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Lin, Chisato top Mangrove 5K
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Posted on May 29 2023
Runners and Run Saipan officials and volunteers pose for a photo after the Mangrove 5K ‘23 race last Saturday at the American Memorial Park. (LEIGH GASES)
What better way to welcome the post-storm weekend than to run the beautiful scenic route from American Memorial Park to the Gov. Eloy S. Inos Peace Park and back?
That’s what over 20 runners did last Saturday with youngster Young Jun Lin and veteran runner Rosemarie Chisato topping their respective divisions in the annual Run Saipan Mangrove 5K ‘23 race.
Lin
Lin raced to the finish line right in front of barefoot runner Chong Nam Lee to take the lead and the first place win with just a second in front of Lee, 22:11. Lee was second in 22:12 and Shigeki Tenorio third in 22:18.
In the women’s division, Chisato claimed first with a time of 23:43; Terra Allen was second in 23:55; and Jessica Ortizo completed the Top 3 in 26:25.
Along with their medals, each winner received a plant from CNMI Forestry as a prize.
Lin, a 14-year-old Hopwood Middle School student, said the course was kind of hard for him. He has been running for just two years and also joined the recently concluded All School Athletics for his school.
Chisato
What got him into running was his teacher and barefoot runner, Changwhan Jang, who also ran the 5K. This will not be the last time Lin will join a Run Saipan race.
For Chisato, she said that the course after Typhoon Mawar was surprisingly not that slippery. She almost came to race late because she thought that the course would start on the old route at the Gov. Eloy S. Inos Peace Park. She said she was neck-and-neck with Allen the whole race but she pulled away toward the end.
Run Saipan president Edward Dela Cruz Jr. said in a Facebook post after the race, “thank you to the support staff of Run Saipan officials. Special thanks to IT&E CNMI for sponsoring our wireless connection for the timing system for this race. Thank you to ONETIME sport for timing our event again. Thank you to American Memorial Park for the venue. Thank you so much to CNMI Forestry and their director for donating this year’s prizes of plants. Special thanks to Northern Marianas Athletics and Triathlon CNMI for their support.”
Run Saipan’s next race is the Grotto 10K on June 10 beginning at 6am.
