By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

AFTER falling short in their quest for first place in the 2007 XTERRA Saipan, Julie Dibens and Andrew Noble redeemed themselves in the 18th Tagaman Triathlon last Saturday.
Noble, who placed third behind Olivier Marceau and Sam Gardner in XTERRA, crossed the finish line at American Memorial Park first clocking two hours, 54 minutes, 54 seconds.
The Gold Coast, Australia-native finished the 2-kilometer swim leg in second place with a time of 29:01. He was also the second finisher in the 60-km bike leg clocking 1:31:40. The 47-year old triathlete secured the top spot when he timed in at 51:19 in the 15-km run leg.
Japan’s Masayuki Matsumaru denied Gardner back-to-back second place finishes when he reached the finish line ahead of the Brit timing in at 3:03:15. Gardner posted 3:05:54 to settle for third place.
Dibens, who is also from the United Kingdom, finished the race ahead of her compatriot. She timed in at 3:04:07 to rule the women’s division beating the US’s Jamie Whitmore (3:19:47) and Guam’s Shannon Cutting (3:27:11).
Dibens, who placed second to Renate Bucher at the 2007 XTERRA Saipan, placed third overall among the more than 60 participants who accepted the challenge of the longest-running triathlon event on the island.
As expected, the former member of the Louisiana State University swim team dominated the swim leg. She finished the first part of the race in 28:40. Dibens timed in at 1:32:36 in the bike leg and 55:43 in the run leg.
Both Dibens and Noble admitted that the Tagaman course suited them.
“I love running on a flat course. It was a great race,” Noble said.
The race started at PIC for the swim leg. The bike leg began at PIC’s parking lot with participants heading north to Koblerville before proceeding south along Beach Road toward Bird Island, turning around before heading back to AMP via the Grotto and Banzai Cliff for the run transition. The run leg was from AMP to Beach Road turning at San Jose before going back to AMP.
Noble said he ran the course four times before the actual race.
“With XTERRA Saipan, I wasn’t able to try the course because I arrived Friday. This time, I tried to familiarize myself with the course and it helped me,” said Noble, who would have loved to race against Marceau in last Saturday’s event.
Marceau and Bucher missed the 18th edition of the annual tournament, as they left the island a day after XTERRA to compete in a big event in Australia.
Like Noble, Dibens was also a first timer in XTERRA and Tagaman and although she said both races are hard, she knew she would excel in the latter race.
“XTERRA was physically tiring because of the climb and trail, while Tagaman was mentally tiring. You have to keep your focus on the race and pace yourself because it has a longer course compared to XTERRA. I had little a trouble in the swim leg because it was dark, but the run leg was a bit easy because there are no climbs,” Dibens said.
Dibens and Noble hoped to be back next year for both the XTERRA and Tagaman and they would like to bring fellow triathletes and friends in 2008.
“But next time, I have to do better in the bike leg, “ Dibens said.