Saipan Swim Club’s Kento Akimaru follows leader Ben Allen to the shore for the second lap of the 1.5-kilometer swim leg of last Saturday’s XTERRA Saipan Championship
Saipan Swim Club’s Kento Akimaru follows leader Ben Allen to the shore for the second lap of the 1.5-kilometer swim leg of last Saturday’s XTERRA Saipan Championship
By ROSELYN B. MONROYO
roselyn_monroyo@saipantribune.com
REPORTER
The heavy rains and treacherous course could not prevent couple Ben Allen and Jacqui Slack from topping last Saturday’s XTERRA Saipan Championship.
Allen cruised to his fourth straight victory in XTERRA’s Crown Jewel after completing the 1.5-kilometer swim, 30K bike, and 12K trail run in 2:40:25 and prevailing against seven other pros. Slack capped the rain-soaked race in 3:02:01 to beat five others. It was the second time the couple ruled XTERRA Saipan and the third in the XTERRA Tour. They won in the 2013 XTERRA Saipan and 2013 XTERRA New Zealand.
“I remember racing in the same tough condition here in 2013. I thrive in this condition because this pushes me harder and gives me the opportunity to use my advantage over my competitors,” said Slack, who got the women’s division crown she lost to Austria’s Carina Wasle last year.
Slack and the rest of the field tackled a wet and wild race last Saturday, as it started raining last Friday and the downpour continued the following day.
At the start of the race in Micro Beach, swimmers were greeted with a cold water, continues rain, and strong current.
“The current was so strong that I had to use a dolphin dive because not doing so will lead me to nowhere. I had very good swim and lead in the first lap despite the very tricky condition,” said Allen, who finished the swim race in 15:57, his fastest split since joining the event in 2012. He posted 22:00 in 2012 and 20:33 and 20:18 in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
The Australian pro was so fast in the two-lap swim leg that he nearly caught up with the last swimmer who was just about to finish the first lap.
In the MTB race, which according to Allen was the hardest and most dangerous, he still led at 1:29:54, about three minutes ahead of eventual runner-up Bradley Weiss, who clocked in at 1:33:03 in the bike leg.
“I tried to be conservative at the descents because it was very treacherous out there. With than in mind, I tried to gain more lead uphill,” Allen said.
Weiss also used the same strategy.
“I was very careful in the descent because the season is still early and if I get hurt bad in the bike leg, I may miss the rest of the races this year. The race condition was pretty wild. Last week, it was so dry and today, it was all wet and dangerous,” said Weiss, who finished the race more than six minutes behind Allen with his 2:46:45.
Weiss and six other pros spent the rest of the race trying to catch up with Allen, but to no avail. Takahiro Ogasawara settled for third with his 2:48:19, followed by Austria’s Markus Benesch (2:52:54), Russia’s Alexande Dorovskikh (2:55:51), the Philippines’ Joe Miller (3:02:33), New Caledonia’s David Esposito (3:13:39), and Korea’s Kaon On (3:25:43).
“I came close to between one and two minutes, but he (Allen) would not open up and kept pushing in the bike and I could not respond and risk getting injured,” said Weiss, who hails from South Africa.
With a sizeable lead, heading into the last leg, Allen had cruise control to extend his reign in the annual race.
“It was beautiful running in the rain and enjoying nature,” said Allen, who clocked in at 54:34 in the run leg and was still the fastest among the men’s pro ranks.
Slack also admired the beauty of the run leg around the Navy Hill forest.
“It was gorgeous out there with the rain pouring instead of the heat. The condition (raining) really played to my strength and I am very happy to regain the championship,” said Slack, who was the second fastest women pro in the bike leg with her 1:00:28.
Wasle was the fastest women’s pro in the last part of the race after submitting 58:31, but simply could not catch up with Slack after struggling in the swim leg and being extra careful in the bike race. Last year’s champion registered 20:06 in the swim leg and was with Renata Bucher and Belinda Hadden when they headed to the swim-bike transition area. In the bike leg, Wasle timed in at 1:48:56 to finish more than five minutes behind Slack.
“I don’t like this kind of race condition. I was so afraid downhill because it was so slippery,” said Wasle.
Wasle capped the challenging race in 3:07:33 to finish ahead of Mieko Carey (3:20:45), Bucher (3:22:11), Daz Parker (3:36:40), and Hadden (3:49:19).
“It was too risky to push myself so hard under that condition. We still have a lot of races ahead of us,” said Bucher, who came into last weekend’s race still recovering from a knee injury. “I was just happy to finish in one piece.”
Crashes and scratches
While Bucher and the two winners were lucky, others were not.
The treacherous course claimed its first victim in former XTERRA Saipan champion Olivier Marceau. The French pro had to quit the race as he crashed early in the bike race and broke his bike chain. He sustained scratches on his right arm.
Carey also fell twice along the course and ended up with cuts on both her legs, while Mark Isip, who joined the relay, had a bruise on his left chest after bumping into one of the humps at the backside of Mt. Tapochao and slamming into his handle bar on his way to the ground.
Several other participants finished the race with cuts, bruises, and scrapes, making the first aid personnel very busy. However, the worst race day belonged to Japanese Takagi Wataru, who had three flat tires and a number of scratches to his legs and arms. As if his misfortunes were not enough, he had to walk his bike in the last 10K.
Gallantly, Wataru completed the race and his time of 4:45:47 was even faster than 14 other finishers. He was given a special award for his effort during the event’s banquet last Sunday.
