Runner Kenya wins the world's largest marathon money prize
Chepngeich overwhelmed on the Nagoya track and finished first with a time of 2 hours 18 minutes 8 seconds (2:18:08), three minutes faster than the runner-up - home athlete Ayuko Suzuki with 2:21: 52. Another Japanese runner Honami Maeda finished third with 2:22:32.
Winning helps Chepngeich win $250,000 in prize money. According to World Athletics, this is the world's largest prize pool in marathons. The organizers of the Nagoya Women's Marathon began to award such a high level of reward from 2022. In the ranking of prize money for the world's top champions, this tournament is far ahead of big names like Boston Marathon ($150,000), Dubai Marathon, New York City Marathon, Chicago Marathon (equivalent of 100,000 USD).
"I'm happy to defend the title," Chepngetich said in a livestream after the win. "It's not easy for me to run alone, but I'm happy and proud of today's success."
Satisfied to meet the title defense goal set out before the tournament, but runner Kenya couldn't set a personal best (PB) - 2:14:18 at the Chicago Marathon in October 2022. Yesterday's performance of Chepngeich was also lower than 2:17:18 when she won the Nagoya Women's Marathon last year.
On the morning of March 12, Chepngetich hit the 10 km mark when the clock hit 32 minutes 34 seconds (32:34), 9 seconds more than the record she set at this milestone last year, and 76 seconds more than the chasing group. The 28-year-old runner hit the 15 km mark in 49:00 and accelerated for the next 5 km, to hit 20 km in 1:05:14 and complete the half-marathon in 1:08:47, 16 seconds faster than when she finished the half-marathon last year.
When he reached the 30 km mark, Chepngeich took 1:37:51 seconds, still 3 minutes faster than the next two runners. However, the Kenyan runner slowed down at the end, so he could not finish with a sub2:18 record (under 2 hours 18 minutes). Both scored PB, but Suzuki, with 2:21:52, and Maeda with 2:22:31, only finished second and third. However, this achievement also helps these two runners qualify for the competition to select Japanese athletes to compete in the Paris 2024 Olympic marathon.
Nagoya Women's Marathon was born in 1980, but initially only had a distance of 20km. From 1984 onwards, the new tournament has a full maarrathon distance (42.195km) and is ranked platinum - the highest rank in the system of running events of the World Athletics Federation (World Athletics) since 2012. Currently, Nagoya Women's Marathon is the largest women's marathon in the world with a scale of 22,000 runners from last year, and approximately 25,000 runners this year.
