Shamha, breaks own record at Maldives marathon

Shamha Ahmed has set a new marathon record a week after breaking the Maldivian half marathon record at the Oslo Marathon.

Shamha who competed in the Berlin Marathon, went far beyond the record set by Mariyam Abdul Kareem (Mary). Shamha finished the race about 20 minutes earlier than Mary, who finished the marathon at 3:21:54 (3 hours and 21 minutes 54 seconds) at the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal. Shamha finished the race in Berlin in 3:02:41 (3 hours and two minutes 41 seconds).

Mary had competed in the Berlin Marathon, finishing sooner than she did at the South Asian Games. Her finishing time today is 3:15:18 (3 hours and 15 minutes 18 seconds).

Former number one athlete in sprint races in Maldives, Shamha has been dedicated to long distance runs since 2014. She has since broken three records in addition to a half marathon record at the Oslo Marathon last Saturday, which are 20 kilometers, 15 kilometers and 10 kilometers. All the records were previously held by fitness trainer Mary until Saturday.

Mary set the records in the half marathon category at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in January.

Shamha finished the half marathon race within 1:27:51 (1 hour 27 minutes and 51 seconds). Mary finished the race at Ras Al Khaimah at 1:30:46. Shamha's half marathon record was first announced by the Athletics Association on Saturday. However, the association later revealed her other three records have also been listed as national records. Shamha finished the 20 kilometer race at 1:22:40. Mary had a record of the event at 1:28:11 at Ras Al Khaimah.

Shamha, who lives in Germany, is training in accordance with the program given by experienced marathon runner and coach Nasrullah Ahmed (Nasr).

Nasr completed his 84th Marathon in Berlin. He completed the marathon within three hours and two minutes. Isar Rishmi, who is undergoing training as Nasr's coach, also finished the race within 3 hours and 20 minutes. Ahmed Naseer finished the race within 3 hours and 30 minutes. MP Ilyas Labeeb also completed the marathon within four hours.

Nasru will also compete in the Cologne Marathon, another German city, on the second of next month. He said the target is to complete the marathon within four hours. Nasru had finished the Oslo Marathon under four hours on Saturday.