Marathon News - Olympic Champion Noguchi to Run Berlin Marathon

May-20-2006

Olympic Champion Noguchi to Run Berlin Marathon
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

Organizers of the real,- Berlin Marathon announced today that Olympic
marathon champion, Mizuki Noguchi of Japan, had committed to their race.

"We are happy that we were able to sign the Olympic Champion and last year's
winner for a second time," said race director Mark Milde in a press release.

Noguchi, 27, won the Olympic Marathon gold medal in scorching heat in Athens
in 2004. She ran Berlin last September in her first marathon after her
Athens triumph, setting a course record of 2:19:12 and becoming the
third-fastest woman of all-time.

"We can expect another high performance and we'll hopefully have another
winning time of sub 2:20 hours," Milde added.

Fueled by television revenues from Japanese broadcasters, the real,- Berlin
Marathon has led Western marathons in recruiting Japanese athletes,
especially women. Japanese women have won in Berlin the last six years in a
row, and have broken the 2:20 barrier three times: Naoko Takahashi, 2:19:46
(2001); Yoko Shibui, 2:19:41 (2004); and Noguchi last year.

Noguchi will have her first opportunity to earn points in the World Marathon
Majors series when she lines up in Berlin on Sunday, September 24. The
winners of the two-year series will share a $1 million jackpot which will be
awarded after the 2007 ING New York City Marathon, the last race in the
series.