After a good marathon debut off the beaten path at the 2003 Katsuta Marathon, Shimahara had a remarkably consistent run of 2:26 performances from 2004 to 2006. The streak ended with her silver medal performance at the hot 2006 Asian Games, and for the next three years she was more consistently in the 2:30-2:31 range. In August, 2009 Shimahara ran a PB of 2:25:10 at the Hokkaido Marathon, her first sub-2:30 in three years, a new course record, and faster than the winning time at the previous week's World Championships in tougher conditions. In just over 100 days following Hokkaido Shimahara went on to break 2:30 twice more, both in warm weather.
In part one of her interview with JRN Shimahara talked about that fall season, what went right, and the consistent years of training that got her there. In part two she discussed the challenges facing Japan's young women distance runners and what these problems mean for the future.
Personal Bests
5000 m: 15:54.09 (2003) 10000 m: 32:54.03 (2004) half-marathon: 1:10:16 (2006) marathon: 2:25:10 (2009)
Marathon History
2016 Himeji Castle Marathon: 3:03:51, 8th
2015 Osaka International Women's Marathon: DNF
2014 Yokohama International Women's Marathon: 2:51:18, 17th
2014 Nagano Marathon: 2:42:50, 7th
2014 Wan Jin Shi Marathon: 2:46:59, 8th
2013 Osaka Marathon: 2:44:37, 3rd
2012 Osaka International Women's Marathon: 2:29:51, 4th
2011 Osaka Marathon: 2:33:36, 2nd
2011 Hokkaido Marathon: 2:34:26, 2nd
2011 Tokyo Marathon: 2:42:19, 15th
2010 Guangzhou Asian Games Marathon: 2:32:11, 5th
2010 Nagano Marathon: 2:34:46, 4th
2009 Honolulu Marathon: 2:29:53, 2nd
2009 Yokohama International Women's Marathon: 2:28:51, 1st
2009 Hokkaido Marathon: 2:25:10, 1st - CR, PB
2009 Tokyo Marathon: 2:31:57, 6th
2008 Honolulu Marathon: 2:32:36, 1st
2008 Chicago Marathon: 2:30:19, 3rd
2008 Nagoya International Women's Marathon: 2:30:30, 11th
2007 Shanghai Marathon: 2:35:41, 2nd
2007 Osaka World Championships Marathon: 2:31:40, 6th
2007 London Marathon: DNF
2006 Doha Asian Games Marathon: 2:30:34, 2nd
2006 Boston Marathon: 2:26:52, 5th
2006 Osaka International Women's Marathon: 2:26:47, 3rd
2005 Hokkaido Marathon: 2:26:14, 2nd
2004 Tokyo International Women's Marathon: 2:26:43, 2nd
2003 Tokyo International Women's Marathon: 2:31:10, 3rd
2003 Katsuta Marathon: 2:28:17, 1st - CR, debut
Other Major Results
2009 Osaka Half Marathon: 1st
2000 Shanghai International Half Marathon: 1st
Hobbies
shopping
Interests
nature
© 2010 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
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