Tahitians finish 1-2 in half marathon

French Polynesia spoiled Brendan Whelan’s quest for a second gold medal of the 2008 Oceania Championships when Tutea Degage and Teiva Izal beat the exhausted Aussie in the half marathon along Beach Road early yesterday morning.

Degage, who has been competing in the Championships since the 1990s, took the gold medal with a time of 1:17:38.67. He was followed around two minutes later by his compatriot, Teiva Izal, who checked in at 1:19:57.75.

A hobbling Whelan, who led the first 10 kilometers of the 4.2-mile race, arrived at the finish line close to five minutes later and clocked in at 1:19:58.75.

Almost all the competitors said the half marathon was difficult because of the island’s incomparable humidity.

Degage, for instance, said the 77 minutes it took for him to finish the race was well below his usual time.

“It was a very hard and very hot. It’s my first time on Saipan and I’ve never ran the race in summer weather. It was very hot,” he said.

The 34-year-old said his best time in the 4.2-mile race is about 13 minutes, which he set a couple of years ago. He also took time to thank the other runners of the challenging half marathon.

“Thank you for all the runners and congratulations to everyone.”

Whelan, for his part, said he was simply overwhelmed by the very humid conditions of the half marathon, which started on the dot at 5:30am.

“I felt very good at 10K but at 15K I started to cramp and the humidity just took its toll and I just didn’t cope. Hat’s off to everyone who finished. It’s just incredibly hot out there, everyone just did a beautiful job.”

Other participants of the men’s half marathon were Roland Villafria of the CNMI (1:30:38.53), Australia’s Tony Gordon (1:35:01.34), and the CNMI’s Tamio Nishikito and Chang Jang (1:41:18.12 and 1:47:58.34).

Guam’s Marie Benito, meanwhile, gave the U.S. territory yet another gold medal when the former Olympian finished first in the women’s half marathon with a time of 1:35:20.83.

She was followed by two CNMI entries, the ever-smiling triathlete Mieko Carey (1:39:32.28) and Mamiko Oshima (1:42:26.67). Monica Yamaguchi, also of the CNMI, came in fourth (1:52:47.80).

Like Degage and Whelan, Benito said that humidity played a factor in the race, but stopped short of making it an excuse for running poorly.

“A little humid but it’s not something my competitors didn’t have to contend with as well. It’s such a beautiful place. I’ve done the half marathon here years ago so I always look forward to the flame trees and the nice flat course. It was an enjoyable run.”

Carey, for her part, didn’t only had to contend with the humidity as she recently arrived from the U.S. after competing in the 2008 Ironman Kansas.

“I just came back Wednesday morning from Kansas so I’m still affected by jetlag. But I’m very happy I was able to get a silver medal for the CNMI.”

The fourth and final day of the 2008 Oceania Championships commenced yesterday with 24 events lined up at the Oleai Track and Field.

Last Friday, Frederic Erin of New Caledonia won the men’s long jump competition by registering a 7.59m in his fourth try.

Australia’s Jay Stone took silver with his 7.10, while Papua New Guinea’s Sandy Katusele took third with a leap of 6.98m. The CNMI’s Jesus Iguel wound up in 13th place with a leap of 5.52m.