Running his third top class Marathon in as many months, Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi won the 15th Olympic Commemorative Marathon in Nagano, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, in 2:14:27 on Sunday (21). It was the slowest winning time in the history of the race but that can partially be explained by the harsh weather with snow and temperatures rarely getting above zero during the race. Kawauchi will no doubt cherish the win on home soil but, after winning the 2013 Beppu-Oita Marathon with 2:08:15 on 3 February and then finishing fourth in the 2013 Seoul Marathon last month in a personal best of 2:08:14, his bid to become the first man to run under 2:09 three times in consecutive months failed in the freezing conditions.He was with the leaders immediately from the start. At 5km, reached in 15:23, the lead pack was just four runners: Eritrea’s Isaias Beyn, Kenya’s Silas Sang, along with home hopes Kawauchi and Hirokatsu Kurosaki.The quartet passed 10km in 30:58, with Alexey A. Sokolov nine seconds behind in fifth place. By 15km, reached in 46:24, Beyn broke away and took Kawauchi with him. &nbsp;The pair stayed together through 20km in 1:02:16, halfway in 1:05:45, and 25km in 1:18:14; with Sokolov moving into third place just before 20km. Sokolov caught up with the leaders just before 30km, as the conditions started to take their toll on the men at the front, which he and Kawauchi went through in 1:34:23 as Beyn started to lose contact with the leaders.The race was decided just before 40km, when the clock read 2:07:3, when Kawauchi made his decisive surge. Kawauchi quickly opened up a one-minute gap in the final two kilometres to the line, to eventually win in 2:14:27. Beyn, after featuring at the front for 30km, faded to sixth by 40km and then had a torrid last two kilometres to cross the line ninth.Former Japanese record-holder Atsushi Fujita, sixth at the 1999 IAAF World Championships, was running the last race of his career. Unfortunately, he could not finish his career with a bang and he was forced to drop out of the race around 30km. Sadly, Fujita also failed to complete the penultimate race of his career, having dropped out of Lake Biwa Marathon in March.&nbsp;&nbsp; The women’s race was won by Russia’s 26-year-old Natalia Puchkova in 2:30:40, the second-fastest time of her career following her 2:30:17 best, set when winning the Hannover Marathon last year The race started as a duel between Puchkova and Kenya’s Beatrice Jepkemboi, the latter being a 2:27 performer, but by 10km, reached in 35:35, Puchkova was in front and she ran the rest of the race on her own. She went through halfway in 1:15:16 before winning comfortably by more than six minutes.The fastest woman in the field, Mika Okunaga, who recorded her personal best of 2:27:16 in the 2009 Osaka Ladies Marathon, had to settle for fourth in 2:44:21 on this occasion.Ken Nakamura for the IAAFLEADING RESULTS Men 1 Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) 2:14:27 2 Alexey Sokolov (RUS) 2:15:31 3 Hirokatsu Kurosaki (JPN) 2:17:28 Women 1 Natalia Puchkova (RUS) 2:30:40 2 Beatrice Jepkemboi (KEN) 2:36:51 3 Seika Iwamura (JPN) 2:41:19

Kawauchi and Puchkova win snowy Nagano Marathon

Running his third top class Marathon in as many months, Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi won the 15th Olympic Commemorative Marathon in Nagano, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, in 2:14:27 on Sunday (21). 



Two Japanese runners, Atsushi Fujita and Yuki Kawauchi, are in the spotlight ahead of the 15th Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, on Sunday.Fujita, former national Marathon record holder, will have the final Marathon of his 14-year career in the event. He made his debut over the classic distance in 1999 Lake Biwa Marathon and set a collegiate marathon record of 2:10:07, which qualified him for the 1999 World Championships team going to Sevilla, Spain, where he finished in a very respectable sixth place.However, his next Marathon was the one many Japanese athletics fans remember. In the 2000 Fukuoka Marathon, Fujita recorded a national record of 2:06:51, which qualified him for the 2001 World Championships; but although he was one of the medal favourites in Edmonton, Fujita was only able to finish 12th.&nbsp; Sadly, because of persistent injury problems over the years, Fujita failed to fulfil his early potential and he broke 2:10 only once more after 2000 and after failing to finish at the 2013 Lake Biwa Marathon last month, the 36-year-old Fujita decided to retire after the Nagano Marathon.&nbsp; Kawauchi is one of the most prolific marathon runner of our time, and will be running his fourth marathon of the year in Nagano, a race inaugurated in 1999 to commemorate the Winter Olympics hosted by the city the year before.He also ran a remarkable nine marathons last year. After winning the 2013 Beppu-Oita Marathon with 2:08:15 on 3 February, Kawauchi then finished fourth in the 2013 Seoul Marathon last month in a personal best of 2:08:14. The obvious question is, can he run another 2:08 Marathon in Nagano? Many top runners have go under 2:09 on three consecutive occasions but no one has yet done it in three consecutive months!&nbsp; The fastest Marathon runner in the field is actually Kenya’s William Kiplagat, who recorded personal best of 2:06:50 but back in 1999. Now 40, he has not broken 2:10 since 2009, when he was third in Frankfurt Marathon with 2:07:05. Another Kenyan, Silas Sang, returns to Nagano after finishing in the city 12 months ago when he recorded a personal best of 2:09:10.Other potential contenders are Russia’s Aleksey A. Sokolov, who was fourth in the 2012 Nagano Marathon with personal best of 2:10:59, and Japan’s Yukihiro Kitaoka, the 2010 Asian Games silver medallist with the best of 2:10:51 from the &nbsp;recorded in 2010 Lake Biwa Marathon.The Japanese pair of Chiharu Takada and Kazuya Ishida, as well as Eritrea’s Isaias Beyn Habtemicael, all ran personal bests when posting 2:11 performances in 2012 and will also be looking to improve further.The course is certainly suitable for good times. It is quite flat, with the start at 349m above sea level and the finish at 354m.&nbsp; The highest point is 383m above sea level while the lowest point is 339m.In the women’s race, the fastest in the field is Mika Okunaga, who recorded the personal best of 2:27:16 in 2009 Osaka Ladies Marathon. However, she could be challenged by Kenya’s Beatrice Jepkemboi Toroitich, who improved to 2:27:41 when finishing third at the 2012 Hamburg Marathon. &nbsp;Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

Nagano sees last Marathon for Atsushi Fujita

Two Japanese runners, Atsushi Fujita and Yuki Kawauchi, are in the spotlight ahead of the 15th Nagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, on Sunday.