Pilot, engineer take off in half marathon

An airline pilot and a U.S. Army engineer decided to join the 3rd Annual Run Saipan Half Marathon and placed first in their respective divisions last Saturday.

Just in time for the Labor Day weekend, the 21.1-kilometer/13.1-mile course from the former Hyatt Regency Saipan’s Club Elan parking lot to the Marpi softball field and back was topped by James Munnis, a United Airlines pilot based on Saipan, with a time of 1:42:15.

Second was Joel Phair at 1:43:21, while third place went to Raven Lantz with his time of 1:50:56.

In the women’s division, U.S. Army engineer Moira Mailed crushed it and clocked in at 1:54:50. Second place was Krista Hawley at 1:59:55, and third was Run Saipan mainstay Ann Bang at 2:12:41.

Munnis cannot only fly high in the sky, but he can also run fast on land. The nearly 60-year-old is no stranger to joining long distance races as he’s joined marathons, ultra marathons, 50Ks, and 50-mile races before. With this race, he said that he felt really good about his first-place win.

He grew up in Florida, so he was used to Saipan’s heat, and said that he actually did not lead the race the whole time, but was in third place for a bit.

He added that he joined the race with his wife, Hawley, who placed second in the women’s division. He said that she did really well and that it was “awesome” to have joined the race with her. They plan to join the Rota Marathon together next year. He and Hawley moved to Saipan last January from West Virginia.

As for the event, he said, “[Run Saipan] is awesome. They do so much with very little. All these volunteers are awesome. The support they get from the community is incredible. In the states, you see a lot of the same, but this is definitely up there with the top.”

As for 24-year-old Mailed who works out of Guam, she decided to join the race with her coworkers as they are on Saipan for the weekend.

She said her goal since last year was to join a half marathon or marathon, and this was her first half marathon race—and topped it off with a first-place finish.

With that, she said, “I’m honestly surprised, but I am extremely grateful that I get to move my body this way and have the opportunity to travel and see new places, and also keep my body moving. I know that fitness at an early age really sets the tone for your fitness throughout your life.”

As for the course, she said, “I’m glad that we left earlier. The weather was really nice, and it wasn’t too bad in terms of elevation. I think I was trying to keep up with one of my coworkers, because he ran cross country in college, and so for at least half of it, I sustained his pace. Then he took off about mile seven. So then from there, I just tried to speed up my pace.”

For Run Saipan president Edward Dela Cruz Jr., he said that the turnout was great with close to 140 registered participants.

The last two years, the race was done at the end of the year, but he said that they will most likely keep the August race date again for next year as it’s less hectic in the race/running scene on Saipan.

“I just appreciate everyone that registered to show support for Run Saipan, and I appreciate everybody that showed up this morning and had fun,” he said.

As for the support of runners from Guam, he said, “it was good having off-island competitors come and they registered pretty early. They registered about, like, three months out. So, thank you.”

“Thank you to our major sponsor, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp., for sponsoring 50 runners for Immunization Month. This is the third race of the year that our hospital has committed to sponsor for a healthier lifestyle for the community with us,” said Dela Cruz.

He then thanked their sponsors Cha Cafe, Atkins Kroll Saipan, IT&E, Aqua Resort Club, The Water Company, the Office of House Speaker Edmund Villagomez, the Office of Vice Speaker Joel Camacho, the Office of Rep. Thomas John Manglona, and the Office of Rep. Malcom Omar.

He also thanked their volunteers, race staff, partners: Northern Marianas Athletics, the Department of Public Safety, Marianas Visitors Authority, HD Weightlifting Academy, Saipan Southern High School Interact Club, Red Cross-NMI Chapter, and Interact club.

And, he thanked Saipan Tribune and Marianas Variety for the coverage. The Half Marathon was also the first Run Saipan race where Shirley’s Coffee Shop fried rice was served at the finish line for runners.

Results of the concurrent 5K men/women’s division and age group divisions of the Run Saipan Half Marathon will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.