By Jonathan V. Perez
Variety News Staff

(Last part)

TWENTY seven participants won in their respective age divisions in the 2nd Saipan Marathon, 26th Half Marathon and 10k Fun Run held simultaneously last Saturday at American Memorial Park.
Of the 27, 16 came from the CNMI with two coming from Tinian. The remaining winners included eight from Japan and three from Guam.
Leading the list was Guam’s Mike Lilly and Nozomi Kamisakawa of Japan in the Open event of the men’s and women’s marathon.
Lilly checked in at three hours, 42 minutes and 34 seconds while Kamisakawa timed in at 4:54:26.
Saipan’s Yoshi Suzuki, 3:34:28 and Chang Wang Jang, 3:49:28 won the 40-49 and 50-and-over divisions while Guam’s Nancy Pacheco, 4:53:10, and Kimberlee Kihleng, 5:44:53, duplicated their feat in the same age group in the women’s division.
Mathew Mancao of Saipan was the fastest runner in the 15-19 division in the half marathon clocking in at 1:50:28 while Japan’s Sadaaki Saito came in at 1:42:58 to top the 30-39 division.
Dirk Sharer proved he still has the swiftest legs in the 40-49 division registering a time of 1:38.20. The 50-59 and 60-and-over age group was won by Japan’s Yoshiharu Suzuki, 1:46:17, and Akira Yamamoto, 1:51:23.
Saipan nearly swept the age group winners in the women’s half marathon with Nicole LeBlanc leading the way in the 20-29 division. She had a time of 1:53:44.
Maimi Simizu, 1:48:35, and Dawn Hammermeister, 2:10:12, won the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups. Masako Yuyama of Japan prevented a sweep for the hosts when she topped the 50-59 division with a time of 1:57:28.
In the men’s 10k run, Saipan’s Angelo Jones, 52:35; Donnie Dosalua of Tinian, 50:58; Saipan’s Koichiro Nakamura, 53:27; Irineo Isip, 53:35; Shinichi Izuchi of Japan, 52:42; and Shigeru Nakajima, 1:00:45, topped the 14-and-under, 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49 and 50-59 divisions.
The female winners were Lia Rangamar, 1:19:26 in the 14-and-under; Emily Gries, 58:16 in the 20-29; Hikaru Arai, 53:59 in the 30-39; Tomomi Kambe, 1:03:32 in the 40-49; Suzanne Kindel, 58:18 in the 50-59 and Hisako Takahashi 1:05:43 in the 60-and-over.
Japan’s Tetsuyuk Ishikawa and Junko Ishikawa topped the men’s and women’s Half Marathon while Nate Mateo and Noriko Jim carried the fight for the local runners by winning the 10K event.
Fifty-one runners braved the half marathon course while 60 joined in the 10k Fun Run.
Japan’s Hisayoshi Tanabe and Miyo Tanabe topped the 2nd Annual Saipan Marathon breaking the times set by Smith and Yamaguchi.
The top three winners in the three running events received cash prizes and trophies, while winners in the various age groups were given medals.
The event is organized in cooperation with the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Northern Marianas Athletics.