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

• 5000 metres – 13:28.44 (2008)
• 10,000 metres – 27:48.03 (2007)
• 15 kilometres – 42:57 (2009)
• 20 kilometres – 57:47 (2011)
• Half Marathon – 1:00:55 (2011)
• 25 kilometres – 1:14:35 (2012)
• 30 kilometres – 1:29:04 (2012)
• Marathon – 2:07:04 (2012)

References

1. Samuel Ndungu サムエル ドゥング Archived 2013-02-02 at the Wayback Machine (in 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.

External links

• Samuel Ndungu at World Athletics