Manglona placed 326th in the overall rankings, finishing the trail in a total of 12 hours, 8 minutes, and 42 seconds.
Manglona “felt fear” in the beginning of the swim event, after seeing the number of people he was up against. Although he felt like fainting, Manglona fell into “race mode” after hearing the horn blow.
The competitors biked up Mt. Daisen, which contained a 145 kilometer trail.
Manglona faced six hours before reaching the final running event. He mentioned keeping track of the distance that was ahead of him, because overheating was a big problem at that stage of the race. He was sustained by salt, sports drinks, and bananas from the aid stations that he passed by.
Manglona noted that his mind was his “biggest obstacle” in the race. “It’s natural for your mind to try to tell you to stop… But I wanted to keep pushing.” Manglona also mentioned finishing the race with the CNMI flag, because he “felt like the people of the CNMI were right there with him.” He felt that Kaike has made him a “better athlete.”
Joshua Manglona finally ends with the words, “Never give up. Keep pushing forward.”
