Addalee, Kyle are fastest in Veterans 5K

Addalee Taflinger and Kyle Deleon Guerrero are the fastest runners in their respective divisions in the renamed Run Saipan Veterans 5K course that was concurrent with the Saipan International Airport 8K cross country run last Saturday.

For the women’s division and overall, Addalee zoomed into first place at 27:31, just a few seconds in front of her sister, Kaylen, who came in at 27:54. Third place went to Ronalyn Reyes who clicked in at 55:22.

Out of 33 overall runners in the 8K and 5K race, Deleon Guerrero was the only runner in the men’s division, who came in at 33:15.

Twenty-year-old Deleon Guerrero said the course was not that bad for him because he runs it mostly every day. He said he was behind the Taflinger sisters the whole time and was amazed at how fast they were.

This was his first Run Saipan race and dedicates his win to his father.

For Saipan International School middle school student Addalee, she said she liked the course because it was on the road most of the time. “There was some grass and a big hill, along with potholes and so that was hard. I was afraid I was going to fall, but it was a good race,” she said.

As for the lead, Addalee said she was in front of her younger sister the whole time leading her because she didn’t really know where to go. Throughout the race, she said, “When we turned one of the corners, I looked back and I couldn’t see anyone behind us, but when we were at the turnaround, there were people behind us about 50 meters or something.”

Addalee and her family are part of the Run Saipan club and they do a lot of races. She not only runs, but also plays for her school’s soccer, volleyball, and badminton teams. When asked how she likes running, she said, “I like it. It’s more exhausting than other sports, but I feel good after I run.”