Simon Maina Munyi (born 18 March 1978) is a Kenyan former long-distance runner who competed in track and road running events.

Born Simon Maina Munyi in Nyeri, Kenya,[1] he was trained by Kenyan running coach David Miano as a teenager.

[9] He was dominant at the 10,000 metres final at the Commonwealth Games in September, winning the gold medal almost a minute ahead of the runner-up, fellow Kenyan William Kalya.

[10] He opened 1999 with runner-up finishes at the Osaka Grand Prix and Hyogo Relays before improving his 10,000 m best to 27:18.74 minutes at the FBK Games in the Netherlands.

[15] He returned to form over 10,000 m in 2002, taking runner-up spots at the Hyogo Relays and Nacht Van de Atletik meet to rank 14th globally.

[19] He was runner-up to Julius Maina (an unrelated Kenyan based in Japan) over the 5000 m at the Yokohama Super Meet and was the winner of the Japanese Corporate title over that distance for Toyota.

Maina planned a comeback to the sport at the end of 2008 but he and Kamau were arrested by the immigration police, who treated them as regular labourers working illegally under their athlete visas.

[3] The two were taken to trial in November 2008, with some commentators noting that the outcome could affect runners' conditions and set a precedent for Japanese corporate track teams, allowing them to fire injured foreign recruits and leave them open to deportation.