Course record for Kirwa at Nagoya Marathon

Eunice Kirwa wins the Nagoya Marathon. [PHOTO: IAAF]

Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa won the Nagoya Women's Marathon on Sunday in 2:22:08, the fastest time in the history of the race.

Kirwa, who now runs for Bahrain, surged away from Mariya Konovalova and Sairi Maeda after 31km and held on to claim the honours.

The course was changed in 2010 when the race went from being an elite-only to a mass-participation event, but Kirwa's winning time was faster than the previous course record of 2:22:19, recorded 15 years ago by 2000 Olympic champion Naoko Takahashi.

"I did not expect to run such a fast time," said Kirwa after recording the second-fastest performance of her career and extending her winning streak to four marathons. "I was thinking of a time around 2:23, so I am satisfied with my time. I always wanted to run the Nagoya Women's Marathon, so I am happy to win the race today."

Finishing second in 2:22:27 was 40-year-old Mariya Konovalova of Russia. Before the race, the fastest marathon by a woman older than 40 was 2:24:54 by Irina Mikitenko at the 2013 Berlin Marathon. Konovalova improved on that mark by more than two minutes. Konovalova, a world finalist over 5,000m 20 years ago, had a previous PB of 2:22:46.

Placing third overall – and, more importantly, finishing as the top Japanese woman – was Sairi Maeda. Running just the second marathon of her career, Maeda improved her personal best by nearly four minutes from 2:26:46 to 2:22:48, moving to eighth on the national all-time list with the fastest performance by a Japanese woman since 2007.

Japan has a new marathon star, but Maeda's real test may be her next marathon, which is likely to be at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing.

Maeda collided with Rei Ohara at the 15km water station and bruised her left knee, but she got up and quickly caught up with the lead pack.

When Kirwa surged ahead at 31km, Maeda was left behind. She slowed and her next two 5km segments took more than 17 minutes, but she kept the deceleration at a minimum.