Takeru, Dianna top Red Ribbon 5K

More than 500 participants painted the Garapan Fishing Base and Beach Road Pathway with a kaleidoscope of colors on Saturday during the CNMI Youth Congress’ Inaugural Red Ribbon 5K and Fun Run, held to raise awareness about living a substance and nicotine-free life.

Takeru Jim smoked the competition coming in first overall with a time of 20:12, while the battle for second was close with Yutaka Kadokura coming in with a time of 20:36, while Victor Neil Santos timing in at 20:38.

In the overall female division, Dianna Zheng clocked in at 24:50, Orica George was second at 27:47, and Genelyn Lansangan came in third at 28:11.

As for top finishes in the age division, the top male finishers in the 13-18 age group were Dave Odicta at 22:07, Kaide Benson with 22:32, and Pete Phair also at 22:32. Meanwhile, the top female finishers were Julie Chavez at 30:10, Richelle Sune was second with 30:36, and Jasmine Deleon Guerrero came in third at 30:36.

Victor Nash Santos, chairperson for Sports and Recreation in the 20th CNMI Youth Congress said they aligned the event with Red Ribbon Week in the U.S. which is the largest drug-prevention campaign.

“This event was centered around to really spread awareness to the youth and the community about substance use and vape use,” said Santos, a national team runner, who did not run this time and instead helped coordinate and organize the event.

He said of the turnout, “this whole event is free so we really wanted as many people to join and help spread awareness… it exceeded our expectations—more than 500. Normally, big runs likethis take months of advertisement to really get it out there and get a lot of people to join… The number keeps growing with youth vaping especially in the elementary kids, it’s starting to spread too. We really want to do our best to make as much impact as we can and doing an event like this, I wouldn’t say the start of something, but it continues the pavement on what we try to represent as Youth Congress.”

He added that the Youth Congress stands against youth vaping and substance use. “Especially as young kids—the youth. Our minds are still developing, our bodies are still developing—we shouldn’t be putting these types of stuff inside of our bodies.”

Ayden Yumul, vice chairperson then thanked Santos and the rest of the Youth Congress for their work. “We’re really trying to set the standard for the youth. We’re really trying to empower them—it’s also Youth Empowerment Month. We also want to help step out and encourage them to have their voices heard.”

The 20th CNMI Youth Congress consists of Vinnie Juan Sablan, Monique Loui’sa Mendiola, Ayden Yumul, Christopher Dela Cruz, Mathew Salas, Jireh Cruz, and Edward Maratita III.

By Leigh Gases