Ali Thameem
One of the great female athletes of Maldives, Shamha Ahmed, has added the 10km run to her list of national bests, making it five long-distance records, at the age of 43.
Speaking to Sidibari, Shamha spoke of her aspirations in breaking national records, the challenges of travelling for races, the weather conditions in Deutschland, and receiving loud applause at the Hamburg stadium.
The Olympian, who now lives in Germany, set the new women’s 10km record at the Hamburg Night of the Tens this Saturday. Shamha reached the finish line in 40:41.83, lowering the 10k national record by 6.79 seconds. The previous record of 40:48.62, set by Maryam Abdul Kareem in 2019, stood for almost six years.
“The race I ran in Hamburg, I had been preparing for it for about four months. It is hard to find a 10,000-metre race in Germany. It is very rare to find a 10k race just for women,” she said.
“So, I travelled for about six hours to catch the starting line. The race started at 7pm and I arrived in Hamburg just hours earlier. To be honest, it is not easy at all to run a race like this.” She said heat was a factor. “Had the temperature been lower, like at 14 or 15 degrees, I could have run a different time.”
In three years, Shamha has broken Maldivian national records in the 5km road, 15km, half marathon, and marathon, in addition to the new 10km record.
Three years ago, Shamha broke the half marathon record twice in four months, first with 1:27:25 at the Oslo Marathon in September 2022, then improving it to 1:26:42 at the Dhaka Marathon in January 2023.
“I am very happy that Germany’s half-marathon champion Esther Pfeiffer also ran the race. This is a run she needed to qualify for the World Championships. But she ran two rounds and decided to stop, because she was not keeping up with the time she wanted. But I thought to myself, ‘no, I will not stop. I will run.’ But I admit, it was hard to run 25 rounds in an oval, and lots of thoughts did enter my mind…. to keep up with the pace.”
Shamha said the commentators knew she was aiming for the national record. “The stadium kind of applauded for me. I almost broke down crying. The stadium was very, very supportive.”
In May 2024, she ran 19:42.25 in Grefrath to improve the women’s 5km road record previously held by Aminath Jaaisha Juneez.
Before took on the long distances, Shamha was one of the fastest at short distance runs as well. She held the women’s 100m national record for 21 years before Himna Hassan broke it at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“When they announced this race four months ago, they had set an earlier time of the day to start the race,” she said. “I covered my own expenses travelling to Hamburg. The expenses are quite high, booking hotels… Hamburg is an expensive city. So, just to not have to purchase another train ticket, I did not wait for the awarding ceremony. I just took a taxi and headed to the station. Caught the train just in time.”
She also credited her coach, Nasru. “I am so happy to have such a great coach. It’s almost three years since I started working with Nasru. The guidance he gives, and the way he handles the athlete… I’ll say he is very professional.”
Shamha admitted Saturday was a challenging day. “Just to even think about travelling that far… one needs to be really strong mentally to run these races. The fitness level will not be steady all the time, so I always thought of breaking as many records as I can with the level of fitness I have. And, God-willing, I am aiming for a new record in September. I know it is extremely challenging. But I say to myself, ‘I can do this, God-willing.’”
“My life now, for the most part, is still about running. I do not concentrate on much else.” Whether or not she breaks that record in September, the veteran runner has not only set the benchmark in so many races, but she continues to be a role-model for the up-and-coming athletes back home in Maldives.
