Samuel Ndungu

Ndungu running at the 2015 Lake Biwa Marathon

Samuel Ndungu Wanjiku (born 4 April 1988) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the 10,000 metres and road running events. He has a half marathon best of 60:55 minutes and a marathon best of 2:07:04 hours. A Japan-based runner, he has won the Lake Biwa Marathon, the Marugame Half Marathon, and was the 2010 Japanese Corporate champion the half marathon.

Career

Ndungu became interested in athletics at a young age and joined a club at age twelve. He attended Kagondo High School, near Nyahururu in Kenya's Rift Valley Province.[1] His first successes in running came through competing in cross country races in his region. Starting from the age of fifteen,[2] he came fifth in the junior race at the Eastern Africa Region Cross Country Championships in 2005,[3] then won the junior competition the following year.[4] In April 2007, the nineteen-year-old Ndungu joined the Japanese corporate running team at Aichi Steel.[1]

After moving to Japan, he began to focus on track running and set bests of 13:30.29 and 27:48.03 minutes for the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, respectively. He knocked his best down to 13:28.44 in the shorter event in 2008 and also started doing road races for Aichi. He came third at the Kosa 10 Mile Road Race and second at the Nagoya Half Marathon.[5] He continued running half marathons in 2009 and again placed top three in Nagoya and was fourth in Sapporo. The 2010 brought his first major accomplishments. After a strong performance as pacemaker at the Lake Biwa Marathon,[6] he won the title at the All Japan Corporate Team Half Marathon Championships with a personal best of 61:19 minutes.[7] He also reached the top three of the Sapporo Half Marathon that year.[8] He improved further in 2010, helping pace Wilson Kipsang to a course record at the Lake Biwa race and winning the Marugame Half Marathon with a best of 60:55 minutes.[9][10]

Moving beyond his pacing days, he entered the 2011 Lake Biwa Marathon as a competitive runner. He made the second-fastest ever marathon debut in Japan (after Olympic champion Samuel Wanjiru) with his time of 2:07:04 hours, which was enough to win on his first outing, as he was half a minute ahead of Henryk Szost, who ran a Polish record.[11] Turning back to the shorter distance, he came runner-up to Martin Mathathi at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon in May.[12] Building on his debut success, he was invited to the 2012 Chicago Marathon and he came close to his best with a run of 2:07:26 hours for seventh place at the World Marathon Major race.[13]

Personal bests

References

  1. 1 2 Samuel Ndungu サムエル ドゥング (Japanese). Aichi Steel. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  2. ↑ Okoth, Omulo (2004-11-27). Qatari success again in Kenyan Cross series. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  3. ↑ Okoth, Omulo (2005-02-26). Limo leads Kenyan triumph in regional championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  4. ↑ Ssenfamu, Daniel (2006-02-18). Isaac Kiprop, the hero for Uganda at the Eastern Africa Cross Country Champs. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  5. ↑ Samuel Ndungu. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  6. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2010-03-07). Tsegay takes Lake Biwa crown. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  7. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2010-03-21). Ndungu and Cheyech win All Japan Corporate team Half Marathon titles . IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  8. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2010-07-04). Njui and Kano take Sapporo Half Marathon titles . IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  9. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2011-02-06). Ndungu and Fukushi take victories at Marugame Half Marathon . IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  10. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2011-03-06). 2:06:13 course record for Kipsang at Lake Biwa. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  11. ↑ Nakamura, Ken (2012-03-04). With fast debut, Ndungu takes Lake Biwa title. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  12. ↑ Larner, Brett (2012-05-20). Mathathi Wins Second-Straight Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, Kalmer Sets Women's Course Record . Japan Running News. Retrieved on 2013-02-06.
  13. ↑ 2012 Chicago Marathon results. Chicago Marathon. Retrieved on 2013-02-02.
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