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Mara Yamauchi starts among the pre-race favourites at the New York Half Marathon
IN preparation for the Virgin London Marathon on April 25, Olympic sixth placer Mara Yamauchi takes on a strong field at the New York Half-Marathon on March 21, which will act as her final tune-up prior to the London Marathon.
Yamauchi missed the World Championships in Berlin with a foot injury but the 36-year-old made a return to competitive action in February, placing sixth in the Marugame Half-Marathon in 70:46 before winning the hilly Ohme 30km in 1:43:24.
In an interview with Universal Sports, Yamauchi said: “My training since then has gone really well, so I'm hoping that on Sunday and then again next month in London I can produce good performances.
“New York will be my last race before the marathon so in some sense it's the tune up for the marathon, an opportunity to see how my form is doing and what more I need to work on in the five weeks remaining until London.
“In terms of time, I would really like to break 70 minutes. I think this course is tougher than the one I just did in Japan. I would like to get us far under 70 minutes as possible, and obviously I would like to win the race.”
The Olympic sixth placer from Beijing will face former London Marathon champion Deena Kastor, as well as Mexico’s Madai Perez who is returning from maternity leave, as well as Japan’s Kiyoko Shimihara.
Race director Mary Wittenberg is confident of a keenly contested race: “The women’s line-up is now jam-packed with some of the world’s greatest runners including American veteran Deena and international stars like Mara, Kiyoko, and Madai,” said Wittenberg. “The race will only up the intrigue leading into the spring marathons.”
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