Taro Shirato ruled the A-type course in two hours, 12 minutes, and 59 seconds, bearing the fastest time in the men’s division. 47-year-old Hidea Miyazuka arrived after Shirato in 2:24:14, followed by third place finisher Ayato Matsuyama (2:26:53) and Yohei Shiraishi (2:33:11).
This is Shirato’s seventh Rota Blue title. Miyazuka had earlier won five times.
Nahoko Niwa, who ranked seventh overall, was the A-type course’s first female triathlete with two hours, 44 minutes, and 23 seconds. Akiko Murata (2:47:37) and Sonoko Matsubara (2:52:09) won second and third, respectively in the women’s division.
An all-Japanese pool completed the A-type course’s first 30 slots at the finish line. Rota native Daniel Calvo rallied for 36th place overall at 3:13:56.
In the longer and grueling B-type course, which attracted only a fraction Saturday’s athletes, Japan’s Katsumi Kimura timed in at 4:56:50 to top the men’s division. Masaaki Sato ranked second at 5:05:34 while Kazuto Ito finished third with 5:10:16.
The women’s top three included Toshimi Doi (6:25:45), Kaori Suzuki (6:53:29), and Aya Yamamoto (7:03:58).
The B-type course kicked off with a two-kilometer swim and finished with a 21 km run and 90 km bike ride. The A-type course, which drew 80 participants, included a 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike ride, and 10 km run.
The event was sponsored by the Marianas Visitors Authority, Rota Mayor’s Office, Kiyokazu Fitness Club of Japan, Rota Resort and Country Club, and other government departments and agencies in Rota.
