Sheila Chepkurui eyeing success in Nagoya

New York City Marathon reigning champion Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui headlines this year’s Nagoya Women’s Marathon scheduled for Sunday, 9 March.

Chepkurui, a 2:17:29 runner from the Valencia Marathon in 2022, will be hoping to continue her stellar form from her win in New York last November, where she pulled away from compatriot and defending champion Hellen Obiri with a little more than 800 meters to go and won in 2:24:35.

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Her performance in November was an improvement, in positioning, from her sixth-place finish in London back in April 2024 where she clocked 2:19:31 in a race won by compatriot Peres Jepchirchir in a then 2:16:16 world record.

The 34-year-old is facing stiff from Ethiopia’s Ruti Aga, a former Tokyo Marathon Champion, with a personal record of 2:18:09. Aga is fresh from a 2:18:46 win at the Xiamen Marathon where she claimed a dominant victory ahead of her compatriot Gutemi Shone Imana (2:23:11).

The duo will compete alongside Eunice Chebichii Chumba of Bahrain, the 2023 Asian Games Champion and last year’s runner-up in Nagoya with a time of 2:20:02.

The international field also includes notable runners such as Isobel Batt-Doyle from Australia, Natasha Wodak from Canada, Yuyu Xia from China, Fabienne Königstein from Germany, and Natosha Rogers from the USA.

Japanese representation features Hitomi Niiya (2:19:24), Rika Kaseda (2:21:55), and Rino Goshima, a 2024 Paris Olympian making her marathon debut. This event serves as a vital opportunity for athletes to secure spots at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

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Elite Field

Sheila Chepkirui -2:17:29

Ruti Aga -2:18:09

Hitomi Niiya -2:19:24

Eunice Chebichii -2:20:02

Rika Kaseda -2:21:55

Sayaka Sato -2:22:13

Mao Uesugi -2:22:29

Isobel Batt-Doyle -2:22:59

Yuki Nakamura -2:24:22

Rino Goshima -Debut