Skip to main content

Shimahara 3rd in Chicago Marathon

by Brett Larner

The warm conditions and slow early pace at the 2008 Chicago Marathon played straight to the strengths of Second Wind AC's Kiyoko Shimahara, who tied former national record holder Yoko Shibui's 3rd place finish for the best mark ever set by a Japanese woman in Chicago. The extremely slow first half dashed Shimahara's hopes of a PB performance, but she lived up to her reputation as a strong heat runner and powerful finisher by dropping a chase pack which included Beijing Olympics marathon gold medalist Constantina Tomescu-Dita (Romania) and two-time defending champion Berhane Adere (Ethiopia) and overtaking breakaway pack member Bezunesh Bekele (Ethiopia) to take 3rd in 2:30:19. In a post-race interview Shimahara commented,
We started slow, so I gave up on running a PB pretty early on and decided to just go for a good race. I came to Chicago with a lot of confidence and the weather was good [laughing], so even though I couldn't meet my time goal I wanted a good result. I'm very, very happy with placing 3rd and want to thank everyone who helped get me here. It was good.

Team JR Higashi Nihon's Arata Fujiwara was also confident heading into Chicago. Fujiwara said he would be aiming for Toshinari Takaoka's national record of 2:06:16, set in Chicago in 2002. He looked relaxed and enthusiastic before the start and began well, putting himself in the lead pack running just under 2:06 pace and looking comfortable, but just past 5 km he began to drop away and eventually finishing 16th in 2:23:10. An extremely disappointed Fujiwara afterward told reporters,
The pace wasn't something I can't run, but I couldn't run it. I guess that just shows my weakness, and that's hard to face. I couldn't run the way I did in practice. This race was a failure. When I saw the winner's expression I really wanted it to be me. I'll be back to win.

Longtime Japan resident and six-time Chicago top-3 placer Daniel Njenga's poor 2008 season continued as he marked his worst-ever showing in Chicago, finishing 9th in 2:17:33.

Complete results from the Chicago Marathon are available here.

(c) 2008 Brett Larner
all rights reserved
Labels:

Comments

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

Nagoya Asian Games Test Event Canceled After Insulation Falls From Venue Ceiling

A section of insulation material fell from the ceiling of Nagoya Kinjo Futo Arena, the official venue for squash competition at September's Nagoya Asian Games. There were no injuries, but the city suspended use of the arena until its safety could be guaranteed, resulting in the cancelation of the Asian Games squash test event which was scheduled to have begun on May 14. It is not yet clear whether the arena will be usable for the Asian Games as planned. According to city officials, arena staff found that the insulation material had fallen onto a work walkway 13 m above the ground on the night of May 11. The fallen material was 3.6 m long, 50 cm wide and 2.5 km thick, and was found to be waterlogged. The cause of the accident is unknown, but it is possible that it was caused by rainwater leaking in from the roof. The same insulation material is installed across the entire ceiling, and the city plans to check for the extent of the possible flooding. Asked whether the arena will be re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...
3 comments
Read more