Masashi Shirotake wins Charlotte’s Thunder Road Marathon

A familiar face led the field of 922 runners who participated in Saturday’s Thunder Road Marathon. Last year’s winner, Masashi Shirotake, again took first place overall, this time finishing the 26.2-mile race in just 2 hours, 27 minutes, 57 seconds. The fastest female finisher was Lucy Rogers, with a time of 3:10:11.

While Shirotake improved on his time from a year ago by more than three minutes, he said Saturday’s time was actually a few minutes slower than his time of 2:22:37 in last week’s Outer Banks Marathon. He led the way by maintaining a pace of 5:39 per mile on a course that started and ended in Romare Bearden Park after taking runners around the city. Shirotake, who has been running in marathons for roughly a decade – and has lost count of how many he has participated in – said one of the best parts of Saturday’s race was running alongside friends from the Charlotte running community.

“It’s very exciting,” he said. “I have a lot of friends here, and many friends here cheering for me, so this is a very exciting race for me.”

For Rogers, who ran cross country collegiately for Davidson College, it was her fifth marathon but first time participating in the Thunder Road race. While Saturday’s race did not mark a personal best for her, she said it was her first time leading the women’s field in a marathon. Like Shirotake, she cited the benefit of competing alongside her friends.

“It just makes it a little more fun,” Rogers said. “When you’re struggling, they help keep your spirits up.”

In addition to being one of the top annual running events in Charlotte, the Thunder Road Marathon also serves as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. Shirotake said he does not plan to run in this year’s Boston Marathon, but Rogers, who has participated in that race twice, said she is considering doing so again.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Masashi Shirotake wins Charlotte’s Thunder Road Marathon."