Skip to main content

Mizuki Noguchi Returns From Kunming "Very Excited" for Tokyo International Women`s Marathon

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/s/tochu/article/2007110801000640.html

translated by Brett Larner

Athens Olympic marathon gold medallist Mizuki Noguchi returned to Japan today, arriving at Kansai International Airport in Osaka after spending several weeks at a training camp in Kunming, China in preparation for her Beijing Olympic bid at next week`s Tokyo International Women`s Marathon. Asked about her condition, Noguchi replied "I am very excited and 100% prepared for this race."

In Tokyo, Noguchi will face former Japanese national record holder Yoko Shibui and Hiromi Ominami, who was on the same flight from Kunming as Noguchi. Noguchi set the Japanese national record of 2:19:12 at the 2005 Berlin Marathon but has not run a marathon since then due to a series of accidents. She says that her comeback race will not be a guaranteed victory. "With rivals like these running it`s not going to be an easy race. Shibui and Ominami both look like they are in great shape so I expect the pace to be very high. I`m really looking forward to it."
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Just wanted to let you know that TrackandFieldNews.com picked up your blog and posted it today, so you should gets lots of traffic. Nice reading about you. I ran for Trinity College and then Namban Rengo. Bob and the gang should remember me, I am the boat builder who was in Japan studying traditional Japanese boat building in 2002-2003.

www.douglasbrooksboatbuilding.com
November 14, 2007 at 1:28 AM
Brett Larner said…
Thanks for the notice, Douglas. Everyone who was around that era remembers you.
November 15, 2007 at 7:00 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Morii Surprises With Second-Ever Japanese Sub-2:10 at Boston

With three sub-2:09 Japanese men in the race and good weather conditions by Boston standards the chances were decent that somebody was going to follow 1981 winner Toshihiko Seko 's 2:09:26 and score a sub-2:10 at the Boston Marathon . But nobody thought it was going to be by a 2:14 amateur. Paris Olympic team member Suguru Osako had taken 3rd in Boston in 2:10:28 in his debut seven years ago, and both he and 2:08 runners Kento Otsu and Ryoma Takeuchi were aiming for spots in the top 10, Otsu after having run a 1:01:43 half marathon PB in February and Takeuchi of a 2:08:40 marathon PB at Hofu last December. A high-level amateur with a 2:14:15 PB who scored a trip to Boston after winning a local race in Japan, Yuma Morii told JRN minutes before the start of the race, "I'm not thinking about time at all. I'm going to make top 10, whatever time it takes." Running Boston for the first time Morii took off with a 4:32 on the downhill opening mile, but after that  Sis
Post a Comment
Read more

Saturday at Kanaguri and Nittai

Two big meets happened Saturday, one in Kumamoto and the other in Yokohama. At Kumamoto's Kanaguri Memorial Meet , Benard Koech (Kyudenko) turned in the performance of the day with a 13:13.52 meet record to win the men's 5000 m A-heat by just 0.11 seconds over Emmanuel Kipchirchir (SGH). The top four were all under 13:20, with 10000 m national record holder Kazuya Shiojiri (Fujitsu) bouncing back from a DNF at last month's The TEN to take the top Japanese spot at 7th overall in 13:24.57. The B-heat was also decently quick, Shadrack Rono (Subaru) winning in 13:21.55 and Shoya Yonei (JR Higashi Nihon) running a 10-second PB to get under 13:30 for the first time in 13:29.29 for 6th. Paris Olympics marathoner Akira Akasaki (Kyudenko) was 9th in 13:30.62. South Sudan's Abraham Guem (Ami AC) also set a meet record in the men's 1500 m A-heat in 3:38.94. 3000 mSC national record holder Ryuji Miura made his debut with the Subaru corporate team, running 3:39.78 for 2n
1 comment
Read more

93-Year-Old Masters Track and Field WR Holder Hiroo Tanaka: "Everyone has Unexplored Intrinsic Abilities"

  In the midst of a lot of talk about how to keep the aging population young, there are people with long lives who are showing extraordinary physical abilities. One of them is Hiroo Tanaka , 93, a multiple world champion in masters track and field. Tanaka began running when he was 60, before which he'd never competed in his adult life. "He's so fast he's world-class." "His running form is so beautiful. It's like he's flying." Tanaka trains at an indoor track in Aomori five days a week. Asked about him, that's the kind of thing the people there say. Tanaka holds multiple masters track and field world records, where age is divided into five-year groups. Last year at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Poland he set a new world record of 38.79 for 200 m in the M90 class (men's 90-94 age group). People around the world were amazed at the time, which was almost unbelievable for a 92-year-old. After retiring from his job as an el
Post a Comment
Read more