Jody, Youn Kyung top half marathon

Irishman Jody O’Sulliva and Korean Youn Kyung Lee topped the half marathon of the Skechers Saipan Marathon 2024 spanning from the starting line at the Hyatt Regency Saipan parking lot to Marpi and back last Saturday.

With a 5:30am start time, 131 half marathon runners ran the 13.1-mile/21-kilometer course alongside the full course runners through the winding and hilly northside, with O’Sullivan coming in first overall at 1:23:41.

Second was 16-year-old Victor Nash Santos with a time of 1:29:02, followed by third place Jungchul Gong of South Korea at 1:33:31.

Lee was the fastest woman and clocked in with a time of 1:40:11. Second place was the CNMI’s Noriko Jim at 1:45:02, and third place went to South Korea’s Jihee Kim at 1:47:48.

In the men’s age division rankings, 14-year-old Cai Ziheng topped the 14U at 1:40:04; Wang Yile came in first in the 18U at 1:40:08; in the men’s open, Naoya Kodama was first at 1:40:03; Ryu Minju was first in the 35-39 at 1:55:08; Jongwon Lee clocked in first in the 40-44 at 1:47:27; Dennis Tianzon was first at 2:26:21 in the 45-49; Joo Hun Lee finished first in the 50-54 at 1:38:03; Daniel Marzan was first in the 55-59 at 2:44:08; and Norlo Jocasalem was first in the 60+ at 2:00:16.

In the women’s age division rankings, 14-year-old Shen Zhaoyu was first in the 14U at 3:49:27; Peng Enqi was first in the 18U at 2:04:35; MacKenzie Walker clocked in first in the women’s open at 2:02:06; Boeun Kim was first in the 35-39 at 1:50:15; Shawna Brennfleck finished first in the 40-44 at 2:04:34; Kimberlyn King-Hinds was the fastest in the 45-49 at 1:48:43; Chunha Kim was first in the 50-54 at 2:02:53; and Ikuko Joho came in first in the 60+ at 2:49:26.

On how O’Sullivan felt about coming in first, he said he was “absolutely delighted” and “happy” as he’s earmarked this race from a long way out.

“I thought maybe I’d have a shot but didn’t really know anything about who was going to be racing from either Saipan or off-island so it was a really tricky race mentally. Because of that I went off way too hard from the gun (I felt a bit like a startled cat!) and then really had to work to hold on to my form until the turnaround. Then I saw the two guys behind me weren’t that far away so I couldn’t let up at all,” he said of the race.

As for the course and conditions, he said it was “lovely” and really liked that “it wasn’t pancake flat, the variation made it interesting and a real challenge.” He gave kudos to the organizers for “having all of the races overlapping. It was a great idea. Coming back after the turnaround was fantastic, there were loads of Run Saipan members competing over all the distances so there was a real sense of community and support.”

The 39-year-old pastry chef at Hyatt Regency Saipan said he had initially signed up for the full marathon, but once he started planning out the training, he realized that the timeframe wouldn’t be enough to give the marathon his best shot. “Once the sun properly comes up here, I’m still finding it almost too hot to move! So in January, I decided to do the half instead and just give that my best. Looking at the times of the lead guys in the marathon I’m glad I did, they were exceptionally fast times!” he said.

O’Sullivan then said he “absolutely loved” the experience in his first Saipan Marathon as it was “professional”—from when he changed his race to the half, up to the packet pickup, and to the race day itself.

“There was a great buzz before the start and that kind of carried on into the race. The volunteers were fantastic, there was so much encouragement through every aid station and the police were great. I didn’t get a chance to thank the officer whose job it was to drive slowly beside me all the way out and back, I really appreciated the extra safety at the intersections that that provided,” said O’Sullivan.

Results of the 10K and 5K divisions will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.