Ruth Chepng'etich confirmed for Nagoya Marathon in March

Defending champion Ruth Chepng’etich has confirmed participation at the 2023 Nagoya Marathon scheduled for Sunday 12 March in Japan.

Chepng’etich last year obliterated a strong field to clinch the title in 2:17:18 ahead of World Marathon bronze medalist Lonah Chemtai Salpeter who clocked 2:18:45. Japan’s Yuka Ando settled for third place in 2:22:22.

Chepng’etich maintained the hot streak last year in defending her Chicago Marathon when she ran the second fastest time in the women’s marathon in 2:14:18 in October.

Chepng’etich went ahead and proved her agility when she ran a tactical race to win the National Cross-country championships senior women’s title in 32:56. She also ran away with the Prisons Cross-country title held on December.

She will be joined by compatriots Nancy Jelagat. Jelagat is the 2021 Valencia marathon champion and lines up with a life-time best of 2:19:31.

The Kenyan duo is bound to face tough competition from the Olympic marathon Bronze Medallist Molly Seidel of USA who comes into the race with a personal best time of 2:24:42.

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