{"id":403952,"date":"2024-01-19T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=403952"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Jang-Soriano-etch-name-into-record-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Jang-Soriano-etch-name-into-record-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Jang, Soriano etch name into record books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barefoot runner Chang Whan Jang and marathon junky Roxanne Soriano are now part of Rota Marathon lore as the first winners of the event.<\/p>\n

The 71-year-old\u00a0Jang finished first in the two-horse race in the men\u2019s division with a time of 5:31:47 with second place Genero Mejia Jr. coming in at 7:08:56.<\/p>\n

Soriano, who did the Chicago Marathon and New York Marathon prior to dipping her toes in the Rota Marathon, was the lone woman entry and crossed the finish line in 5:50:44.<\/p>\n

Jang\u00a0said he thoroughly enjoyed his 26.2-mile jaunt across the southernmost island of the CNMI last Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part was the volunteers\u2019 commitment and cheering us with big smiles. I felt like a king because police escorted me and emergency man followed me all the way more than five hours. Overall, I really appreciate all the things that the Marianas Visitors Authority and the people of Rota did,\u201d said the 71-year-old Hopwood Middle School physical education teacher.<\/p>\n

The Rota Marathon is the latest of the over 30 marathons Jang has completed since entering his first\u2014the Guam Seiko Marathon\u2014way back in 1982. He\u2019s also been a constant participant of the Saipan Marathon since its inception in 2006.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe asphalt road wasn\u2019t hot yet but it was harder to run under the hot sun after 7:30am. I tried to run under shade side of the road. I also ran on the grass more than half of the race because it was so well maintained,\u201d he said when asked about the course conditions.<\/p>\n

He dedicated his win to his family, the friendly people of Rota, and his fellow Run Saipan members.<\/p>\n

Soriano, for her part, admitted that joining the Rota Marathon was a last-minute decision, as she initially only signed up for the half marathon.<\/p>\n

Thanks to some egging from her Kanoa FC teammates and from Jang himself, Soriano had a run to remember in the CNMI\u2019s \u201cNature Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best part was when I saw my Kanoa FC sisters. That boosted me 10,000 times. I also loved Luta\u2019s warm hospitality. It\u2019s really the best,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Soriano, who works at the Commonwealth Health Center, said she was also able to successfully complete the Rota Marathon thanks to the early 4am start time and the fact that the tree-lined course provided plenty of shade.<\/p>\n

Aside from thanking her Kanoa FC teammates and Rota\u2019s friendly people, she also gave kudos to Jovi Chavez who ran beside her in the last few miles of the marathon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first 6 miles I can still hear the half marathon runners from Saipan behind me so it was still okay because we all started at 4am. At around Mile 7 until mile 16, it was all silent and only the stars accompanied me and I could only hear the ocean waves,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

In the half marathon, Dominic Kieffer dominated the men\u2019s category with a time of 2:04:28, followed by Scott Smith\u2019s 2:07:57 and Daniel Depolog\u2019s 2:21:10. Topping the women\u2019s division in the half marathon was Tammy Ackerman in 2:10:46 with Julia Mast and Sarah Faegre coming in second and third at 2:11:35 and 2:47:07, respectively.<\/p>\n

Kieffer said the one drawback on the early start-time is that Rota\u2019s natural beauty was shrouded in darkness during the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran all of the race in the dark so I didn\u2019t get to see a whole lot while I was running, but I did drive it a few times before and after. Rota is so breathtaking. I feel really lucky to be able to visit Rota. The people are always so friendly here too. I\u2019m always waving at everyone, even when I\u2019m running!\u201d<\/p>\n

The 30-year-old engineer said running the Rota Marathon is just the first leg of his \u201crunning for health\u201d journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a conscious decision in December to get back into running because I know it helps me relieve stress, and I feel better about myself and my circumstances afterward. But I want to shout out all the people I see walking\/running on Beach Road every day. Seeing you run\/walk each day has inspired me to start running again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the 5K course, multi-sport athlete Kaithlyn Chavez tore the tape first in 22:24 with Megumie Takaku Shimada second in 27:25, and Aubrey White third 28:54 in the women\u2019s division.<\/p>\n

In the men\u2019s division Elphrain Taimanao Jr. was numero uno in 25:07 followed by Peter John White\u2019s 25:27 and Jun Shimada\u2019s 27:19.<\/p>\n

Chavez said she felt very grateful and blessed to win the 5K course of the 2024 Rota Marathon.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely a new and great experience because it was my first time going to Rota. The people there are really friendly and welcoming. Even though you don’t know them, they would just say hi to you with a smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Saipan International School student said the hardest part of the course was at the beginning, \u201cbecause I couldn’t see where I was stepping since it was still dark. It also made it harder for me because I didn’t know the roads and the places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conversely, the most pleasant part of the 5K was the support coming from other runners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I passed them, they were cheering me on, which gave me a boost and motivation to push myself harder. Even though it wasn’t my best time, I definitely had lots of fun. I’m dedicating this win to Mimi Culp, M.J. Magno, Elizabeth Tom, and Aubrey White because they’re always there for me, pushing me and making me a better person,\u201d said the 16-year-old.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Barefoot runner Chang Whan Jang, left, poses with Roxanne Soriano after both topped the men\u2019s and women\u2019s divisions, respectively, of the 2024 Rota Marathon last Saturday.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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Barefoot runner Chang Whan Jang and marathon junky Roxanne Soriano are now part of Rota…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-403952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403952\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}