Nagoya Women’s Marathon announces elite field

The leading names in the field are Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia, world champion in Oregon in 2022 with a personal best of 2:18:11 and Silver Medallist in Budapest in 2023, and Eunice Chebichii Chumba of Bahrain, Asian Games Champion of 2023 in Hangzhou, who has a personal best of 2:20:02.

The competitor list also includes many outstanding international athletes such as Delvine Relin Meringor of Romania, Violah Cheptoo of Kenya, Giovanna Epis of Italy, Eloise Wellings of Australia, Camille French of New Zealand, and others representing China and Puerto Rico.

The local athletes who will face them from Japan are Ai Hosoda, the third-place finisher in the Marathon Grand Championship, Japan’s domestic qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics, who set a personal best of 2:21:42 in the 2022 London Marathon, the 2020 Tokyo Olympians Ayuko Suzuki in the marathon and Yuka Ando in the 10,000m, and 2023 Budapest World Championship competitor Rika Kaseda, all of whom have personal best records under 2:22 and will be vying for the final spot in Japan’s marathon team for the Paris Olympics.

Anyone who beats the Japanese record of 2:18:59 – just set this January for the first time in 19 years – will qualify for Paris.

The pacemakers driving the high-speed race include Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya, who has a personal best of 2:17:29.

The Nagoya Women’s Marathon is not only one of the world’s fastest elite competitions as a World Athletics Platinum Label road race, but it is also known as the world’s largest women’s marathon and a unique festival to celebrate women runners. All finishers will receive an event-exclusive Tiffany & Co. pendant as a token of their achievement. The 2024 race will take place in Nagoya, Japan, on March 10 with 20,000 runners, while a virtual race is currently held from February 10 through March 31, which can be participated in anywhere in the world via a running app.