Hess, Taflinger overall Trinity winners, Top 10 honored

It’s no surprise that Swiss visitor Martin Hess and student-athlete Addalee Taflinger are the overall winners in their respective divisions of the Run Saipan 2024 Trinity Race as they topped all days of the series from last Saturday to last Monday.

The cumulative time for all three days—the Beach Road 10K, the Mt. Tapochau 5K, and the Route 30 Drag Strip 5K—was collected and Hess, who was first place in all three, had the fastest time of 1:21:40, while Taflinger had a total time of 1:49:55.

Both Hess and Taflinger said they weren’t really expecting to be first in all the races. This is the first time for both runners to join the race, with Taflinger saying it was “exhausting” all around.

Hess also said he’s never raced in 5Ks or 10Ks before, usually opting for the longer distances of marathons back home. Nevertheless, they won the shiny new overall prism-like trophy from Run Saipan.

Top 9 overall in the men’s division after Hess is Sildrey Veloria at 1:27:37; third was Victor Nash Santos with a time of 1:28:27; Simon Tang was fourth at 1:34:06; Shigeki Tenorio ran a total of 1:37:54; Landen Taflinger beat his dad Chad with a time of 1:38:01; Chad Taflinger was a minute behind at 1:39:02; Ronald Villafria clocked in at 1:41:52; Adam Walsh had a time of 1:44:25; and Aaron Pamintuan wrapped it up at 1:50:52.

Behind the 13-year-old Taflinger was Shawna Brennfleck with a time of 1:52:38; Ann Bang was third with a time of 1:55:23; Addalee’s mom, Angela Taflinger, had a time of 2:02:52; Kathy Ruszala’s overall time was 2:09:23; Marilou Carlos was at 2:11:02; Cherie Moses clocked in at 2:13:55; Sheila Mabutas’ total was 2:15:22; Addalee’s little sister, Kaylen, came in at 2:16:20; and Marjorie Ganacias made the Top 10 with a time of 2:16:15.

In an interview after the race, Run Saipan president Edward Dela Cruz Jr. said that the turnout for all three days was “amazing” as they decided to open the races up individually, not just as a three-day package.”

They had 60 runners during the three days and 44 who finished the whole event. Dela Cruz said they even had one runner from Tinian, Benny Gabor, join the race virtually because he had really wanted to join. Dela Cruz said, “Since we don’t do races out there yet we let him do it with heavy stipulations of course. He had to run at the same time in every race and the same format and I tracked it on Strava.”

He then congratulated Hess and Addalee “for beating a stacked field of runners. This year we had an even more stacked and competitive field than last. We had so many of Saipan’s fastest runners competing that it was great. I’m so glad to have witnessed them all. Next year I hope they can defend their titles. Also, amazing work to everyone who finished all three race days. It’s not easy to give up sleeping in on your first three-day weekend of the year and completely destroy your legs and feet.”

He added, “We promised runners that they will be challenged not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually as well. Amazing work everyone.”

Dela Cruz then thanked IT&E for sponsoring this year’s race. He also thanked their partner Northern Marianas Athletics “for officiating and sanctioning the first competitive road race of the year. Thank you to Marianas High School National Honor Society and American Red Cross as well. Special recognition to our volunteers this weekend. It’s very hard to commit three days back-to-back waking up around 3am to set up these events and run them then break down. Thank you very much to our officials.” He also thanked the media in their early morning weekend coverage.

The 2025 Trinity Race is also now live at https://raceroster.com/events/2025/84897/trinity-2025.