NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 17 – The Nagoya Women’s Marathon announced the world’s best women athletes who will compete in the 12th edition race to be held on Sunday, March 12, 2023.
The top name in the elite field is defending champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya, who ran the second-fastest women’s marathon in history in 2:14:18 in Chicago last October, after recording the second-fastest ever women-only marathon in Nagoya in March in 2:17:18 to become the first female athlete to win the largest first-prize in the world of marathon running.
Other stars in the field include Nancy Jelagat Meto of Kenya with a personal best record under 2 hours 20 minutes, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Marathon Bronze Medallist Molly Seidel of USA, and many others who have achieved outstanding performances at international competitions representing Australia, Germany, China, Puerto Rico, and South Korea.
The Japanese local athletes who will join the competition are led by Tokyo Olympians in the women’s marathon Ayuko Suzuki and Honami Maeda, as well as Mao Uesugi and Mizuki Tanimoto, who renewed their personal best records at the Osaka Women’s Marathon 2022, and Yuka Suzuki, who set the new Japanese student record in 2:25:02 in Nagoya last year.
In addition, many Japanese athletes with high-level performances, including Chiharu Ikeda, Mirai Waku, and Ayano Ikemitsu, will also challenge the world’s top runners.
In addition to being the largest women’s marathon in the world and the only all-women World Athletics Platinum label road race, the Nagoya Women’s Marathon has become the marathon event with the largest first prize in the marathon running, US$250,000 since 2022.
All finishers of the race will receive an exclusively designed Tiffany & Co. pendant. The 2023 race will be held fully open to both domestic and international runners for the first time in three years, after the Japanese government has lifted the Covid-related border restrictions.
Invited Elite Athletes: Nagoya Women’s Marathon 2023
Name Nationality Personal Best
Ruth Chepngetich Kenya 2:14:18
Nancy Jelagat Meto Kenya 2:19:31
Ayuko Suzuki Japan 2:22:02
Mao Uesugi Japan 2:22:29
Mizuki Tanimoto Japan 2:23:11
Honami Maeda Japan 2:23:30
Molly Seidel USA 2:24:42
Yuka Suzuki Japan 2:25:02
Eloise WELLINGS Australia 2:2510
KATHARINA STEINRUCK Germany 2:25:59
ZHIXUAN LI China 2:26:15
Xinyan ZHANG China 2:26:56
DESHUN ZHANG China 2:27:01
Isobel BATT-DOYLE Australia 2:28:10
About Nagoya Women’s Marathon
The Nagoya Women’s Marathon is the largest women’s marathon in the world certified by Guinness World Records, held annually in March in Nagoya city, Japan.
It was launched on March 11, 2012, with 13,114 participants, reformed from the Nagoya International Women’s Marathon, the elite-only women’s race known as the qualifying trial that had sent off many Japanese star athletes to the international competitions, including two Olympic gold medalists Naoko Takahashi and Mizuki Noguchi.
It holds the World Athletics Platinum Label status and has now grown to an event of 22,000 participants.
For playing a significant role in the increase of women runner population in Japan, the race was awarded the International Olympic Committee Women and Sport Achievement Diploma in 2019, after receiving the Japan Olympic Committee Women and Sport Award in 2017.
