31-Jan-1999 – Osaka Women’s Marathon – 2:23:24 – New Balance RC150
Date of birth: 4-Sep-1973
Nationality: Romanian
The athlete:
Lidia Șimon made her international marathon debut at the 1991 London Marathon, and continued to focus on the distance with increasingly strong results. Arguably the first major highlight was second at the 1995 World Marathon Cup, less than one minute behind the winner.
Her 1997 season would prove to be even more successful with podium places at the Osaka Women’s Marathon, the IAAF World Championships, and the London Marathon. She would take her first major international marathon win the next year at the 1998 Osaka Women’s Marathon in a closely fought competition.
She returned to defend her title in 1999, but this time faced the ascendant Tegla Loroupe who had just set the outright women’s marathon world record. As expected, Loroupe would prove to be Șimon’s main competition and only 22 seconds separated them by the finish, Șimon however proving victorious.
Her winning time of 2:23:24 is considered to be the women’s only marathon world record by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) as they claim that the course Naoko Takahashi ran on to win the 1998 Asian Games was not of record quality, even though World Athletics referred to it in reporting as the new women’s only marathon world record. I’ve reached out to organisers of the Asian Games to confirm how the course was certified. Given the expertise of the ARRS, I cannot ignore this distinction and on this basis have included the time set by Șimon.
She would go on to battle Takahashi on the world stage at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, leading until the 25km mark having left the rest of the field behind except for Takahashi. At 35km Șimon had fallen behind slightly, but could not hold on and despite finishing strongly had to settle for second.
Her next major marathon victory came at the 2001 IAAF World Championships, where she outsprinted Reiko Tosa to win, Șimon unsure if she would take victory until the final 100 metres. Although still securing more podiums at major marathons, including further Olympic appearances, she would not be able to recapture the pace she demonstrated during this period before her retirement in 2014.
The shoes:
Footage of the race itself show Șimon ran in the minimalist New Balance RC150, designed for elite distance racing. As the name suggested, it was designed for extreme lightweight and each shoe came in at 150 grams. It also took design cues from New Balance racing shoes of the seventies, and was similarly focussed. One review at the time noted the RC150 was firmer and more responsive than the similarly ultralight Adidas Mangostin, reinforcing the fact the model was really only meant for elite runners like Șimon.
Only ASICS with their Sortie series and Adidas with the aforementioned Mangostin could undercut the RC150 in terms of sheer weight, the Sortie hovering around 100 grams while the Mangostin came in at 130 grams. For the same weight there was also the Nike Air Streak Vapor, which weighed the same 150 grams as the RC150 while having air cushioning in the forefoot and rearfoot. Loroupe, who competed in many races with Șimon, preferred the Air Streak Vengeance which weighed 165 grams.
References:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidia_%C8%98imon
https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/gear/shoes/a760302/adidas-mangostin-pound69-99/
https://more.arrs.run/runner/1733
https://worldathletics.org/news/report/osaka-marathon-lidia-simons-hat-trick-1
https://worldathletics.org/news/report/womens-marathon
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/romania-s-simon-takes-last-step-up-marathon-podium-1.296372
https://youtu.be/lEPhPKA0Q98
https://x.com/F_shokai_RC/
https://www.sdrunnersshop.com/blogs/blog/retro-ad-january-1977-new-balance
https://twitter.com/toyamastarchild
https://bansyakurunner.xyz/2020/02/10/