Surging away from Mariya Konovalova and Sairi Maeda after 31km, Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa of Bahrain won the 2015 Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon on Sunday (8) in 2:22:08, the fastest time in the history of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race.The course was changed in 2010 when the race went from being an elite-only to a mass-participation event, but Kirwa&rsquo;s winning time was faster than the previous course record of 2:22:19, recorded 15 years ago by 2000 Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi.&ldquo;I did not expect to run such a fast time,&rdquo; said Kirwa after recording the second-fastest performance of her career and extending her winning streak to four marathons. &ldquo;I was thinking of a time around 2:23, so I am satisfied with my time. I always wanted to run the Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon, so I am happy to win the race today.&rdquo;Finishing second in 2:22:27 was 40-year-old Mariya Konovalova of Russia. Before today, the fastest marathon by a woman older than 40 was 2:24:54 by Irina Mikitenko at the 2013 Berlin Marathon. Konovalova improved on that mark by more than two minutes. Konovalova, a world finalist over 5000m 20 years ago, had a previous PB of 2:22:46.Placing third overall &ndash; and, more importantly, finishing as the top Japanese woman &ndash; was Sairi Maeda. Running just the second marathon of her career, Maeda improved her personal best by nearly four minutes from 2:26:46 to 2:22:48, moving to eighth on the national all-time list with the fastest performance by a Japanese woman since 2007.Japan has a new marathon star, but Maeda&rsquo;s real test may be her next marathon, which is likely to be at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing.Maeda collided with Rei Ohara at the 15km water station and bruised her left knee, but she got up and quickly caught up with the lead pack. When Kirwa surged ahead at 31km, Maeda was left behind. She slowed and her next two 5km segments took more than 17 minutes, but she kept the deceleration to a minimum.The 23-year-old saved a bit of speed for the end, though, and covered the final 2.195km in 7:17, the fastest for that segment among the top finishers. Incidentally, her 52-year-old mother Junko Maeda ran in the mass race.In fourth place, Mai Ito also improved her personal best from 2:25:26 to 2:24:42, while Risa Takenaka ran 2:28:09 in her debut marathon to finish fifth.The pace makers did a good job of keeping the race fast by covering the first 5km in 16:49, the second 5km in 16:43, the third 5km in 16:59 and the fourth 5km in 16:58. The early lead group of 20 was reduced to about 11 runners by 15km, the point at which Ohara and Maeda collided.Five runners &ndash; Kirwa, Konovalova, Maeda, Ito and Ohara &ndash; passed the half marathon point in 1:11:08, and anticipation for a fast time started to build.After the pace-makers left the race at 30km, only Kirwa, Konovalova and Maeda were in the lead pack. Then at the turn-around point at 31km, Kirwa made her move.&ldquo;I knew the pace makers would leave the race at 30km, so I was planning to make my move at that point,&rdquo; said Kirwa. She covered 30km to 35km in 16:37, while Konovalova and Maeda covered the same segment in 16:56 and 17:07 respectively, leaving Kirwa alone in front.The Asian Games champion continued to push the pace. Konovalova and Maeda made up a bit of ground in the final few kilometres, but it was too little too late and Kirwa won by 19 seconds from Konovalova. Ken Nakamura for the IAAF<h3>Leading results</h3>1 Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa (BRN) 2:22:08 2 Mariya Konovalova (RUS) 2:22:27 3 Sairi Maeda (JPN) 2:22:48 4 Mai Ito (JPN) 2:24:42 5 Risa Takenaka (JPN) 2:28:09 6 Keiko Nogami (JPN) 2:28:19 7 Anna Incerti (ITA) 2:29:10 8 Reia Iwade (JPN) 2:29:16 9 Olena Burkovska (UKR) 2:29:45 10 Eri Hayakawa (JPN) 2:30:21

Surging away from Mariya Konovalova and Sairi Maeda after 31km, Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa of Bahrain won the 2015 Nagoya Women’s Marathon on Sunday (8) in 2:22:08, the fastest time in the history of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

