Hoskins, Cabrera top 4th of July Run

Marshall Hoskins, left, and Tiana Cabrera cross the finish line of the Inaugural 4th of July Independence Day 2-mile Race yesterday at the gravel road leading up to the Garapan Fishing Base along Beach Road in Garapan. (Mark Rabago)

Marshall Hoskins and Tiana Cabrera would’ve made America’s founding fathers proud by topping the Inaugural 4th of July Independence Day 2-mile Race bright and early yesterday morning along the Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio Beach Road Pathway.

The Latte Built Gym-sponsored run was from Garapan Fishing Base to National Office Supply and back and it only took Hoskins under 12 minutes—or 11:50:39 to be exact—to make mincemeat of the course.

The 27-year-old from Pennsylvania said he was honored to have won the first-ever 4th of July Independence Day 2-mile Race and thanked Latte Built Gym owner Derek Cutting for organizing the event.

“It’s a fun reason to get up in the morning. It’s great that they organized this 4th of July race for everybody who wants to participate. It’s the first one ever so I believe we will have a much bigger turnout on Year 2 when word starts to spread,” he said.

Hoskins, who also won the Run Saipan Underground 5K race in April and June, said the shortened 2-mile distance of the course curiously came a bit as a challenge for him.

“This is the shortest race that’s I’ve ran in years so it felt like everything was cramping up in the end just like I remember. Everything was like pretty much sprinting at the end,” he said.

Hoskins added that for a second he doubted himself if he could hold on to the lead, especially with eventual runner-up Kosuke Sato breathing down his neck in the latter part of the race.

“I sometimes try to include strategy in running cause it can be a strategic sport. But I’m horrible with the strategy so this was basically go as fast as you can and try to get as much distance from the rest of the pack and try to hold it. Any further the race have gone, he would’ve gotten me,” he said referring to Sato’s late-race surge.

Participants of the Inaugural 4th of July Independence Day 2-mile Race pose for a group photo with Latte Built Gym owner Derek Cutting, standing leftmost, after the award ceremony yesterday at the Garapan Fishing Base. (Mark Rabago)

Sato came in a few seconds behind Hoskins at 12:01:31, while Ken Song completed the Top 3 with a time of 12:25:61.

Cabrera, for her part, showed all and sundry that she’s indeed the next big thing in athletics by finishing first among the women and eighth overall. The 16-year-old incoming junior at Saipan International School came into the finish line in 15:11:57.

She said the 4th of July race was just ideal for her training regimen.

“This run was very important because it’s part of my training. I don’t want to do the races to burn out or go to fast. I’m saving it later for cross country season. My strategy for running is go with a comfortable pace in the first mile and pick it up every mile after,” she said.

Cabrera added that Latte Built Gym holding a race to commemorate the 4th of July and Liberation Day in the CNMI is very thoughtful.

“It’s very important cause we’re representing how much we care about the people [of the CNMI] and the United States of America.”

Cutting earlier said that as a veteran and Latte Built Gym being a veteran-owned business, it was important for him to honor America’s independence by holding a race on the 4th of a July. He also said the reason he suggested it be 2 miles is because that is exactly the distance of the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) run.