GOLD COAST AIRPORT MARATHON 2017 Noguchi’s best present
Birthday boy too good for top field
IF Takuya Noguchi could have scripted his perfect day, it’s unlikely it would have turned out much better than yesterday.
On his 29th birthday, Noguchi won the Gold Coast Marathon, beating two-time champion Kenneth Mungara in a thrilling sprint finish to snare the same title wife Risa Takenaka won in 2015.
He also broke the 2hr 9min barrier, winning in 2:08.59, more than a minute faster than his previous best.
To top it off, Takenaka, who he married earlier this year, finished third in the women’s race to give the pair a husband and wife podium finish.
“My training was very good this year but more than that, I got married in April and the support of my wife Risa Takenaka, really gave me the strength to get here today,” Noguchi said after the race.
Takenaka had a cheeky dig at her husband in the prerace press conference, suggesting she would cross the line first.
But Noguchi said it had been a matter of honour to beat her home.
“We couldn’t have just one Gold Coast Marathon winner in the family,” he joked.
Noguchi and Mungara, who had won the past two Gold Coast titles, made a break from the lead pack about 5km from the finish and staged a thrilling duel to the line.
The pair surged and probed in the final kilometre, before Noguchi tried to make a telling break, only to be immediately countered by the Kenyan barber, who seemed set to win his third consecutive title.
“The last 5km was really hard and I knew Kenneth, I knew who he was and knew he was really tough,” Noguchi said.
“But I told myself, if you’ve come this far, you’re all in, you’ve got to do it and I went for the win.”
When Mungara made what seemed to be his final move, moving ahead as the pair rounded the bend to enter the chute, Noguchi seemed spent but he found a way to respond.
“I knew that was the big move and it was pretty scary but I thought I just had to buckle down and do it and I came back,” he said.
Noguchi became just the sixth Japanese man to win a marathon outside under 2:10 with his effort.
Mungara was second in 2:09.04, with another former Japan breakthrough winner, Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi, third in 2:09.18.
Mungara said he was pleased with his run and still thought that he was a genuine chance of winning as they approached the line.
It was a strong performance for Kawauchi, whose aim yesterday was just to break 2:10 given he will run at the world championships in London in just five weeks.