{"id":407380,"date":"2024-03-12T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=407380"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Jody-Youn-Kyung-top-half-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Jody-Youn-Kyung-top-half-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Jody, Youn Kyung top half marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Irishman Jody O\u2019Sulliva and Korean Youn Kyung Lee topped the half marathon of the Skechers Saipan Marathon 2024 spanning from the starting line at the Hyatt Regency Saipan parking lot to Marpi and back last Saturday.<\/p>\n

With a 5:30am start time, 131 half marathon runners ran the 13.1-mile\/21-kilometer course alongside the full course runners through the winding and hilly northside, with O\u2019Sullivan coming in first overall at 1:23:41.<\/p>\n

Second was 16-year-old Victor Nash Santos with a time of 1:29:02, followed by third place Jungchul Gong of South Korea at 1:33:31.<\/p>\n

Lee was the fastest woman and clocked in with a time of 1:40:11. Second place was the CNMI\u2019s Noriko Jim at 1:45:02, and third place went to South Korea\u2019s Jihee Kim at 1:47:48.<\/p>\n

In the men\u2019s age division rankings, 14-year-old Cai Ziheng topped the 14U at 1:40:04; Wang Yile came in first in the 18U at 1:40:08; in the men\u2019s open, Naoya Kodama was first at 1:40:03; Ryu Minju was first in the 35-39 at 1:55:08; Jongwon Lee clocked in first in the 40-44 at 1:47:27; Dennis Tianzon was first at 2:26:21 in the 45-49; Joo Hun Lee finished first in the 50-54 at 1:38:03; Daniel Marzan was first in the 55-59 at 2:44:08; and Norlo Jocasalem was first in the 60+ at 2:00:16.<\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s age division rankings, 14-year-old Shen Zhaoyu was first in the 14U at 3:49:27; Peng Enqi was first in the 18U at 2:04:35; MacKenzie Walker clocked in first in the women\u2019s open at 2:02:06; Boeun Kim was first in the 35-39 at 1:50:15; Shawna Brennfleck finished first in the 40-44 at 2:04:34; Kimberlyn King-Hinds was the fastest in the 45-49 at 1:48:43; Chunha Kim was first in the 50-54 at 2:02:53; and Ikuko Joho came in first in the 60+ at 2:49:26.<\/p>\n

On how O\u2019Sullivan felt about coming in first, he said he was \u201cabsolutely delighted\u201d and \u201chappy\u201d as he\u2019s earmarked this race from a long way out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought maybe I\u2019d have a shot but didn\u2019t really know anything about who was going to be racing from either Saipan or off-island so it was a really tricky race mentally. Because of that I went off way too hard from the gun (I felt a bit like a startled cat!) and then really had to work to hold on to my form until the turnaround. Then I saw the two guys behind me weren\u2019t that far away so I couldn\u2019t let up at all,\u201d he said of the race.<\/p>\n

As for the course and conditions, he said it was \u201clovely\u201d and really liked that \u201cit wasn\u2019t pancake flat, the variation made it interesting and a real challenge.\u201d He gave kudos to the organizers for \u201chaving all of the races overlapping. It was a great idea. Coming back after the turnaround was fantastic, there were loads of Run Saipan members competing over all the distances so there was a real sense of community and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old pastry chef at Hyatt Regency Saipan said he had initially signed up for the full marathon, but once he started planning out the training, he realized that the timeframe wouldn\u2019t be enough to give the marathon his best shot. \u201cOnce the sun properly comes up here, I\u2019m still finding it almost too hot to move! So in January, I decided to do the half instead and just give that my best. Looking at the times of the lead guys in the marathon I\u2019m glad I did, they were exceptionally fast times!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan then said he \u201cabsolutely loved\u201d the experience in his first Saipan Marathon as it was \u201cprofessional\u201d\u2014from when he changed his race to the half, up to the packet pickup, and to the race day itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a great buzz before the start and that kind of carried on into the race. The volunteers were fantastic, there was so much encouragement through every aid station and the police were great. I didn\u2019t get a chance to thank the officer whose job it was to drive slowly beside me all the way out and back, I really appreciated the extra safety at the intersections that that provided,\u201d said O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n

Results of the 10K and 5K divisions will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Top 3 men’s winners of the half marathon course in the Skechers Saipan Marathon 2024 pose for a group photo with MVA and Skechers representatives during the awards banquet last Saturday night at the Hyatt Regency Saipan. Third from right is third place Jungchul Gong, center is first place Jody O’Sullivan, and third from left is second place Victor Nash Santos.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Top 3 women’s winners of the half marathon course in the Skechers Saipan Marathon 2024 pose for a group photo with MVA and Skechers representatives during the awards banquet last Saturday night at the Hyatt Regency Saipan. Third from right is third place Jihee Kim, fourth from right is second place Noriko Jim, and fourth from left is first place Youn Kyung Lee.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Women age group winners of the half marathon course in the Skechers Saipan Marathon 2024 pose with MVA and Skechers representatives during the awards banquet at the Hyatt Regency Saipan last Saturday.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Jody O’Sullivan runs into first place of the half marathon course in the Skechers Saipan Marathon 2024 last Saturday that spanned the Hyatt Regency Saipan parking lot, to Marpi, and back.<\/p>\n

-LAO ZHANG
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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