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2011 Saipan Sportsfest pushes through
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Posted on Dec 30 2011
By Roselyn Monroyo
Reporter
Reporter
The 2011 Saipan Sportsfest that featured the XTERRA Saipan Championship and Tagaman Triathlon went ahead as scheduled in March despite a tsunami threat.
The XTERRA Saipan Championship was held a day after Japan was struck by a tsunami and earthquake. A tsunami warning was issued on Saipan Friday afternoon, March 11, canceling the XTERRA Trail Run.
The following day, despite fear of the water, swimmers plunged into action at Micro Beach and offered prayers for the victims of the disasters in Japan before the race started.
United Kingdom’s Sam Gardner and American Shonny Vanlandingham went on to win the men’s and women’s division races, respectively. Gardner battled food poisoning en route to his third straight victory in the Crown Jewel of XTERRA. Vanlandingham won for the first time and ended Renata Bucher’s six-year reign. Bucher dropped to third behind the XTERRA Saipan newcomer and eventual runner-up Carina Wasle of Austria.
The 2011 Saipan Sportsfest was completed with the staging of Tagaman Triathlon, which still drew a crowd despite a couple of withdrawals from Japanese athletes affected by the tsunami.
Again, Gardner went through a tough fight before winning. He recovered from a slow start in the swim leg against the faster and younger Korean contingent, survived a bike crash, and ran to the finish line bleeding and bruised.
In the women’s division U.S. pro Suzie Snyder pulled off an upset over Bucher, Wasle, and 2010 champion Dan Bi Hong.