Records for Kirwa and Konovalova at Nagoya Marathon

Defending Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon champion Mariya Konovalova will take on the top two finishers from last year&rsquo;s Asian Games at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on Sunday (8).This will be the 35th edition of the women-only race, but just the fourth time that it has also been open to a mass field. This year, 20 elite runners &ndash; 13 of them with a sub-2:30 PB &ndash; have been invited.Asian Games champion Eunice Kirwa is the fastest runner in the field with her 2:21:41 PB from the 2012 Amsterdam marathon. Ryoko Kizaki, who set her best of 2:23:34 when winning the 2013 Nagoya Marathon, finished second to Kirwa at the Asian Games.But both will be up against defending champion Konovalova. Although 40, the Russian set her PB of 2:22:46 just 18 months ago at the 2013 Chicago Marathon.Kizaki was disappointed to finish third in Nagoya last year, so Sunday&rsquo;s race will be an opportunity for her to gain revenge on Konovalova.Aside from her PB, Kirwa has run faster than 2:24 on two other occasions. In 2013 she ran 2:23:45 in Frankfurt and 2:23:34 in Paris. The Bahraini athlete has also won her past three marathons.Kizaki may be the best marathon runner in Japan right now. Besides her Asian Games silver medal, Kizaki was fourth at the 2013 IAAF World Championships and 16th at the 2012 Olympics.Konovalova won in Nagoya last year in 2:23:43. If the pace is right, she could challenge Irina Mikitenko&rsquo;s W40 world best of 2:24:54. A World Championships finalist 20 years ago, Konovalova has track PBs of 14:38.09 for 5000m and 30:31.03 for 10,000m.In the unlikely event of all three of the main contenders faltering, then Ethiopia&rsquo;s Aheza Kiros and Italy&rsquo;s Anna Incerti could challenge.Kiros has a best of 2:24:30 from the 2013 Dubai Marathon, while Incerti &ndash; who finished sixth at last year&rsquo;s European Championships &ndash; has a PB of 2:25:32.Other contenders from overseas are Ukraine&rsquo;s Olena Burkovska, Ethiopia&rsquo;s Woynishet Girma and Brazil&rsquo;s Adriana Aparecida Da Silva, all of whom have PBs faster than 2:30.For Japanese athletes, this race is the final qualifying opportunity for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing.In the previous qualifying races in Yokohama and Osaka, the fastest Japanese women were Tomomi Tanaka (2:26:57) and Risa Shigetomo (2:26:39), so if more than one Japanese woman runs faster than 2:26 on Sunday, there may be multiple runners from Nagoya making the marathon team for Beijing.Kizaki is the favourite to make the team, but sub-2:26 runners Mai Ito and Eri Hayakawa could also run fast enough to qualify, as could Misato Horie.Japanese fans are looking for a new marathon star, and Sairi Maeda and Reina Iwade could be the ones to fulfil that role.In her one marathon to date, 20-year-old Iwade ran 2:27:21 to finish third in Yokohama last year. She has a half-marathon best of 1:09:45 and a 10,000m PB of 32:24.38.With PBs of 32:03.43 for 10,000m and 2:26:46 for the marathon, 23-year-old Maeda is even faster. Like Iwade, this weekend&rsquo;s race will be Maeda&rsquo;s second marathon of her career.Two other runners &ndash; Rei Ohara and Risa Takenaka &ndash; are making their marathon debut and they may contend for the top Japanese spot on Sunday.Ken Nakamura for the IAAF<h3>Elite field (with PBs)</h3>Eunice Kirwa (BRN) 2:21:41 Mariya Konovalova (RUS) 2:22:46 Ryoko Kizaki (JPN) 2:23:34 Aheza Kiros (ETH) 2:24:30 Mai Ito (JPN) 2:25:26 Eri Hayakawa (JPN) 2:25:31 Anna Incerti (ITA) 2:25:32 Sairi Maeda (JPN) 2:26:46 Olena Burkovska (UKR) 2:27:07 Reina Iwade (JPN) 2:27:21 Woynishet Girma (ETH) 2:27:51 Misato Horie (JPN) 2:27:57 Adriana Aparecida Da Silva (BRA) 2:29:17 Yuka Hakoyama (JPN) 2:30:48 Asami Furuse (JPN) 2:30:57 Yuka Yano (JPN) 2:31:02 Manami Kamitanida (JPN) 2:31:34 Yuko Mizuguchi (JPN) 2:31:39 Rei Ohara (JPN) debut Risa Takenaka (JPN) debut

