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Shirato pledges to return in April
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Posted on Nov 24 2005
ROTA—Hours after besting a field of 70 triathletes to take the tape in the 12th Annual Rota Blue Triathlon, Japanese multisport celebrity Taro Shirato vowed to return to the CNMI in April to compete in the 2006 XTERRA Saipan Championship and the 17th Tagaman Triathlon.
“Of course I’ll be back! Saipan is my second hometown. I have to come back to do the XTERRA and Tagaman,” he said.
The announcement comes as good news for the organizers of both events as they look to attract as many participants as possible to two of the premier races in the region. Shirato explained some of the advantages that Rota has that lured him and his friends back year after year.
“It was beautiful. I think Rota is a perfect place. Not too many amenities, not too many restaurants, not too many shops, but everything is on! It’s got a beautiful ocean, nice people—friendly people. We had a really great time,” he said.
The 38-year-old professional triathlete zoomed through the 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-km bike, and 10-km run course in the Commonwealth’s southernmost link in the Marianas chain in an amazingly swift 2:11:35, and shows no signs of slowing down as he continues racing next month to the west of the CNMI.
“I have a small race in the Philippines next month and maybe I will go to Ironman Malaysia. I’m getting old but still going hard,” he said.
The veteran of the international triathlon scene was the first out of the water after completing the nearly one mile open water loop in 21:52, and raced through roughly 25-mile bike course with unequalled speed in 1:05:46, before crossing the finish line at the Rota Roundhouse with the second fastest six-mile run time of 43:57.
