Before the race, Taga Inc. President Wolf Mojica asked competitors, volunteers, the media, and spectators to dedicate a moment’s silence for all the people who lost their lives and family they left behind in Japan. “If you pray, please pray for them,” said Mojica.
“[I] won Xterra Saipan earlier, and dedicated it to the Tsunami victims,” posted three-year XTERRA Saipan winner Sam Gardner on his facebook wall.
In earlier news the 5k/10k sunset scramble was delayed because of a tsunami warning/alert released to the community to move to higher grounds.
Luckily, Saipan was spared after the “all-clear” signal was given a little after 11 p.m. Friday night.
“Gardner, Vanlandingham win XTERRA Saipan on a crazy post-tsunami Saturday morning at the 10th annual XTERRA Saipan Championship in the Northern Mariana Islands,” Vanlandingham posted on her Facebook wall.
Gardner defended his title on Saipan after topping everyone last Saturday, clocking in after 2:53:46. Gardner took 21 minutes and 30 seconds to finish the swim portion, 1:28:37 in the bike portion, and finally 1:01:49 during the run.
Vanlandingham conquered the race to post the secnd overall best time crossing the finish line at 3:01:09. Vanlandingham posted 22 minutes and 35 seconds for the swim, 1:36:01 for the bike, and 1:00:40 for the run.
The XTERRA Saipan was named the Crown Jewel in 2002. This year the XTERRA America Tour kicked off starting with the 2011 Saipan XTERRA competition.
