Road Runner rules relay race

The Road Runner topped last Saturday’s 32nd Annual Christmas Island Relay.

Ketson “Jack” Kabiriel led the winning quintet and teamed up with Manny Aaron, Jesse James, Tony Ichiuo, and youth runner Seiya Eda. The group completed the race from Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio to the last Command Post in Marpi in 1:26:50 and was in the driver’s seat from start to finish. Road Runner’s time was faster than 2012 champion Shane and the Cool Guys’ mark (1:36:35).

Also eclipsing the time of last year’s winner was runner-up Bombastic-52, which checked in at 1:32:30. The runner-up squad was made up of Cesar Danao, Charlie Sendin, Noel Altamirano, and Beo Ngirchongor.

Completing the Top 3 was Cookie Monsters, which defeated Team Yolanda in a down-to-the-wire finish. Cookie Monsters’ Harold Aranda went neck-and-neck against Team Yolanda’s Noni Eugenio with the sprint finish decided by only a few feet, as the former kept pushing, while the latter held back, mistakenly anticipating his foe would eventually gas out.

Cookie Monsters ended up submitting 1:34:37 against the 1:34:41 of Team Yolanda. Joining Aranda on the squad were Salvi Villanueva, Bo Palacios, Amy Sletten, and Natalie Hill. Eugenio ran with Fred Camacho, Ariel Lansangan, Dennis Titus, and Ricky Melchor.

Five teams made the 1:40:00 barrier with Taste the Rainbow registering 1:37:49. The team was composed of Kaity Mattos, Steven Johnson, Trey Dunn, Amanda Allen, and Lorie Hutchinson.

Meanwhile, two joined the solo division of the 13.7-mile race with barefoot runner Chang Whan Jang reaching Marpi at the 1:55:18 and finishing ahead of 11 teams. Pipit Ball was the other solo runner in the early morning race and timed in at 2:05:46. Both runners broke the record of last year’s solo finishers Florence Antonio (2:02:28) and Jennifer Young (2:29:44).

In the youth relay division, Saipan Swim Club 1 prevailed in the all-SSC battle. Christian Villacrusis, Conatsu Kaga and Kento Akimaru ran with two others for SSC 1, which completed the race under two hours (1:54:39). SSC’s two other teams, Wrecking Balls and Trident, posted 2:00:52 and 2:02:08, respectively.

Other finishers in the team event were La Vida Local (1:42:08), F-5 (1:42:30), Dark Horse (1:49:13), Jingle Balls (1:53:44), Go For Broke 1 (1:54:45), DFS 3 (1:57:00), Lakas Tama (1:57:07), Tanya’s Soldiers (2:00:25), DFS 2 (2:06:00), and DFS 1 (2:08:00). Two military teams, which ran in full battle gear, also joined the annual race.