A total of 175 runners were present at the event, which was organized by students, parents, and SIS staff. The first 120 registrants were glad to receive their specially designed t-shirts, courtesy of the school.
Jack Kabiriel was the first runner to cross the finish line, completing the Banzai-Cow Town course in 20 minutes and 26 seconds. Chad Lowe and Steven Pixie followed Kabiriel in the men’s category, with the former timing in at 22:01 and the latter coming in 26 seconds later.
Mamiko Oshima-Berger ruled the women’s division with her record of 24:30 while Angelo Jones and Jessica Soll placed first in the 18-and-under boys and girls categories. Like his father, Koen Kabiriel showed promising results after placing first in the boys’ 10-and-under division. Hibiki Higuchi also topped the girls’ 10-and-under category.
The fun run, which started at 7 am, also included a raffle for all participants.
“We are especially grateful to Sheryl Camacho for taking care of the recording of finishers and registration of runners and Kyoung Min Song for helping with this event and the prizes,” said SIS headmaster Dr. Dale Jenkins and fun run coordinator Milagro Saiki.
Jenkins also wanted to thank Betty Johnson, who was active in organizing SIS’ fun runs for the past seven years. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend this year’s event.
“We also want to thank all our sponsors who provided the support that enabled us to hold the event and for the materials they supplied for the awards of the first place finishers and the raffle prizes: Pacific Islands Club, Hyatt Regency Saipan, Fiesta Resort and Spa, AIC, Tropical Blend Spa, Duty Free Shoppers, Smile Marianas, IT & E, Marianas Medical Center, and the Law Offices of Joshua Berger. We are very grateful to all of them for their support,” noted Jenkins.
Jenkins confirmed that they had the largest amount of participants last Saturday, compared to previous years. All proceeds of the event will go to school funds, as part of SIS’ objective to “help keep tuition as low as possible.”
