•"I'm glad I was able to defend my title. The race went well. Although running by myself was difficult for me. I am glad and proud of today's accomplishments,"— Chepngetich
•After covering 15 kilometers in 49 minutes, the 28-year-old picked up the pace over the next 5 kilometers and completed 20 kilometers in 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 14 seconds.
Image: FILE
Kenya's Ruth Chepngetich clocked 2:17:18 hours to retain her Nagoya Women's Marathon title on Sunday in Japan.
Despite not being able to beat her winning time in Nagoya the previous year (2:17:18), Chepngetich nevertheless won by more than three minutes over Ayuko Suzuki of Japan (2:21:52). Honami Maeda of Japan finished third in 2:22:32 during the World Athletics Platinum Label road race.
"I'm glad I was able to defend my title. The race went well. Although running by myself was difficult for me. I am glad and proud of today's accomplishments," Chepngetich stated in a post-race interview.
She added: “I am happy to be back in Nagoya. My condition was good, and I'm happy I managed to accomplish part of my target for Sunday which was to defend my title with a course record."
Chepngetich jumped right to the front of the pack and was outpacing the pacemakers on a sweltering morning. She was 35 seconds ahead of the 15-person chase group at 5 kilometers, which she crossed at 16:19.
She led by 76 seconds at 10 kilometers when she passed that checkpoint in 32:34, nine seconds quicker than her course record split from the previous year, but with a faster second half of the race.
After covering 15 kilometers in 49 minutes, the 28-year-old picked up the pace over the next 5 kilometers and completed 20 kilometers in 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 14 seconds.
She completed the first half of the race in 1 minute, 8 minutes, 47 seconds, which was 16 seconds quicker than her split time, and completed the final 15 kilometers in 1 hour, 17 minutes, and 8 seconds.
Chepngetich who also won the Chicago Marathon in 2022 in 2:14:18 — the second-fastest women's time in history — continued to sustain her pace as she passed the 25km mark in 1:21:32.
Ayuko Suzuki and Zhang, who were beginning to lose their rivals in the chase pack, were three minutes behind her at 30 kilometers when she finished in 1:37:51 as she continued to race against the clock. Then, as Ayuko Suzuki quickened her pace, she dropped Zhang as well.
As the clock read 1:54:24 at 35 kilometers, Chepngetich's pace started to slip, unlike last year when she picked up speed in the second half, but she was still on track for a performance under 2 hours.
Maeda had passed Zhang to go into third position, and Ayuko Suzuki was now running at a sub-2:22 pace (1:57:40), 25 seconds faster than Maeda but still three minutes ahead of Chepngetich.
Chepngetich persevered, aiming for success. She finished the race in 2:18:08 after reaching the halfway point in 2:11:07 and taking home the $250,000 first-place prize, which is currently the richest in marathon running.
Leading results
1 Ruth Chepngetich (KEN) 2:18:08
2 Ayuko Suzuki (JPN) 2:21:52
3 Honami Maeda (JPN) 2:22:32
4 Zhang Deshun (CHN) 2:24:05
5 Mao Uesugi (JPN) 2:24:16
6 Yuka Suzuki (JPN) 2:25:46
7 Mirai Waku (JPN) 2:25:58
8 Li Zhixuan (CHN) 2:26:28
9 Honoka Tanaike (JPN) 2:27:30
10 Isobel Batt-Doyle (AUS) 2:27:54