Agape Team 1 ‘sleighs’ with new course record

Agape Team 1 “sleighed” the new Northern Marianas Athletics’ 42nd Christmas Island Relay 13.1-mile course from Hyatt Regency Saipan to Marpi and back last Saturday.

Student-athletes from Agape Christian School Samuel Zhu, Jireh Wang, Raffy Cai, Caleb Cui, and James Fan ran—or flew—like Santa’s reindeers to an early Christmas gift of first place with a time of 1:11.14, smashing the old record of 1:19.52 set by Run Saipan Alpha last year.

A close second was Run Saipan Alpha with captain Tania Tan in a time of 1:13.93, and third place went to Team Dolphin captained by Pony Tang.

After the race, the Agape Team was interviewed and said they were “very grateful” for their win and that it was a “challenging and interesting race.”

During the interview, they were told that they broke and set a new course record, much to the delight of the team. They said it was “exciting” news because their goal was to actually break the record.

The team said their training area is two portions of the course, so they are pretty familiar with. They added they like the new course more than the old one because it’s an out-and-back course and that it doesn’t go through many residential areas or buildings along Beach Road.

Team captain Wang said he had the most tired legs of the race because he ran three times—from the U.S. Army Reserve to the turning point and back to the finish/start line with his team.

Zhu then said, “we’re thankful for the race… we’re always very thankful for our competitors and for the opportunity to compete. We also thank our God for helping us and giving us strength. And also, our pastor Kok H. Pang. He’s not present today because he’s in Fiji. He’ll be back a week from now.”

NMA president Ray Tebuteb said after the awards ceremony, “This is the oldest running event in the CNMI. This event is probably older than half of the participants. Our partners and sponsors are important in having these wellness activities in our community, as well as you, [Saipan Tribune and Marianas Variety] are also very critical because you disseminate this to the community.”

He then wished everyone a “very safe and prosperous new year, and Merry Christmas!”

The sponsors of this year’s race were Coca-Cola Beverage Co. (Micronesia), Inc., TSL Foundation, Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, McDonald’s, IT&E, Northern Marianas Sports Association, Run Saipan, Department of Public Safety, and Marianas High School National Honor Society.

Results of the youth division will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.