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01/02/25 - Avid runners and those who just wanted to end the year with a bang took on Saipan’s fastest race—Run Saipan’s annual Run from 2024 Mile Race on New Year’s Eve early morning.
Chef Jody O’Sullivan faced stiff competition this year, with high school speedsters hot on his heels from the starting line at the Saipan Shipping Co. to the finish at Smiling Cove Marina. Despite the pressure, he successfully defended his title, repeating as the overall winner.
He clocked in at 5:04.42, seconds shy of surpassing the course record he set last year of 4:59. Second place was Marianas High School’s Jim Takeru at 5:06.87, while third was Agape Christian School’s James Fan with a time of 5:17.76.
O’Sullivan, who frequents Run Saipan’s races since he arrived on Saipan over a year ago, said the mile race this year was a bit tougher than it was last year.
“Maybe I’m just getting less fit, but there were a lot of young guys. Before the start, I was kind of nervous because I was like ‘these guys could light it up completely and leave me in the dust.’ So, I decided beforehand that I was just either go for it and see what happened or if the young guys were ahead, I’d stay with them until the turn.”
How he felt about the last race of the year, the head pastry chef at Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan said, “it’s lovely. I love how it’s just done… Race is over, you feel good for the day afterwards, and go to work as usual.”
For his goals next year, he said with a chuckle, “hopefully the guys from Agape or Mr. Jim from MHS graduate or are off island. That would be lovely. But yeah, hopefully next year, just come back and do it again.”
He then thanked Run Saipan. “They’re absolutely brilliant. I love having them around. They organize brilliant stuff throughout the year so it’s always a pleasure.”
In the women’s division, ACS’ Sablina Shen bursted into first place with a time of 6:33.22. Right behind her was Terra Allen at 6:39.74, while Madge Gai came in third place at 7:03.18.
The 15-year-old Shen shared that she actually prefers long distance running, especially the 5K, so the mile race was too short for her. She added that she’s not that good at running this distance, so she prayed to God to help her and give her strength, and she felt happy that she won first place in her division.
In other results, Jordan Ruiz topped the men’s open division at 5:21.11; Jesse Coren was second at 6:11.61; and Daryn Roufs rounded up the Top 3 with 6:26.01. Victoria Takai was the lone runner in the women’s open division at 12:31.71.
Evan Poole was the fastest in the boys U12 division with a time of 7:21.77, while Koen Poole was second at 7:39.26. In the girls U12, Brooklyn Jones topped it at 7:38.86, while Amara Agulto was second with a time of 11:13.93.
Raffy Cai was first in the boys 15U division at 5:35.98; Daniel Yang took second at 5:37.38, and Kaide Benson took third with a time of 6:04.99.
Catherine Pan was first in the 18U girls division at 7:11.91, while Yuxi Zhang took second at 7:22.71.
In the women’s 40-44 division, Megan Dame came in at 8:12.68, while Astrid Poole was second after she clocked in at 9:08.49.
Joel Phair came in at 5:33 for first in the men’s 45-49 division, while Leo Wania was second at 9:13.35. Shiela Mabutas was the lone runner in the women’s division with a time of 9:07.64.
Dr. Ron Snyder and Kim Church were a power couple that ran the course together with their dogs and topped the 55-60 division with times of 10:39.13 and 9:37.08 respectively.
Paul Khang was the lone runner in the 65+ division and clocked in at 8:05.91.
Run Saipan president Edward Dela Cruz Jr. said about the annual race, “we pride ourselves in having the fastest race in the CNMI. It’s over in less than 10 minutes, so the set up time is longer than the actual race itself. But it’s a great way for the participants to end the year.”
As for this year’s races, he said they’re changing a few things up a bit before they release the details to the public next month. “We are looking at putting on a couple of trail courses this year… we’ll also have a couple of new events this year and bringing up some old ones.”
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Story by Leigh Gases
Videos/photos by Leigh Gases and Thomas Manglona II
Video edited by Thomas Manglona II
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