Buco, Chisato, Veloria, Bang win Day 2 and 3

Joel Buco and Rosemarie Chisato trekked the fastest up the unforgiving inclines of Mt. Tapochau—the highest peak of Saipan—on Day 2 of the Inaugural Run Saipan Trinity ‘23.

And to cap off the three-day running event, Sildrey Veloria and Ann Bang, both of whom won Day 1, made it back to the top on Day 3.

The second day of the Trinity race series saw the return of a 5K race up to Mt. Tapochau after two years, with Buco rolling up the mountain first with a time of 31:36. Chad Taflinger clocked in second with a time of 32:49, followed by Theo Rodgers who clocked in at 33:01.

Buco was a tough nut to crack in this foot race even as he said in Filipino that the Trinity race was the first he’s joined. Originally a competitive road biker, Buco said he just wanted to try out running, and that he can now say that he has successfully finished all three races.

The almost 50-year-old Buco joined all three race days and said that during the first race, it was tough on him because those who joined were all fast runners. But, he told himself that for the lung-busting 5K summit up Mt. Tapocho, he will redeem himself, and that he did after he won first overall. 

In the women’s division, Romsemarie Chisato finally claimed first after falling short on the first race day, as she conquered the mountain with a time of 36:33. Ann Bang came in a close second with a time of 37:21 and Jessica Ortizo completed the Top 3 with a time of 38:42.

Even with the literal uphill battle in the Mt. Tapochao 5K, Chisato still managed to push herself even though it was tough, as she said in Filipino that she was just thinking about how she would eventually get to the finish line. She said that it was hot in the beginning of the run “that’s why I struggled, but I was happy when I finished because there were lots of people who cheered me on at the finish line.”

She added that with running up the 474-meter or 1,555-foot mountain, runners definitely “need to exert a lot of effort and train running a lot to strengthen their legs.”

In the first 5K up Mt. Tapochao dubbed Run Saipan Underground 5K 21.3 last April 2021, Marshall Hoskins and Denise Myers topped the men’s and women’s division with times of 26:43 and 33:45, respectively.

Veloria and Bang topped the third and last day of races which spanned 5K of the Beach Road Pathway starting across the Modern Stationary and turning around at OhMyGrill.

With a time of 20:21, Veloria came in first overall, followed by Chad Taflinger with a time of 22:01, and Chong Nam Lee came in third with a time of 22:54. Veloria missed Day 2 because of church. 

Starting and ending the three-day race with a bang, was Ann Bang, who clocked in for the Oleai 5K at 24:55. She was followed by Rosemarie Chisato with a time of 25:50 and Terra Allen completed the Top 3 with a time of 27:18. 

The Inaugural Run Saipan Trinity ‘23 was a three-day running event to kickstart the club’s yearlong calendar of races. The next Run Saipan race on Feb. 18 is the 3rd Annual Marianas Ekiden which is a 21-kilometer relay from Micro Beach in Garapan to just before Pacific Islands Club Saipan in San Antonio and back.

Results of the overall champions for all three races will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.