Alevtina Ivanova (Russian:Алевтина Иванова) (born 22 May 1975) is a Russianlong-distance runner who specialises in themarathon. She has won at thePrague International Marathon (in 2002) and theNagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon (in 2007 and 2008). Ivanova has competed much on theroad running circuit in theUnited States and has won theBeach to Beacon 10K,Crim 10-Mile Race,News and Sentinel Half Marathon andAmerica's Finest City Half Marathon.
She has represented Russia internationally incross country running: she was the best-performingEuropean in the short race at the2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and took part in the2006 European Cross Country Championships. In addition to professional competition, she has acted as apacemaker in major marathons inJapan.
She made her debut over the classic distance in 2002 at thePrague International Marathon and she won, finishing in a time of 2:32:24.[1] She improved her time further at theAmsterdam Marathon in October, where she ran 2:30:25 for sixth place, and then she took third place at theHonolulu Marathon. The following year she took part in theNagano Olympic Commemorative Marathon for the first time and finished in second place behind compatriotMadina Biktagirova with a personal best time of 2:29:05.[2] She also ran in theDublin Marathon (taking fourth) and returned to Honolulu where she improved to second place. At thePark Forest Scenic 10 inIllinois,United States, she ran a course record of 53:18 to win the 10-mile (16 km) competition.[3]
In 2004, Ivanova ran at the Nagano Marathon for a second time, finishing fourth on this occasion. She started a tour of the United States and ran in a succession of races in August. She started with a third-place finish at theBeach to Beacon race,[4] scored a victory in the 7-mile (11 km)Falmouth Road Race the following week,[5] won at theAmerica's Finest City Half Marathon the next weekend,[6] and then beat all comers at theNews and Sentinel Half Marathon inParkersburg, West Virginia a week later.[7] She closed the year with a fourth-place finish at the Honolulu Marathon.
She won the Russiancross country running championships at the start of 2005 and entered the short race at the2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.[8] She placed tenth in the race – the best performance by an athlete outside of the dominant teams ofKenya andEthiopia.[9] A return to the Beach to Beacon race saw her finish as runner-up toLornah Kiplagat.[10] Ivanova was eighth at theVirginia Beach Half Marathon.[11] She was employed as thepacemaker for the 2005Tokyo International Women's Marathon and led the race up to the 25 km point.[12] She again ran in Honolulu and reached the podium by taking third place.
At the start of 2006, she set a course record at theUptown Run inDallas, Texas, winning the 8 km race in a time of 25:16.[13] She set a number of bests from 15 km to 25 km at theNagoya Women's Marathon, although she failed to finish the race.[8] In her third attempt at the Beach to Beacon Race she beatEdna Kiplagat to win the title of the 10K competition.[14] She also won the News and Sentinel Half Marathon for a second time in August 2006,[7] and also took the title at theCrim 10-Mile Race inFlint, Michigan that month.[15] At the end of the year she represented Russia at the2006 European Cross Country Championships, where she was sixteenth and helped the Russia women's team to fourth place along withMariya Konovalova. She acted as the pacemaker for the Tokyo Women's Marathon in November and she set an unofficial best of 1:10:53 over thehalf marathon distance.[16]
She won the 2007 Nagano Marathon, building up a large lead in the final stages to score a personal best of 2:27:49, as well as a win overDire Tune, among others.[17] Ivanova competed inIndia for the first time at theDelhi Half Marathon and she finished in eighth place.[18] The following year's Nagano Marathon brought even further improvement for the Russian as she not only defended her title, but knocked over a minute off her best with a run of 2:26:39.[19]
Ivanova led the 2009Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon for much of the race, but she was eventually overhauled byCaroline Rotich.[20] She managed to finish as runner-up toHelena Kirop at the 2010 Prague Marathon, running one of her fastest times with 2:27:36.[21] She was sixth at theYokohama Women's Marathon in her first race of 2011.[22] She won theSaint Petersburg Marathon in June then returned to Yokohama for its new November timing, but was outside of the top ten. She returned to the podium at theSan Diego Marathon in June 2012, winning the race in a time of 2:27:44 hours.[23]
| Event | Time (h:m:s) | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 km | 31:26 | Cape Elizabeth, Maine, United States | 5 August 2006 |
| Half marathon | 1:11:08 | Nagoya, Japan | 12 March 2006 |
| Marathon | 2:26:38 | Nagano, Japan | 20 April 2008 |
