away.
Beside Takahashi, the major contenders for honours are: Elfnesh Alemu (ETH), Fernanda Ribeiro (POR), Irina Timofeyeva (RUS), and Japan’s Ari Ichihashi and Rie Matsuoka.
Irina Timofeyeva, who was 11th in Edmonton, was second to Derartu Tulu last year. She led the race in the final stages before the reigning Olympic 10,000m champion left her at 39Km. Elfnesh Alemu has also run before in Japanese Marathons. She ran three consecutive editions of Osaka Ladies Marathons in addition to two Nagano Marathons, at which she won in 2000. Although she dropped out of the 2001 World Championships, she was fifth in the 1999 Worlds, and sixth in the 2000 Olympics. Alemu was fifth in the 2001 London Marathon, where she set her current personal best of 2:24:29. She has three other sub 2:25 clocking to her credit. Her most recent Marathon was the 2002 Boston Marathon where she was third in 2:26:01.
Fernanda Ribeiro has no Marathon finish to her credit although she started (and dropped out of) the 2000 London race. Her run in Tokyo is awaited with much anticipation by some observers, for her track credentials are impressive. She, of course, is one of the best track runners of her time, having won the 1994 European, ‘95 Worlds and ‘96 Olympic gold medals, all at 10000m. She was also second in ‘97 Worlds and ‘98 European as well as third in 2000 Olympics. However, she dropped out of the 10,000m at this summer’s European Championships.
It is not easy to predict the success at the Marathon from track credentials. While Paula Radcliffe had phenomenal success at both track and Marathon, Sonia O’Sullivan was quite disappointing in New York. Closer to Ribeiro's home, while Portugal’s Carlos Lopes capped a successful track career with an Olympic Marathon gold and world best, his compatriot Fernando Mamede could not translate his track success onto the marathon.
Other overseas contenders are 37-years-old Franca Fiaconni (ITA), who won 1998 New York Marathon (and was second in 2001 Osaka Ladies Marathon) and Alice Chelangat (KEN) who won the 2001 Milano Marathon.
Turning to the other Japanese runners, Rie Matsuoka and Ari Ichihashi head the challenge to the Olympic Champion. For Rie Matsuoka, a teammate of Olympian Eri Yamaguchi, Tokyo will be her fifth Marathon. Although she was a dismal 22nd in Edmonton, she has been consistent in her other three Marathons; she was twice second and once third. Her disappointing showing in Edmonton can possibly be explained by the fact that she was the last minute replacement in the Japanese team. Her most recent Marathon was this year’s Paris race, where she set a personal best of 2:24:33 behind Belgium’s Marleen Renders.
For Ari Ichihashi, the 2002 Tokyo Ladies Marathon will be her first serious attempt at the distance since her run in Sydney more than two years ago. Unlike most other elite distance runners in Japan, Ichihashi does not belong to a corporate track team. She did not even run for her high school track team. After junior high school graduation, Ichihashi was recruited to join the special elite runner programme set up by the Japanese AAF. She has been training with the same coach with a long-range goal in mind. This will be her third Tokyo Ladies Marathon, having finished sixth in 1997 before finishing a close second in the 1998. Her second place finish in 1998 clinched her a place at the 1999 World Championships. She won a silver medal there with a personal best of 2:27:02, which in turn won her a spot on the Olympic team. In Sydney, Ichihashi overstretched herself and finished a disappointing 15th.
The other Japanese contenders include Tomoe Abe, a bronze medallist at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, and Tomoko Kai, a bronze medallist at 1998 Asian Games.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
