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Kiyoko Shimahara on Failure, Success and Sunday's Nagano Marathon

The friendliest person in Japanese marathoning, Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC) is the favorite for Sunday's Nagano Marathon. The course record holder at the Hokkaido and Katsuta marathons, she won a silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games and finished 6th in the 2007 Osaka World Championships marathon.

Shimahara sat down with JRN recently during her buildup to Nagano to talk about last fall's remarkable season where she ran a PB of 2:25:10 and two other sub-2:30 marathons in just over 100 days, about her views on racing internationally and domestically, and the problems facing young Japanese women in distance running.

It's an interview in turns funny, insightful and scathing, and it's available only through JRNPremium. Click here to subscribe to read it and other first-rate interviews with the top people in Japanese distance running. If you're already a subscriber, click here to log in.

photo (c) 2009 Mika Tokairin
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