Previous Story
Shirato: Red hot in Rota Blue
|
Posted on Dec 02 2004
Professional triathlete Taro Shirato of Japan made a triumphant return to the CNMI, winning the 11th Annual Rota Blue Triathlon last Nov. 20.
Shirato topped a field of 102 participants after crossing the finish line in 4:37:32. It was his first time back in the islands after his stint in the 2003 XTERRA Saipan Championship and the 2003 Tagaman.
A seasoned veteran, Shirato competed in the more challenging B Type course, and he finished about 18 minutes ahead of the second place finisher—fellow countrymen Mikine Yamada (4:55:28), and third place finisher Takahiro Tsunakawa (5:11:25).
The first place finisher of the women’s division was 23-year-old Sachi Nakamura of Japan. Nakamura was the sixth to cross the line overall at 6:00:32. Second place finisher Toshie Takeuchi was a good 15 minutes behind Nakamura, but her 51-year-old legs were some 22 minutes better than third place finisher, 27-year-old Yoshiko Kitamura (6:39:19).
The 37 hardcore veterans who were in search of a real workout chose the B Type course, which included a 2.0-kilometer swim, a 90km bike course, and a 21km run. The 65 racers that opted for the A Type course were required to swim 1.5km, bike 40km, and run 10km to complete the course.
The 65 entrants in the A Type course took the less stressful path to the finish line, but the Olympic distance course was hardly a walk in the park.
Japan’s Noriaki Ito and Hidea Miyazuka took the top two spots, finishing at 2:05:27 and 2:14:26, respectively, but Saipan’s Dirk Sharer spoiled the sweep by taking third with a time of 2:26:22.
The top females all hailed from Japan, as Takeo Kinoshita (3:06:16), Yoko Mineo (3:07:42), and Yumi Nakajima (3:11:48) finished one-two-three.
Other local finishers were Christopher Fryling (2:47:21) and Florian Braig (2:57:36) of Saipan, and Rai Manglona (3:51:25) and Takahashi Yamamoto of Rota (swim only 0:30:16).
This year’s edition of the Blue was sponsored by the Marianas Visitors Authority, Rota Resort & Country Club, Rota Mayor’s Office, and KFC Triathlon Japan, and consisted of two separate events—both including a unique swim, bike, and run course.
