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The 2019 world marathon champion clocked 2:18:08 on her way to victory.
The 2022 Chicago Marathon champion Ruth Chepng’etich has expressed her happiness after successfully defending her Nagoya Women’s Marathon title on March 12, 2023.
Chepng’etich, however, recounted that the race was not a walk in the park for her as she didn’t have company.
“I am happy, I defended my title. The race was good. It was not easy for me to run alone but I am happy and I am proud of today’s success,” she said.
The 2019 world marathon champion ran her way to victory in 2:18:08. In a pre-race interview, she had revealed that she was aiming to claim back-to-back wins and improve her own course record of 2:17:18 that she set at last year’s edition.
Despite not setting a new course record, Chepng’etich claimed a dominant victory, winning by more than three minutes ahead of Japan’s Ayuko Suzuki (2:21:52). Japan’s Honami Maeda was third in 2:22:32.
As the race kicked-off, Chepng’etich went straight to the front of the field and was running ahead of the pacemakers. She led by 35 seconds from the 15-strong chase group at 5km, which she passed in 16:19.
The 28-year-old clocked 49:00 at 15km. The chase group were two-and-a-half minutes back, following the two pacemakers through in 1:11:19.
Chepng’etich went on to pass the 25km point in 1:21:32, maintaining her pace. She continued to race against the clock and she reached 30km in 1:37:51, three minutes ahead of Ayuko Suzuki and Zhang (1:41:00).
Chepng’etich hung on, with victory in her sights. She reached 40km in 2:11:07 and went on to win in 2:18:08.
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Chepng'etich is also the 2019 World Marathon champion and the 2018 Istanbul Marathon champion.
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