Skip to main content

"The Things You Can Only Learn From Firsthand Experience" - Kiyoko Shimahara on What Needs to Change for Japanese Women

Part two of JRN's exclusive interview with Hokkaido Marathon course record holder, 2008 Honolulu Marathon winner and 2010 Asian Games Japanese national team member Kiyoko Shimahara (Second Wind AC) is now available in our JRNPremium subscription series. Shimahara talked to JRN shortly before her recent run at the Nagano Marathon about her training, life in Albuquerque, the flaws in the Japanese corporate team system and the Japanese national team selection process. It's a great read and one available only to subscribers. To subscribe, click here. Subscribers click here to log in.

Upcoming issues:

May: Japan's first Kenyan high school runner Stephen Mayaka, now a Japanese citizen and head coach of Sozo Gakuen University's ekiden team, in a solid gold one-on-one.

June: One half of the partnership responsible for discovering and bringing Kenyans including Samuel Wanjiru to Japan, Tsutomu Akiyama looks back on what his work has accomplished.

July: At the peak of the summer Hakone Ekiden training camp season, former Josai University runner Eiji Kobayashi talks in detail about the kind of hell young Japanese men put themselves through for the chance of touching the Hakone dream.

August: Japanese marathoning's greatest anti-hero Takeyuki Nakayama shows that time doesn't cool all anger.

February and March's issues included exclusive pre- and post-Tokyo Marathon interviews with marathoner Arata Fujiwara. A subscription gets you access to all these and additional interviews forthcoming later this year. Don't miss them.

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Chepkirui Over Sato Again to Win 2nd-Straight Nagoya Women's Marathon, Chen Breaks Malaysian NR (updated)

This year's Nagoya Women's Marathon felt like a changing of the guard, with some the bigger domestic names over the last few years fading early and a lot of newer faces stepping up with quality debuts or second marathons. The front group was set to be paced for 2:20 flat with the 2nd group at 2:23:30 to hit the auto-qualifying time for the 2027 MGC Race, Japan's L.A. Olympics marathon trials race in Nagoya. Up front things went out OK, but after a 33:10 split at 10 km Ayuko Suzuki , 2:21:22 here 2 years ago, lost touch, ultimately finishing 23rd in 2:33:28. Windy conditions started to play with pacers' ability to keep things steady and the pace slowed majorly over the next 10 km, but even with a 34:05 second 10 km there were big-name casualties. 2024 Nagoya winner Yuka Ando was next to drop, ending up 17th in 2:30:32. NR holder Honami Maeda was next, followed quickly by Bahraini Kenyan Eunice Chumba and debuting Wakana Kabasawa . Maeda faded to 21st in 2:31:21, whil...

Nagoya Women's Marathon Preview and Streaming (updated)

Japan's winter marathon season of 6 major races in 7-straight weekends wraps up Sunday with the world's largest women-only marathon, the Nagoya Women's Marathon . The weather is looking pretty good, 6˚ at the start rising to 10˚ by the finish and sunny skies, but a moderate 7 m/s NW wind means a headwind finish that might impact the potential for some fast times. Official streaming kicks off at 9:00 a.m. local time. Live results will be here . Sheila Chepkirui won last year in 2:20:40, breaking away from Sayaka Sato and Eunice Chebichii Chumba at 30 km and hanging on for the win. Sato negative split a 2:20:59 PB for 2nd, Chumba fading to 3rd in 2:21:36. All 3 are back this time, but they have pretty serious competition from Aynalem Desta , 2:17:37 in Amsterdam last fall, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich , 2:20:03 in Barcelona 2023. And of course, Japanese NR holder Honami Maeda . Maeda ran 2:18:59 at the Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2024 to make the Paris Oly...