Mieko finishes 3rd in age group

Mieko Carey completed the XTERRA World Championships slower than her time last year, but that didn’t prevent the longtime Saipan resident to finish in the Top 3 of her age group last Oct. 26 in Maui.

Carey finished 235th out of 482 finishers and was third in the women’s 30-34 age group with a time of 3:53:38

She negotiated the 0.9-mile swim in 22:02, tackled the 19.1-mile bike course in 2:24:28, before conquering the 6.9-mile run in 1:07:08.

Incidentally, Dominique Angerer of Austria and Connie Silvestri of Britain topped Carey’s age group with times of 3:44:43 and 3:45:09, respectively.

Understandably, Carey was overjoyed about her performance in the 2008 XTERRA World Championships.

“I came in third in my age group and I stood up on stage during the awards banquet! It was hardest race I’ve ever taken part in. At first I was disappointed about my time when I finished, because I got sick on the bike and my overall time was slower then last year. I couldn’t do all the effort I wanted. But when I found out I was third in my group and a lot of people acknowledged my effort I was nervous but super happy about my result,” Carey said in an email to the Saipan Tribune.

Carey did slightly better in the 2007 edition of the grueling triathlon, coming in some nine minutes faster than this year’s time after clocking in 3:44.41. That was enough for her to grab the 198th spot out of the 550 participants last year.

Aside from Carey, two other Saipan triathletes took part in the World Championships—Carey’s husband Kevin and Commonwealth Health Center anesthesiologist Eli Torgeson.

Torgeson finished 167th out of 482 finishers with a time of 3:36:03—25:29 in the swim, 2:08:56 in the bike, and 1:01:08 in the run. He came in 21st in the men’s 35-39 age group.

Kevin, for his part, was 39th in the same age group after coming in 330th out of 482 finishers with a time of 4:17:06—27:56 in the swim, 2:29:39 in the bike, and 1:19:31 in the run.

Ever the cheerleader, Mieko was stoked after all three triathletes Saipan sent to the World Championships completed the race.

“Eli did great job and Kevin too. Team Saipan did great job,” she said.

Spain’s Ruben Ruzafa (2:37:36) and England’s Julie Dibens (3:03:57) topped the 2008 XTERRA World Championships. The former was the Tagaman Triathlon champion in 2007.

Swiss star Renata Bucher, the 2008 XTERRA Saipan and Tagaman champion, was fifth in the women’s division, while compatriot Oliver Marceau, 2007 XTERRA Saipan Championship men’s winner, came fifth in the men’s division.

Saipan men’s champion Andrew Noble of Australia, meanwhile, did not take part in the World Championships this year as he stayed home with his wife who is expecting a child.

Wolf Mojica and Bill Sakovich of Taga, Inc., the organizers of the XTERRA Saipan Championship, represented Saipan as international organizers.