Skip to main content

2-Time Olympic Medalist Wainaina Wins Lake Saroma 100 km Ultra in Kenyan National Record Time

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=spo_30&k=2010062700268
http://www.hokkaido-np.co.jp/news/sports/238878.html
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/sports/other/100627/oth1006272249014-n1.htm

translated and edited by Brett Larner

In his first attempt at the distance, two-time Olympic marathon medalist Erick Wainaina (Kenya) won the 25th anniversary Lake Saroma 100 km ultramarathon in Hokkaido on June 27. Wainaina, the 1996 Olympic marathon bronze medalist and 2000 silver medalist, covered the certified course in a time of 6:39:52, with runner-up Noriyuki Araki (Wings AC) a short distance behind in 6:41:07. Tokyo-based Emi Matsushita, formerly Emi Iwasaki, took her second-straight and third-ever women's Saroma title with a time of 7:49:31.

Between the 50 km and 100 km divisions 3656 runners started the race. With temperatures reaching 30 degrees, only 1949 were able to complete their distance.

Translator's note: This is genuinely surprising news. Based on what I've been able to track down Wainaina's time is a world leader for 2010 and seems to be a new Kenyan national record. The former national record appears to have been 8:37:15 by Andrew Tumo in 1990. The second newspaper article linked above has a photo of Wainaina at the finish line.

Comments

TokyoRacer said…
Ummm...that's 10 40-minute 10Ks. In 30C/86F heat.
Or 2:48 marathon pace x 2.36.

Looking at the list of men's and women's records confirms for me again that Tomoe Abe's 6:33 is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, running performances of all time.

Most-Read This Week

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...

CHN and JPN National Records Go Down - Weekend Track Update

There weren't any Japanese athletes in action at the Rabat Diamond League meet Sunday, but 2 lower-tier domestic meets produced new national records. At the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama, Samuel Kibathi (Toyota) led the top 5 in the men's 10000 m under 28 minutes in 27:39.97. In 3rd, China's Wenjie Wang took just over a second off his own NR from the same meet last year, setting a new record of 27:47.53. His teammate Haoran Tang was 6th in a 28:27.44 PB, with the top Japanese time in the race being a 28:33.39 for 8th from Jin Yuasa (Toyota). Amazingly, Wang and Tang were back the next day on day 2 of the Nittai meet, Wang running a PB of 13:35.58 for 4th in the A-heat and Tang winning the B-heat in a PB of 13:38.80. Isaac Ndiema took the A-heat in 13:26.49, with the fastest Japanese time going to Yuhei Urano (Fujitsu) with a 13:35.94 for 5th behind Wang. Other Nittai highlights: Deborah Chemutai (Univ. Ent.) won a photo finish against Yua Nagamori ...

Batt-Doyle and Strintzos Break Records at Launceston Half

Australians Isobel Batt-Doyle and Haftu Strintzos turned in record-breaking performances to win the McGrath Launceston Running Festival Peppers Silo Half Marathon in Tasmania. Running with a private male pacer, NR holder Batt-Doyle dusted the field with the fastest half marathon ever by an Australian woman on Australian soil, a 1:08:46 CR that put her 2 and a half minutes ahead of runner-up Genevieve Gregson . Last year's runner-up Yumi Yoshikawa was almost a minute back from Gregson in 3rd in 1:12:03, but was almost run down by club runner Ayaka Shimoyamada . Starting slow in her international debut, Shimoyamada moved up from 7th over the 2nd half of the race to finish 4th in 1:12:06, kicking hard in the home straight to try to catch Yoshikawa and momentarily blacking out after finishing. Kaho Onishi was 7th in 1:12:45 in her own international debut. The men's half had pacing set at 2:53/km to try to deliver the first-ever sub-61 half marathon on Australian soil. CR holde...