The half-marathon was participated in by over 20,000 runners all over the world, with New Zealand leading the Pacific runners, Australia, second; Solomon Islands, third; Guam fourth and CNMI’s fifth.
Kabiriel who arrived yesterday morning recounted that he was in the middle of the crowd of runners and it took him five minutes to even reach the starting line before he moved ahead with the 13.2-mile run which he finished in one hour and 20 minutes.
He said he was looking at approximately 15,000 participants behind him and another 10,000 in front of him while he was reaching the fourth mile where he started picking up speed.
Farther on, Kabiriel kept catching up as many as runners as he could until he saw the crowd starting to get thinner ahead.
Then, he saw his room mate from Solomon Island whom he knew is a good runner so he kept paced. At that juncture, he spotted the Guam runner who also gave him the reason to stay close to ensure a top slot in the Pacific and Micronesian category.
“I dedicate this victory to the people of the CNMI,” Kabiriel said.
