Kizaki Wins Nagoya Women’s Marathon

She ran the second-fastest time in the world this year.

It was all Japan at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon on Sunday as Ryoko Kizaki was able to run clear of Ethiopian rival Berhane Dibaba at the 40K water station to win the race.

Her finishing time was 2 hour,s 23 minutes and 34 seconds–bettering her PR by nearly 3 minutes.

“I was really nervous before the race to the point that I was not able to sleep at all last night. However, I was able to run quite relaxed today,” Kizaki said. “I fell behind the bit when Dibaba surged [at 30K], but that was because I try to keep the same pace. But soon I realized I must catch up to the leaders.”

Berhane Dibaba placed second in 2:23:51.

Third place went to one of Japan’s greatest women runners, Mizuki Noguchi who clocked 2:24:05.

For Noguchi, the 2004 Olympic marathon champion, the race was a comeback.

“I was determined to run under 2:24, so the last half of the race was sort of a race against the clock,” she said.