Naoko Takahashi ran in her first race since winning the gold medal in the women's marathon at last fall's Sydney Games, but could only manage an eighth-place finish Sunday at the Marugame Women's Half-Marathon.
Takahashi, who has been suffering from a niggling injury in her right knee, dropped out of the lead pack at the 6-km mark before crossing the finish line at Marugame stadium with a time of 1 hour, 12 minutes, 40.08 seconds.
"It's only four or five days ago that I started training and my coach set a target of one kilometer every four minutes and told me not to overdo it and risk injuring myself again," Takahashi said after the race.
Ikumi Nagayama won in a race-record time of 1:09.28.