Olympic marathon champion Naoko Takahashi broke another record Sunday, when she set a new Japanese best in the women's 30-km road race at the annual Ome "marathon" races in western Tokyo.
The pint-sized Gifu native clocked 1 hour, 41 minutes, 57 seconds in her second official race since setting an Olympic record at the Sydney Games last September as she safely negotiated a field of some 15,000 "fun" runners.
Takahashi, known as "Q-chan," was cheered on by thousands of fans lining the roadside. She shaved 1.29 minutes off the previous national 30-km mark, set by Eriko Asai in 1991.