This peaceful island surrounded by pristine azure waters and lush jungle, will be home to the “toughest bike race in Micronesia”. The 100km cycling course canvasses nearly the entire circumference of Saipan. Hell of Marianas appeals to all levels of bicyclists, from the novice (joining a team of 4, each riding 25km); the intermediate as a team of two, riding 50km each; and the avid cyclist tackling 100km solo.
The course starts at PIC and heads south into the village of Koblerville toward the Saipan International Airport. From the airport, the cyclists will ride uphill towards the eastern fringes of the island, through the residential villages of San Vicente, Papago and Kagman toward the Lao Lao Bay Golf Resort.
From the golf course, the bikers will proceed north on Isa Drive and descend down to the Kingfisher Golf Course entrance and make the U turn, scaling the long, windy road uphill to Capitol Hill. At the bottom of Capitol Hill, the course converges on Chalan Pale Arnold Road to the next check point high atop Radar Hill in As Matuis.
The last portion of the race appears as a tourist map to Saipan’s infamous historical and scenic sites, including Suicide Cliff, Bird Island, Grotto, Banzai Cliff, and Beach Road and back to PIC’s finish line.
While 100km sounds intimidating to most, the Hell of the Marianas is certainly doable for the average cyclists. Those who choose to race 100km solo definitely have the daunting feat of riding continuously for an average of four to five hours but for others, team categories make the race much more palatable.
Alexander Bagenov and Eugeniy Smarchkov dominated the Men’s race, leading the entire time by a margin of 3 to 10 minutes. Bagenov, age 28, races professionally for an Italian cycling team and strategically took turns drafting with Smarchkov, age 21, to maintain that decisive lead.
Right before the finish line, the two slowed to a complete halt, picked up their bikes and walked through the finish line with Smarchkov bowing to Bagenov as the champion. Their times were 3 hours 3 minutes 25 seconds and 3 hours 3 minutes 26 seconds respectively. In third place was another newcomer, Hwan Geol Lee.
The Women’s race almost seemed like a reverse déjà vu as Guam’s Chiyo Lombard drafted with cohort Jazy Garcia to maintain a steady pace while Saipan’s Mieko Carey was out on her own for the majority of the race, ranking fifth place for approximately 90km.
Cash awards were given to the first three finishers in the Men’s and Women’s Open divisions with $1000 for 1st, $500 for 2nd and $250 for 3rd.
Other prizes were awarded to the top finalists in the age group divisions including a specialized carbon fiber frame, a roundtrip ticket to anywhere in Asia where Delta flies, room accommodations at PIC Guam, PIC Saipan, Niseko, and other various gifts.
PIC wishes to thank Aon Insurance, Deloitte, Delta, DFS Galleria, Hertz, IT&E, KL Carr Enterprises, MVA, Pacific Subsea, PTC (Miller, Gatorade, Pepsi, and Monster), PIC Boutiki, PIC Guam, Rare International and Shell for their generous contributions and support.
