1st Open & Masters Cross Country Championship on Nov. 12

Mini Games 2022 steeplechase silver medalists Denis Myers runs the perimeter line of the Francisco M. Palacios/Saipan International Airport in a cross country race last year. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Run Saipan and Northern Marianas Athletics will host the CNMI’s Inaugural Open & Masters Cross Country Championship this Saturday, Nov. 12, on the perimeter line of the Francisco M. Palacios/Saipan International Airport.

Unofficially dubbed as the Saipan International Airport Trail Run 2022, it will both have an 8-kilometer and 5-kilometer run.

For the 8K event, which serves as the official NMI Cross Country Championship, medals will be presented for Top 3  male and female in each of these categories—35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, and 60-and-up on top of the open division. 

The 5K run, meanwhile, will be Run Saipan’s monthly run for November. 

Run Saipan president Edward Dela Cruz Jr. said the Saipan International Airport Trail Run 2022 was the brainchild of NMA secretary general Robin Sapong when they were filling out the Run Saipan run calendar for 2022.

“So, Robin and I were thinking of a race for November and initially I was thinking we’re gonna do a Suicide Cliff run but reverse because we’re gonna start at the top of Suicide Cliff and run a full decline. But he brought up the airport perimeter idea. And that was what [Dr. Ron Snyder] and  I did a long time ago a few times and I mapped it and it looks like a great course. He’s been wanting to do an airport perimeter running course. I’ve been wanting to do it and it just seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it,” he said.

Fortunately, Dela Cruz said they got the blessing from the Commonwealth Ports Authority to hold the event there and the genesis of the CNMI’s Inaugural Open & Masters Cross Country Championship was born.

“We then brought it one step further by making it an 8K to meet cross country championship standards and we’ll have the 5K for a monthly event at the same time with the 8K portion or their mass athletics. We’ll be awarding the medals based on age group so we’ll be focusing on open division but also for the first time and we’ll be focusing on masters division as well,” he added. 

Dela Cruz encouraged young and old, fit and trying to be fit to become part of history and join the  Saipan International Airport Trail Run 2022.

“This is really  going to be one of the longest courses on Saipan where we can run 98% on grass and not have to deal with vehicular traffic. So it’s a safer course and everybody gets to run in tall grass and not a lot of winding slopes and curves and all-terrain adversities.”

For more information about the Saipan International Airport Trail Run 2022 and the Inaugural Open & Masters Cross Country Championship, email runsaipan@gmail.com or call (670) 287-0891.

The registration link for the Saipan International Airport Trail Run 2022 and the Inaugural Open & Masters Cross Country Championship is https://raceroster.com/events/2022/65931/saipan-international-airport-trail-run-2022?fbclid=IwAR06esKZvpzNGunubd0SJFFFH3-j_j20OWDd-OMyDwWjvXr_qqc4osSpyH4.