Previous Story
Good turnout for Half Marathon, 10K
|
Posted on Jan 22 2006
While participants of the first Saipan Marathon were in the middle of their journey, a total of 164 runners began to abuse their shoes along Beach Road as Saipan hosted its 25th Half Marathon and 20th 10-Kilometer Run Saturday morning.
Both races got underway at 5:30am at the American Memorial Park, with 10K runners making their way south to their turnaround across Bar The Flair in Chalan Lau Lau, and half marathoners working their way to their turnaround at the Pacific Islands Club.
Japan’s Hiyoshi Tanabe wounded up taking top honors in the half marathon as he conquered the 13.1-mile challenge and made it back to the finish line in just 1:23:00.
Three minutes behind was Hitoshi Hoshi, who finished in 1:26:00, while Takashi Terada placed third in 1:28:10.
For her part, Miyo Tanabe topped the women’s competition after clocking in at 1:31:40. She was followed by Sayuri Yuyana, who finished in 1:39:53, while Kiyomi Kodama placed third with a time of 1:40:18.
In all, the half marathon attracted 59 runners.
The bulk of the participants competed in the 10k as 105 runners vied for supremacy.
In the end, it was Akihisa Otani who topped the field as he completed the course in 43:14, while Saipan’s Steve Pixley took second place in 44:36. Yong Gon Kim made it to the top three courtesy of his time of 45:40.
Saipan’s Yoshi Suzuki led the race as the runners headed south to their turnaround, however, he lost his lead after a mix-up on where the turnaround was.
Suzuki and female Noriko Jim passed the turnaround area and continued running toward Oleai before turning back.
Unfortunately for Suzuki, he wounded up finishing in sixth place overall with a time of 46:48.
Although running the extra distance, Jim still managed to win the women’s competition as she finished in 47:01.
Ritsuko Harada placed second in 50:56 while Saipan’s Bo Wang placed third in 51:51.
Top three overall finishers each received a trophy while division winners went home with medals.
