Participants’ moment of truth today

Swimming at high tide, biking under the hot sun, and running though dense jungle—that’s the reason that scores of extreme athletes from around the globe have traveled several hours and thousands of miles to the CNMI.

This morning a crop of Olympians, professionals, and top-ranked amateurs will take their place along the shores of Micro Beach at the American Memorial Park to challenge the will-testing XTERRA Saipan Championship in search of many different things.

For Swiss multi-sport machine Olivier Marceau the goal is to win a third straight title. For 2004 XTERRA World Champion Jamie Whitmore the objective is to regain her status as the queen of Saipan. For Kieran Daly of the Pacific Islands Club it was an injury riddled journey to the starting line. For Ryan De Cook it is his first professional off-road race. For Mieko Motoyoshi it is her first shot at the full course. Shan Seman overcame his lack of swimming skills through training to attempt the XTERRA Sport.

While some are looking for the fastest time and others just for the finish line, today’s race is full of participants motivated by a number of different reasons that brought them to the beach to try the Crown Jewel of the XTERRA Series.

Though the spectators will never know all of the stories behind the scenes, they can live vicariously though the triathletes by witnessing the exhilaration on their faces when they limp, walk, run, fall, or leap beneath the famed archway at the American Memorial Park.

The dry conditions of the course could allow for some of the fastest time in the race’s five-year history, and while the winners will surely sail into the banner-laden chute in roughly two and a half hours, others will struggle to make it back to Garapan before the six-hour cutoff.

Some have trained year-round for the chance to don the gear and fight the pain along the climb to the top of Mount Tapochau and up the hill on the 12-kilometer jungle run, and others are simply looking to get their kicks by taking on the race in one of the most beautiful locales on the XTERRA Global Tour.

No matter what the outcome, all of today’s competitors are winners for the sole reason of staring down the challenge and calling it out for a duel. Kudos to the endurance aficionados.