Snyder ‘amazed’ by Bathurst experience

The CNMI’s Dr. Ron Snyder in action in the 55-59 division of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships 2023 last Sunday in Bathurst, Australia.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

CNMI national athletics coach Dr. Ron Snyder got to play athlete for a day when he competed in the 55-59 division of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships 2023 last Sunday in Bathurst, Australia.

The 56-year-old Saipan International School headmaster ran the 6-kilometer event and finished with an unofficial time of 36:09.

“I met my expectations for the race and think I could have done even better. It has been a long time since I competed in a field like that and I am afraid I got carried away in the 250m opening uphill start. The race conditions were really nice. Bathurst has been experiencing a heat wave so they moved the start time up from 12:15pm to 9:10am and it was a really nice temperature. Blue skies and hot but not too hot,” Snyder said in a social media message to the Saipan Tribune.

While he thoroughly enjoyed the cross country run, the Run Saipan secretary/treasurer admitted that it didn’t come with difficulties.

“The most challenging part of the run was right after my favorite part of the run. We have a slight decline and then run straight into a 15m long mud pit. I loved the mud pit. It is such a fun challenge to watch and to participate in. Coming out, we have to go right into a 15-degree hill. I was not a fan of that hill. But then we turned a corner and went right into another slight decline before running through a vineyard, where we went to choose whether we wanted to run through the Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, or Shiraz grapes. Then it is up another steep hill, down a decline and weaving amongst the tires in the chicane section before we had to do it all over again (each loop was 2 kilometers).”

In all, the 2020 NMSA Coach of the Year said the 6K cross country race was amazing.

“The quality of athletes, both on a personal and athletic level, was incredible. It was a real treat sharing meals with the best runners in the world. All of the runners were great. In the masters we had nice conversations and I even got to run into one of my friends from the World Athletics Coaching Course I took several years ago in New Zealand. The U20 and senior runners were also great, sharing contact info, swapping shirts. It was a fun event!”

As for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships 2023 in general, Snyder said it was a great experience coaching CNMI national athletics team members Tania Tan and Sildrey Veloria in their 10K and personally running the 6K. He also fired a warning shot for future participants of local cross country races.

“The people were great, the organizers were amazing. and the comradery was spectacular, but I will probably keep coming back to the course itself. This was rated as the toughest cross country course in the history of the sport and it didn’t disappoint: steep hills, sand pits, mud pits, slalom sections, and killer heat. I don’t know what sadist was in charge but I have learned some great lessons and have some new ideas for next year’s All Schools Cross Country Championships!”