Defending Nagoya Women’s Marathon champion Mariya Konovalova will take on the top two finishers from last year’s Asian Games at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on Sunday (8).

Kizaki, Konovalova and Kirwa set to clash in Nagoya

A showdown between Sharon Cherop and Aberu Kebede in the women’s race is likely to be one of the highlights of the BMW Frankfurt Marathon, which celebrates its 33rd edition on 26 October. Organisers of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race announced on Wednesday (24) the addition of Kenya’s Cherop to the women’s elite field, which is led on time by Ethiopia’s Kebede. Cherop’s inclusion means that there is a quartet of women on the start list who have run between 2:20 and 2:23. Kebede, the fastest woman on Frankfurt’s start list with a best of 2:20:30, showed fine form last Sunday when she won the Philadelphia Half Marathon in 1:08:40 and was an early confirmation for the latest edition of the marathon beside the River Main in Germany.Cherop, 30, should provide a tough challenge for Kebede, who has announced that she hopes to break 2:20 on the fast course in Frankfurt. The Kenyan was runner-up in last year’s Berlin Marathon, improving to 2:22:28. Married to 2:10 marathon runner Matthew Bowen, Cherop has proved she is a tough competitor time and again. Winning the Boston Marathon in 2012 has been her biggest success to date and she also placed third in Boston in 2011 and 2013 as well as taking the marathon bronze medal at the 2011 IAAF World Championships. Her last marathon win was in Singapore last December in difficult conditions while, in a strong women’s race in Boston in April, she finished eighth in 2:23:00. After a series of fine performances in the past three years, including finishing second in Frankfurt, 2014 has not gone according to plan so far for Flomena Chepchirchir. Cherop’s compatriot will be eager to regain her best form in Frankfurt after dropping out of the Boston Marathon in April and then finishing as far down as 10th in the Prague Marathon a few weeks later. The 32-year-old will be returning to familiar territory as it was in Frankfurt that she clocked her best of 2:23:00 in 2013. In 2011, Chepchirchir ran her marathon debut in Frankfurt and performed with distinction when finishing third in 2:24:21. Prospects for a strong European performance are also high in Frankfurt as well as Russia’s Maria Konovalova is the fourth runner with a PB faster than 2:23. It was in Chicago last year, at the age of 39, that she improved her personal best by more than a minute to 2:22:46. Now 40, Konovalova could attack the world veteran’s best of 2:24:54 set by Germany’s Irina Mikitenko a year ago in Berlin. In March this year, Konovalova won the Nagoya Marathon in 2:23:43.An estimated 15,000 runners are expected to take part in Germany’s oldest marathon in just over a month’s time.Organisers for the IAAFWomen's elite field (with personal best times):Aberu Kebede (ETH) 2:20:30 Sharon Cherop (KEN) 2:22:28 Maria Konovalova (RUS) 2:22:46 Flomena Chepchirchir (KEN) 2:23:00 Meskerem Assefa (ETH) 2:25:17 Helah Kiprop (KEN) 2:26:27 Ashete Bekere (ETH) 2:27:47 Winny Jepkorir (KEN) 2:27:57 Adriana Nelson (USA) 2:28:52 Emily Ngetich (KEN) 2:30:50

A showdown between Sharon Cherop and Aberu Kebede in the women’s race is likely to be one of the highlights of the BMW Frankfurt Marathon, which celebrates its 33rd edition on 26 October. 

