Joyce Chepchumba: the first African to win the Tokyo Ladies Marathon
K.Ken Nakamura
20 November 2000 - Joyce Chepchumba, who made history in Sydney as the first Kenyan woman to win an Olympic marathon medal also made a history in Tokyo on Sunday, by winning the 2000 Tokyo Ladies marathon in 2:24:02. In the process not only was she the first Kenyan winner, she also became the first African to win the race. Previously the best Kenyan/African placing was the second place finish by Chepchumba herself in 1997. (Fatuma Roba also finished second in 1999). The Kenyan also put a stop to Japanese domination, who have won the past five editions.
The Tokyo Ladies marathon course is considered slow because of a 30m climb from 36Km to 39Km. Until 1999 the course record stood at relatively modest 2:25:24 established by Katrin Dorre in 1987. Because of a steep downhill between 3Km and 7Km, traditionally, runners started the race conservatively. However, in 1999 Eri Yamaguchi recorded a new course record of 2:22:12 by running aggressively from the start.
The top invited runners in the Tokyo Ladies marathon were Joyce Chepchumba, an Olympic marathon bronze medallist, and Derartu Tulu, an Olympic gold medallist at the 10,000m. The best hope to keep the Japanese winning streak alive was Reiko Tosa who recorded 2:24:36 in her second marathon in the 2000 Nagoya Ladies marathon. Her marathon debut was at the 1998 Matsuyama marathon when she won the race with 2:54:47, which was not a serious effort. She never trained seriously while in school, however, when she started to train seriously after joining Mitsui Kaijyo track team, good results followed immediately. In July of 1999 she was sixth with 1:10:59 at the Sapporo half marathon. Then in October, she was sixth with 1:09:36 in the World Half marathon championships. When she finished second to Naoko Takahashi in the 2000 Nagoya Ladies marathon, she was suddenly heralded as the next great hope in the marathon. The Mitsui Kaijyo track team has a grand plan of winning all the major domestic marathons. Mayumi Ichikawa already won the 2000 Hokkaido marathon. Reiko Tosa carried the hope of the Mitsui Kaijyo track team in the Tokyo Ladies marathon.
The race started under sunny sky in near ideal temperature of 11.8C, reports Toshiro Takazi, a Japanese marathon expert. Although in the pre-race interview, Tosa said, "I would like to follow the leader even if they start fast," it was Tosa who picked up the pace after leaving the national stadium; she was all alone by 2Km. She further increased her lead during the downhill starting at 3Km. Only Derartu Tulu attempted to stay close to Tosa but she was already behind by some 20m; the chase pack of seven runners including Joyce Chepchumba was a further 50m behind Tulu. Tosa covered the first 5Km in 16:33. While Tosa continued to push the pace, Tulu fell further behind. Meanwhile Chepchumba broke away from the chase pack and started to close the gap between her and Tulu. When Tosa passed 10Km in 33:08 Tulu was 19 seconds behind, while Chepchumba was a further 3 seconds back. By 11Km, however, Chepchumba took charge and started to chase Tosa; although she did not look comfortable, Tulu followed Chepchumba closely. As Tosa’s pace started to slow after 14Km, Chepchumba and Tulu began to close the gap, and by 15Km (49:56 for Tosa) they were 12 seconds behind. The gap closed steadily and by 20Km, they were only 3 seconds behind Tosa (20Km in 1:07:03). Everyone else was over a minute and half behind.
At 21.9Km Chepchumba finally caught Tosa. However, Tulu was struggling about 5 seconds behind. As the duel between Tosa and Chepchumba continued, Tulu was losing ground. The duel continued for over five Km. Finally at 27.5Km Chepchumba, who said winning was her goal in the pre-race interview, made a decisive surge. The gap increased to 4 seconds by 28Km, 8 seconds by 29Km, and by 30Km, Chepchumba who passed 30Km in 1:41:11 was 17 seconds ahead of Tosa. By 35Km (1:58:24), Chepchumba had a commanding lead of 40 seconds. Although Tosa held on valiantly over the final uphill, she could not close the gap on Chepchumba. Chepchumba won in 2:24:02, while Tosa was 45 seconds back in 2:24:47. Derartu Tulu, who in the pre-race interview announced a modest goal of improving her marathon PR of 2:26:09, failed to do so. She was third in 2:26:38, perhaps because she missed too much training due to celebrations after Olympic gold medal at the 10,000m.
On June 12 the JAAF, who were criticised for unclear selection criteria for the Olympic marathon team, announced that the first Japanese to finish under 2:26 in each of the major domestic marathons - Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya - will be automatically selected for the World Championships marathon team. Thus Tosa who finished second in 2:24:47, her second sub 2:25 marathon of the year, has gained an automatic selection for the marathon team for Edmonton. "I neither won nor set a new PR," said a disappointed Tosa. "I need to learn to change the pace in mid-race like Naoko Takahashi," continued Tosa who was unable to respond to Chepchumba’s surge at 27.5Km.
Junko Kataoka, one time national record holder at both the 10,000m (31:31.12 in 1995) and the half marathon (1:08:41 in 1994) improved her marathon personal best from 2:30:10 to 2:28:20 in finishing fifth.
Masako Koide, daughter of Yoshio Koide who coached Naoko Takahashi to an Olympic marathon gold medal was only 9th in 2:30:50. However she too improved her marathon PR from 2:32:52 recorded in San Diego earlier this year.
Weather sunny, 11.8C, 37% humidity, ENE wind 2. 2m/s
JPN unless otherwise indicated:
1) Joyce Chepchumba (KEN) 2:24:02
2) Reiko Tosa 2:24:47
3) Derartu Tulu (ETH) 2:26:38
4) Malgorzata Sobanska (POL) 2:27:52
5) Junko Kataoka 2:28:20
6) Alina Ivanova (RUS) 2:28:49
7) Mineko Yamanouchi 2:28:51
8) Yan Rong Wang (CHN) 2:30:23
9) Masako Koide 2:30:50
10) Nadezhda Wijenberg (NED) 2:32:20
Unofficial splits for Joyce Chepchumba
5Km 17:00
10Km 33:30 (16:30)
15Km 50:09 (16:39)
20Km 1:07:06 (16:57)
25Km 1:24:08 (17:02)
30Km 1:41:11 (17:03)
35Km 1:58:24 (17:13)
40Km 2:16:19 (17:55)
Finish 2:24:02 (7:43)
