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Mizuho Nasukawa ( ja, 那須川 瑞穂; born 22 November 1979) is a female Japanese former long-distance runner. She won the
Tokyo Marathon The is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on . It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro. H ...
in 2009 in a personal best of 2:25:38 hours. She represented Japan at the
IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...
in 2000 and was also twice a medallist at the
Asian Athletics Championships The Asian Athletics Championships is an event organized by the Asian Athletics Association. History The competition courted controversy with the IAAF when political in-fighting arose after Israel was excluded from participation in 1977. That e ...
.


Career

From
Ōshū, Iwate is a city located in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 114,620 and a population density of 120 persons per km² in 45,728 households. The total area of the city is . Ōshū is famous for its Maesawa Beef, numero ...
, she attended high school in Iwate Prefecture and took up running there.花巻南高出・マラソンの那須川引退 16年レース最後に
. Iwate News (2017-01-25). Retrieved 2018-01-29.
She gained international selection for the 2000 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and was the team's best performer in 50th place in the short race. Following graduation from high school, she joined a corporate team, training under Yoshio Koide at Sekisui Chemical. She later moved to run for Aruze (now
Universal Entertainment Corporation formerly known as and Universal, is a Japanese manufacturer of pachinko, slot machines, arcade games and other gaming products, and a publisher of video games. Aruze possesses licenses to both manufacture and distribute casino machines in the ...
). She won the 3.3 km leg at the All-Japan Women's Corporate Ekiden Championships in both 2000 and 2001.Mizuho Nasukawa
Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
Nasukawa had her first international success at the
2002 Asian Athletics Championships The 14th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 9–12 August 2002. Results Men Women Medal table See also *2002 in athletics (track and field) ReferencesMedalists at GBR Athletics1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...
and 5000 metres. She represented Asia at the
2002 IAAF World Cup The 9th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was hosted by Madrid, September 21–22, 2002, in the Estadio La Peineta. The IAAF wo ...
in the 3000 metres, but finished last in her race. She shifted into longer-distance
road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ...
and set a
half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...
best of 1:11:58 hours in Kobe in 2003, taking third place. She enjoyed a successful marathon debut at the 2004 Osaka Women's Marathon, finishing in fourth place with 2:29:49 hours. She dropped to eighth place on her return to the race in 2005, however. She ranked highly on the track at the
Japanese National Games The is the national premier sports event of Japan. It consists of three stages. The skating and ice hockey stage takes place in January, the skiing stage takes place in February, and the main Autumn tournament takes place in September and Octob ...
, placing in the top three over 5000 m in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008. A career breakthrough came at the 2009
Tokyo Marathon The is an annual marathon sporting event in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. It is a World Athletics Platinum Label marathon and one of the six World Marathon Majors. The latest edition of the race took place on . It is sponsored by Tokyo Metro. H ...
, which she won in a lifetime best of 2:25:38 hours. She stuck to the longer distance, but managed only seventh at the
Hokkaido Marathon The Hokkaido Marathon held in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan, is one of the prominent marathon races of the year. The staging area as well as both the start and finish lines are in Odori Park starting between Nishi 3-chome and Nishi 4-chome and the fi ...
(2:34:17). An improved performance came at the 2009 Chicago Marathon, where her finish in 2:29:22 hours brought her fifth place. Continuing mixed fortunes, Nasukawa was out of the top twenty in her attempted defence at the Tokyo Marathon, but took third at that year's Hokkaido Marathon. She was scheduled to run the Nagoya Women's Marathon to attempt to make the Japanese national team, but the race was called off following the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...
. Her hometown Oshu was badly affected and an old training partner of hers was killed alongside her daughter. Though deeply affected, Nasukawa vowed to run at the 2011 London Marathon, which had offered to host the national selection race.Mizuho Nasukawa: London marathon is best way to remember dead friend
''The Guardian'' (2011-04-15). Retrieved 2018-01-29.
In London she placed 18th overall in a time of 2:30:00 hours and did not make the Japanese Olympic team. She gave strong performances in 2012, running 2:28:44 hours for twelfth at the Nagoya Marathon, winning the Rock 'n' Roll Denver Marathon, and being runner-up to Lydia Cheromei at the Yokohama Women's Marathon with 2:26:42 hours (the second fastest of her career). Good form continued with a run of 2:30:27 for fourth at the 2013 Yokohama race. Nasukawa's career wound down thereafter. She won the 2015 low-profile Boulder Backroads Marathon, was down in 37th at the 2016 Nagoya Marathon, before finally calling time on her professional career with a time of 2:33:16 for fifth at the Saitami Women's Marathon.


International competitions


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nasukawa, Mizuho Living people 1979 births People from Ōshū, Iwate Sportspeople from Iwate Prefecture Japanese female marathon runners Japanese female long-distance runners Tokyo Marathon female winners