Torgeson breaks own record in ‘Hell’

Eli Torgeson survived the 2nd Annual Hell of the Marianas Century Cycle in record-breaking fashion to rule the 100-kilometer race anew.

Torgeson’s time of three hours, two minutes, 22.62 seconds in Saturday’s race shattered his own mark of 3:20:33, which he posted during the inaugural century race last year.

It was a scintillating performance for Torgeson, who a few weeks before the race told Saipan Tribune he was expecting to face a tougher challenge in this year’s event, as the event will have veteran riders from Guam and Korea.

Guam’s Jazy Garcia and Ka-On Cho kept pace with Torgeson in the first 25km of the race. But the Commonwealth Health Center anesthesiologist stepped hard on the pedal in Kagman and began pulling away.

In the end, Torgeson finished the race more than 16 minutes ahead of his closest pursuer, and he had already chatted with friends who were congratulating him when Garcia crossed the finish line at PIC’s south parking lot.

Garcia timed in at 3:18:32, while Cho clocked in at 3:18:33.

“Except for the tough climbs in Suicide Cliff, overall, it was a nice race. The weather was good. I guessed I had an advantage over Jazy and Cho because of my familiarity with the course,” said Torgeson, who finished last year’s race only about three minutes ahead of Guam’s Fred Gray.

Garcia did not join the inaugural Hell, while Cho despite his XTERRA Saipan experience was not that familiar with the course, as the latter also missed last year’s race.

Mieko Carey also failed to join the inaugural century race, but was the first female rider to reach the finish line this year timing in at 3:28:05.

Carey entered the PIC loop along with her riding friends, whom she thanked for staying with her and encouraging her to keep pedaling.

“Without them, it will be hard for me to complete the race. They were there saying, ‘you can do it, we’re getting there,’” said Carey, who defeated Guam’s Chiyo Lombard (3:28:06) in the women’s Open road bike division.

Carey’s “support group” was composed of Nate Hawley, Dirk Sharer, Florian Braig, Tyce Mister, and Kieran Daly, who all finished the race under the 3:30:00 mark.

Saturday’s races were divided into road and mountain bike divisions in various age groups, and also had competitions in two-person and four-person relays.

Federico Fernandez was the top finisher in the mountain bike with his time of 3:54:17, while Russ Quinn (4:11:45) came in second.

Mamiko Berger won the women’s mountain bike individual race with a time of 4:35:00, outracing Heather Kennedy (4:51:20).

Other top individual finishers were 16 to 25 age group’s Matthew Mancao (3:55:45), 26 to 35’s Albert Carbino (4:38:39), 36 to 45’s Nate Hawley (3:28:94), and Ben Ferguson (3:20:03).

Eight teams competed in relay races. Yoshi Gabaldon and Bruce Berline of Stupidy Knows No Bounds timed in at 4:03:40 in the two-person mountain bike race, while Can’t Make Decision’s Jack Kabiriel (Road) and Chris Flying (Mountain) clocked in at 4:13:16.

Team Manatee’s Steve Nutting, James Barry, John Jones, and Jim Arenovski finished the four-person road race in 4:21:49, while Young Guys’ Bradley Brostom, R.J. and Lucas Knecht, and Andy Nutting clocked in 4:45:29 in the same division.

Guaranteed to Win’s Kanae Quinn and Tina Goodwin posted 4:22:05 in the women’s two-person road bike, while Derek Chambers and Stephen Vance of An Officer and A Gentleman recorded 5:41:18.

Threesome’s Sean and Erika Frink and Rex Kosack joined the four-person mountain bike race with Kosack doing 50km of the 100-km race. The trio clocked 4:22:32.

Pushing Up Daisies’ Sarah Brostrom, Betty Johnson, Sue Knecht, and Kathryn Barry made the cut off time when they finished the mountain bike four-person race in 5:43:31.