The members of Team Better Than Coffee celebrate as they cross the finish line of Marianas Ekiden ’23 at American Memorial Park on Saturday.
The Racing MATT-ers! approach the finish line of Marianas Ekiden ’23 at American Memorial Park on Saturday.
TEAM Better Than Coffee ruled this year’s Marianas Ekiden ’23 by clearing the four stages of a half marathon distance with a time of 01:48:36 on Saturday morning at American Memorial Park.
Hosted by Run Saipan, this year’s race returned to its original format in 2021 in which participants who registered as individual runners were put into a lottery and assigned in a team of four.
Each runner completed one of the four stages of 5K, 5K, 5K and 6K whose total distance is equal to that of a half marathon.
Team Better Than Coffee’s roster consisted of Kosuke Sato, Elizabeth Sawyer, Robert Mojica and Aaron Pamintuan — all experienced runners.
Pamintuan, who took on the 6K distance, said: “It was fun. I had the toughest part but I had a great lead thanks to Sato — he gave us a 10-minute lead against everyone else.”
At the last 1K distance of the race, the entire team had to run together. “To run with a team — the energy is higher, it’s much easier to run as a team,” Pamintuan added.
For Mojica, it was about keeping up with the pros, referring to his team-mates. “It was our first time meeting face-to-face so I said I would try to match their pace. It was definitely an experience,” he said.
Sawyer has only been on island for a month and a half, and running with three “new faces” was another new experience.
As for Sato, winning was a form of redemption after several unsuccessful attempts to finish first in previous Ekiden events.
Finishing second this year were the Racing MATT-ers!: Marjorie Daria, Adam Walsh, Terra Allen and Tiana Cabrera. They clocked 01:51:05 and were followed by Lost In Pace — Sarah Ashley, Philip Santos, Rosemarie Chisato and Matthew Furan — whose finish time was 01:52:01.
“We wanted to create a relay race for distance runners,” Run Saipan President Edward Dela Cruz Jr. said. “The special thing about this year is the 100% lottery. It was completely random and it all depended on which leg they put their runners on. For next year’s race format, you’ll need to have two women and two men.”
Dela Cruz at the same time would like “to thank Northern Marianas Athletics, the volunteers, Saipan Tribune, Marianas Variety, KSPN, and everyone for their support.”