Cherop and Kebede the women's favourites at the Frankfurt Marathon

Russia’s Mariya Konovalova was an authoritative winner of the 2014 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in 2:23:43 on Sunday (9).For Konovalova, it was her first victory in a marathon in ten starts (not counting pacing duties) and the time was second fastest of her career, just short of her personal best of 2:22:46 recorded in last year’s Chicago Marathon.&nbsp; She will turn 40 on 14 August, so could conceivably go for the master’s marathon best in an autumn race. This particular mark stands at 2:24:54 to Germany’s Irina Mikitenko from the 2013 Berlin Marathon.&nbsp;&nbsp; The planned pace of approximately 17:05 for each 5km section worked well until the halfway point. The lead pack of 24 runners reached 5km in 17:05, was reduced to 20 runners as 10km was passed in 34:06 and then to 15 runners by the 15km checkpoint, with the split 51:28.&nbsp; After the half way, with the split 1:12:34, the lead pack started to disintegrate and by 25km, a split of 1:25:52, only seven runners were left in the lead pack.&nbsp; The real racing between the remaining women started after 30km, reached in 1:42:58, when the pace maker dropped out and Konovalova started to push the pace at the front.She covered 30-31km in 3:24, 31-32km in 3:21, and then 32-33km in 3:18 and only Latvia’s Prokopcuka was with her with a little less than 10 kilometres to go.Konovalova’s final push for the victory started with 5km left in the race, and Prokopcuka had to let her Russian rival go. By 40km, with the clock reading 2:16:30, Konovalova led Prokopcuka by 10 seconds and extended through the remainder of the race. At the finish, Konovalova had an advantage of 24 seconds.It was fourth fastest time on the course which starts and finishes at Nagoya Dome, but Konovalova fell short of the fastest time by a 39-year-old over the classic distance: 2:22:18 by Mikitenko, recorded in the 2011 Berlin Marathon. &nbsp;Prokopcuka, 37, held on for second with 2:24:07. It was her best finish since her second place finish at the 2007 Boston Marathon and her finishing time was her fastest since the 2006 Boston Marathon where she recorded 2:23:48, the second fastest time of her career.Kizaki wins Japanese three-way joustBehind the European pair, the race for the Japan team that will contest the Asian Games marathon was fierce.Only three Japanese runners – defending champion Ryoko Kizaki, Eri Hayakawa and marathon debutante Tomomi Tanaka – were left in the lead pack at the halfway point.&nbsp; When Konovalova surged after 30km, the lead pack was split into two, and all three Japanese fell back at that point.&nbsp; They ran together until just before 36km when Kizaki started to drift back, apparently leaving Hayakawa and Tanaka to fight it out for the top Japanese position which could mean an Asian Games place.&nbsp; However, Kizaki, the fourth-place finisher in the last year’s World Championships marathon, was not finished.Starting at about 39 kilometres, Kizaki came back alive and started to reel in her compatriots. With 2.5km left in the race, Kizaki finally caught the pair. Tanaka, eighth at 2012 World Half Marathon Championships, started to struggle and drifted back just after 40km, leaving Kizaki and Hayakawa to duel for the honour of being the top Japanese runner. As the two approached the Nagoya Dome, the start and finish area, Kizaki surged into front to leave Hayakawa behind and won the race for the top Japanese, crossing the line in third place with 2:25:26. “I was confident going into the race because I have done best training in my career. So I am bitterly disappointed that I could not bring back the victory to everyone who supported me, including my coach, manager and trainer,” said Kizaki after the race.&nbsp; Hayakawa finished fourth overall five seconds behind Kizaki, while Tanaka finished fifth overall in 2:26:05. Japan’s Asian Games marathon team will be announced later this week.&nbsp; In total, the top nine women ran faster than 2:30. Approximately 15,000 runners took part in the biggest women-only mass marathon in the world. The accompanying half marathon allowed male runners and Yuki Kawauchi, who finished fourth in the last week’s Lake Biwa Marathon, took part and won in 1:04:17.&nbsp; Ken Nakamura for the IAAF

Russia’s Mariya Konovalova was an authoritative winner of the 2014 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, in 2:23:43 on Sunday (9).

