Aliphine unfortunately dropped due to hip injury. Sally has fallen back from the leaders.

..just short of 20K, along with three Kenyan and a whole bunch of other competitors.

Race will be as much about how one's body holds up as anything else.

Hanging in with WR holder and World Champ.

Smart running in the shade as much as possible.

Wish Dez Linden had made the 3rd spot...she's made for tough conditions and would be lurking right now....

Huddle had some equipment issues and Des just couldn’t break into the top three. I love Ali (she is lovely and I bought one of her hats) but I wonder if she should be declined due to the short training and let Des take her place.

There really are no "minor" hip injuries and, sure enough, that took the toll on her. Des does well in extreme conditions.

Still, maybe Ali thought she could persevere and run through it. As Molly said, these things (Olympics) only come around so often and you want to strike while you can.

Sally and Molly are holding up well so far. Still doesn’t seem like there is much here to deal with this heat despite pulling the time up.

Also nice to see some fans outside despite the recommendation not to watch given how marathon crazy the Japanese are. Also loving this course, beautiful tour of the city with some good inclines.