Marathon debut, Kayoko Fukushi of Japan set a new Asian record* of 1:07:26 at the 60th Kagawa Marugame Half-Marathon on Sunday (05).
Finishing second in 1:07:43, also under her Asian Half-Marathon record, was the reigning Olympic Marathon champion Mizuki Noguchi.
Although the time was slower than Masako Chiba’s 1:06:43 run on a downhill course (elevation loss of 33m) at the Tokyo City Half-Marathon in 1997, it is faster than the 1:07:47 which was recorded on the point-to-point course in the 2004 Miyazaki Half-Marathon by Noguchi.
Fukushi led nearly wire-to-wire, passing 15Km in 46:55, faster than the World best recorded by Elana Meyer in Cape Town in November 1991. Fukushi’s 20Km intermediate split of 1:03:41 was the fastest 20Km time by an Asian runner on the course without elevation loss, but still slower than the 1:03:14 by Chiba at the 1997 Tokyo race.
Results:
1. Kayoko Fukushi, 1:07:26
2. Mizuki Noguchi, 1:07:43
*pending retification
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