Konovalova's kick clinches Nagoya Women’s Marathon win

The 2014 Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, can boast of having two sub-2:23 marathon runners and three sub-2:24 marathon runners who will stand on the start line in the Japanese city on Sunday (9).
Two fastest runners, Russia&rsquo;s Mariya Konovalova and Latvia&rsquo;s Jelena Prokopcuka, are both in their late 30s, but are still running fast.
Konovalova, now 39, recorded her personal best of 2:22:46 in the 2013 Chicago Marathon. She is also very fast over shorter distances, having recorded 30:31.03 for 10,000m in 2009, and 14:38.09 for 5000m in 2008.
The second fastest runner in the field is the 37-year-old Prokopcuka of Latvia, who recorded her personal best of 2:22:56 at the 2005 Osaka Ladies Marathon back in 2005. She is still fast but has not broken 2:25 since the 2006 Boston Marathon, although her best time since was 2:25:46 recorded in the last year&rsquo;s Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon, when she finished fourth.&nbsp;
Three other runners &ndash; Helna Loshanyang Kirop, Agnes Kiprop and Agnes Barsosio, all from Kenya &ndash; have broken 2:25.
Kirop, 37, recorded her personal best of 2:23:37 in 2011 Venice Marathon and her second fastest time of 2:24:40 in the 2013 Rome Marathon.&nbsp; Kiprop ran her personal best of 2:23:54 in 2011 Frankfurt Marathon and had a good run of 2:25:22 in the 2013 Paris Marathon.&nbsp;
On the other hand, Barsosio has been steadily improving her personal best in her last three marathons.&nbsp;
In 2012, Barsosio improved from 2:25:49 in the Dusseldorf Marathon in April to 2:24:27 in Frankfurt in the autumn; then, at the 2013 Daegu Marathon in April, she recorded her current marathon best of 2:24:03.&nbsp; Can she continue her streak of improving with every successive marathon?
Along with the Yokohama Women&rsquo;s Marathon and Osaka Women&rsquo;s Marathon, Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon doubles as a selection race for the Japanese marathon team for the Asian Games in Inchon, Korea, and so has huge local importance.
The two-woman team will be selected from the top finishers from aforementioned three marathons but the race for the Inchon squad is still wide open.
Kizaki out to clinch Korea trip
Third fastest runner in the Nagoya field, with the personal best of 2:23:34 from when she won last year&rsquo;s Nagoya Women&rsquo;s marathon and one of the favourites to make the Asian Games team is Ryoko Kizaki.
Kizaki was 16th in the London 2012 Olympic Games but improved to fourth at the 2013 IAAF World Championships. &nbsp;If Kizaki wins on Sunday, she will be just the second runner in history of Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon to successfully defend her title, the only other woman to win two consecutive years in Nagoya being China&rsquo;s Zhao Youfeng in 1988 and in 1989.&nbsp;
Besides the winner Kizaki, and Prokopcuka who finished fourth, Eri Hayakawa in fifth, Yoko Miyauchi in seventh, &nbsp;Asami Kato in ninth and Misato Horie in 10th have returned from the top 10 finishers in 2013; Hayakawa with 2:26:17, Kato with 2:30:26 and Horie with 2:30:52 all recorded their personal bests in this race 12 months ago.
Four top local runners will make their marathon debut on Sunday. &nbsp;The best amongst them is Tomomi Tanaka, who is coached by 1991 World Championships marathon silver medalist Sachiko Yamashita. Tanaka finished eighth in the 2012 World Half Marathon Championships and won the 2014 All Japan Corporate Team Half marathon Championships with the personal best of 69:24.
Ken Nakamura for the IAAF
&nbsp;

The 2014 Nagoya Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, can boast of having two sub-2:23 marathon runners and three sub-2:24 marathon runners who will stand on the start line in the Japanese city on Sunday (9).