NMA announces age group winners of Women’s 10K

The top runners in their age group of the Northern Marianas Athletics 3rd Annual Women’s 10K Run 2023 pose for a photo with their giveaways and Run Saipan members on Tuesday at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
The top runners in their age group of the Northern Marianas Athletics 3rd Annual Women’s 10K Run 2023 pose for a photo with their giveaways and Run Saipan members on Tuesday at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The Northern Marianas Athletics announced its age group winners of the Northern Marianas Athletics 3rd Annual Women’s 10K Run 2023 in celebration of International Women’s Month held last Saturday.

Along with the top finisher of the 10K, seven women topped seven age categories and were presented with giveaways from sponsor Michelob Ultra at the Oleai Sports Complex track and field on Tuesday.

Tiana Cabrera was the fleetest afoot in the 18-and-under age group with a time of 49:07; Dixie Mendenhall was the fastest in the open category at 49:02; Robyn Spaeth won the 35-39 age group at 53:06; Kathleen Tolentino topped the 40-44 at 1:00:26; Rosemarie Fontanilla Chisato topped the 45-49 at 53:30; Jessica Ortizo was first in the 50-54 category at 57:52; and Marie Sablan topped the 60-64 age division at 1:27:14.

For Cabrera, she said she beat her time last year by a couple of minutes and said that it was the weather that helped improve her time and that she’s proud of her progress.

She added, “seeing all these women run is very empowering and motivating… With all these improvement times, I want to thank my coaches [Dr.] Ron Snyder and Edward Dela Cruz Jr. They have pushed me a lot especially in practices and the best thing about the practices is there are always people with me so that really helps me to have fun and also push my limits. I also want to thank Run Saipan. I am so glad Saipan has gotten more into running and having so many races, it really shows how great and amazing the community is. Lastly, I want to thank my parents and friends for always cheering me up and supporting me through my obstacles really means a lot.”

For Chisato, she said that joining the race is a privilege because she gets to share the same passion with the strong women of Saipan. The course wasn’t that difficult “because I trained well before the race, but still I didn’t expect that I would win because my main goal is to enjoy the run and finish the race. I feel so proud that at my age, I am able to run 10K and win in my age category.”

Spaeth, whose daughter LoVel also ran in the 5K course, said that she was happy with her time. “I turned 40 the next day so it was my last run in my 30s and my best 10K time yet! It gives me hope and motivation to keep moving. An added bonus was my 8-year-old daughter, LoVel ran in the 5K and was cheering me on. This is my first time being able to participate in the Women’s Run and I was not disappointed. We had a great group of women, cheering and pushing each other on. Shawna Brennfleck, with the help of the creative Kathy Ruszala, organized headbands in support of the AMPLIFY Organization, a non-profit organization that seeks to address issues of domestic violence and sexual assault in the NMI. Overall, I am thankful for the experience and very appreciative to the organizers of the event!”

Dr. Lily Muldoon, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. Medical director of Public Health, clocked in the fastest again out of 40 women for a three-peat with a time of 43:34, which is now the course record to beat.

NMA thanks the sponsors, donors, and partners of the event which are Marpac Michelob Ultra, Run Saipan, Hyatt Regency Saipan, Department of Public Safety, Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Triple J Inc. Saipan, IT&E, and volunteers.