Skip to main content

Shimahara and Yoshida Top Honolulu Marathon

by Brett Larner

Kiyoko Shimahara wins the 2008 Honolulu Marathon

Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC), who finished 3rd in October's Chicago Marathon behind defending Honolulu Marathon champion Alevtina Biktimirova (Russia), came back to score her first marathon victory since her debut in the 2003 Katsuta Marathon, running 2:32:36 to defeat Biktimirova in the 2008 Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 14.

Running in conditions of heavy rain, Shimahara, an athlete with a proven track record in hot races, took the lead just past 34 km and never relented. Her teammate Kaori Yoshida, winner of October's Casablanca Marathon, ran as pacemaker but hung on for 2nd place in 2:34:35. Japanese runners also took 7th through 10th in the women's division and 7th and 9th in the men's division.

Two-time Olympian and three-time World Championships national team member Megumi Oshima ran as an independent after having recently quit her position with Team Shimamura, finishing 8th in 2:57:44. Two-time defending Mt. Fuji Mountain Race champion Yuri Kambara was 14th in 3:10:22. Former Tokyo International Women's Marathon winner Mari Tanigawa jogged the race in 4:24:37 after having skipped the final edition of Tokyo last month.

Complete results for the 2008 Honolulu Marathon are available here.

2008 Honolulu Marathon - Top Finishers
Women
1. Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC) - 2:32:36
2. Kaori Yoshida (Second Wind AC) - 2:34:35
3. Alice Timbilili (Kenya) - 2:37:31
4. Olesya Nurgalieva (Russia) - 2:39:13
5. Alevtina Biktimirova (Russia) - 2:45:06
6. Elena Nurgalieva (Russia) - 2:48:15
7. Sayaka Maeda (Japan) - 2:54:55
8. Megumi Oshima (Japan) - 2:57:44
9. Yumiko Daigo (Japan) - 3:01:03
10. Takako Oi (Japan) - 3:04:00

Men
1. Patrick Ivuti (Kenya) - 2:14:35
2. Stephen Njoroge (Kenya) - 2:17:41
3. Pius Muasa Mutuku (Kenya) - 2:17:51
4. Joseph Mutiso (Kenya) - 2:19:35
5. Jimmy Muindi (Kenya) - 2:21:43
6. Andrew Letherby (Australia) - 2:25:32
7. Koichi Fujino (Japan) - 2:27:56
8. Samuel Mwangi (Kenya) - 2:28:09
9. Shuichi Ito (Japan) - 2:29:55
10. Nailu Nigussie (Ethiopia) - 2:30:32

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
oh my goodness megumi oshima sucks! She used to be so good. She ran 2:24 and finish second to reiko tosa in the 2004 nagoya marathon. This is probably the end of her career.
December 16, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

World Marathon Majors Japanese Entries

We're back from a short summer break. A week and a half out from the first race of the season's four World Marathon Majors races, here's a look at Japanese athletes scheduled to run. Everything right now is about qualifying for the MGC Race, the official trials race for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics to be held in the fall of 2027 in Nagoya. The JAAF makes no mistake about wanting to keep its top people racing domestically where it can get a share of revenue from the TV broadcast and race operations, so anyone who decides to race overseas has to do it in a WA platinum label race and hit either 2:06:30 or 2:23:30, regardless of place, course or weather if they want to make the trials. At the same time concessions are make for domestic races, like for example the late-August Hokkaido Marathon where up to 3 men and 3 women can qualify if they go 2:12:00 or 2:32:00. As a result, you get things like last year where amateur runner Yudai Fukuda made the trials by finishing 3rd Jap...
1 comment
Read more

Nat'l University Ekiden Updates Here

Looks like I just went over my update limit on Twitter - sorry, it's the first time I've tried to use it for this. I'll look for another option next time. In the meantime I'll add updates to the comments below. Not sure if that has a max too but I guess we'll find out. Update: Part one of the Nationals commentary can be found here .
77 comments
Read more