Kaneyama Yuki raises his arms as he crosses the finish line of the Saipan Marathon 2024 at Micro Beach Saturday morning.
Hana Lee smiles as she reaches the finish line of the Saipan Marathon 2024 at the Micro Beach Saturday morning
VISITING runners Kaneyama Yuki and Hana Lee topped their respective divisions in the 2024 Saipan Marathon on Saturday morning.
The full marathon started at 4:30 a.m. and covered 26.2 miles. Runners made their way south to their first turnaround at Thunder Chicken on Middle Road in Chalan Kiya. The course then stretched north toward Banzai Cliff for its second turnaround point before returning to the start/finish line at Micro Beach.
The first to cross the finish line was 24-year-old Kaneyama Yuki who clocked 2:44:45.
In an interview, he said it was his first time to visit Saipan and join its annual marathon. “I just wanted to go abroad and race,” Yuki said. “It was not hard or hot either.”
Yuki, who works for the Japanese government, started running when he was 13 years old, and has joined many marathons in his home country. After he found out that he won a round-trip ticket from United Airlines for winning this year’s Saipan Marathon, he said he wants to come back to defend his title.
In second place was Miyamoto Shohei with a time of 2:46:21 while Yusheng Ni came in third at 2:57:53.
Women’s division
In the women’s division, Hana Lee finished first at 03:31:54. “The course was amazing,” she said. “It’s pretty hilly but I expected that.”
Lee said the last time she completed a marathon was back in 2022, adding that Saipan Marathon has been the longest event in which she has participated.
Lee was born in Korea but raised in Washington state and later joined the U.S. Navy. During her travels, she has visited Saipan several times, and now resides on Guam.
“I just wanted to beat four hours and finishing under that was a complete surprise,” Lee said.
This has been the best marathon she has competed in, she added. “Out of all the marathons I have ever ran, the aid stations and the sponges were so clutch. I also felt like everyone came out just to support and it was really cool!”
In second place was Aspen Egbert with a time of 4:17:07 followed by Ann Bang at 4:23.40.
The marathon’s other results will be featured in Variety’s next editions.
