Road Rulers show way in Island Relay

The Road Rulers lived up to their name topping the 2008 Christmas Island Relay Saturday.

The winning team was composed of Champ Untalan, Matt Mancao, Nate Mateo, Robin Sapong, and Yvonne Bennett and finished the 13.7-mile race in one hour, 30 minutes, 41 seconds.

The Road Rulers’ time eclipsed the 1:33:04 set by 2007 champion We Are Legends, who incidentally were led by Mateo and Mancao.

Mancao anchored the Road Rulers sprinting from the starting line at the Pacific Islands Club in San Antonio, while Bennett finished the race at the Last Command Post in Marpi.

Finishing second were the Saipan Cyclers, who timed in at 1:34.38, and were composed of Florence Antonio, Butch Sublemente, Ronald Villafria, Cesar Danao, and Rene Calage.

In third place was Team Docomo (James Lee, Jerry Diaz, Pete Mendiola, Joe Villacrusis, and Yvette Bennett) with a time of 1:42:24.

Other finishers placing fourth to 10th were Code Blue (Michael Thomas, Divya Sharma, Bruce Berline, and Laura Shevy); the Colts (Joe, Carol, Daniel, and John Auther, and Tom Linden); Team Rojo (Wolf Mojica, Pete Vilagas, Shogo Ando, Stan Good, and Alex Racoma);

Harumi’s Team (Jon Ada, Allen Moses, Hamuri, Joomi, Bany); Zoo Crew (Tyce, Angie, and Logan Mister, Derek and Cole Chambers); Team Rule 5 (Patrick and Angie Maanao, Andrew Ozawa, Robert Naraja, and George David); and La Tormenta de Nieve (Wayne, Brianna, and Mary Ellyn Martin, and Mike Blasberg).

The Colts and Zoo Crew were lauded by the crowd when they crossed the finish line with the teams’ 10-and-under runners. Daniel and John Auther of the Colts and Zoo Crew’s Logan Mister and Cole Chambers were the kid runners in the group and held their own against the island’s seasoned runners.

Jack “The Road Runner Bunny” Kabiriel shattered the 2007 winning time of Villafria (1:48.50) en route to prevailing in the solo race division.

Kabiriel clocked in at 1:47:35 to finish ahead of Keum Bae Ji (1:58:17). Other finishers in the men’s solo were Lewie Tenorio (2:03:24), Fred Camacho (2:03:25), Yoshi Suzuki (2:04:38), and Stephen Springer (2:23:05).

Noriko Jim competed in her first long distance race in about a year and was the first female finisher timing in at 1:56:03. Monica Yamaguchi and Tamia Noshikido clocked in at 1:58:17, and 2:10:41, respectively.