4th of July run was almost a 1-miler

Latte Built Gym owner Derek Cutting, left, poses with Inaugural 4th of July Independence Day 2-Mile Race women’s Top 3, from left, second place Mira Valle, first place Tiana Cabrera, and third place Anika Snyder. (Lao Zhang )

Latte Built Gym owner Derek Cutting said last Sunday’s Inaugural 4th of July Independence Day 2-Mile Race almost became a 1-mile course.

He said when they were planning the annual event to commemorate America’s birthday, Run Saipan’s Edward Dela Cruz suggested that the course be only 1 mile, but he suggested that it be 2 miles based on the Army Combat Fitness Test run.

“We talked about doing this annually and we thought the best time would be the 4th of July. I’m almost a 20-year veteran and I’m still in the Army. Latte Built being veteran-owned and I thought it would be nice to make an annual run. Being Independence Day and 4th of July it would be a nice start for the day. Two miles is based on the Army physical fitness test. At first Ed asked if we could do a 1-miler and I figured we’ll if it’s gonna be Army-based then might as well make it at least 2 miles to represent the run we had to do in our physical fitness test,” he told Saipan Tribune after the run along the Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio Beach Road Pathway.

Cutting said if there was any regret in organizing the 4th of July Independence Day, it was that they didn’t made it public sooner.

“It was great. A lot of avid runners are part of the Run Saipan club and a lot of them came out. I think next year will spread the word sooner and we’ll have a better turnout.”

Cutting, who thanked Run Saipan and Northern Marianas Athletics in helping stage the race, also reminisced about his first time to take the Army Combat Fitness Test run.

“I still have to run 2 miles now but it’s not as fast as it used to be. My best time was 12:53 and I’ve averaged like 14:30s the past 10 years,” he said.

Brad Ruszala, an Army veteran who served in 9th Infantry Regiment, took part in the 4th of July race and said he was happy to do it. “I’m glad to have run the race but the only service-related memory I had from 2-mile run was from how my best 2-mile time from the Army days was less than as long as it took me to run the last mile this year.”

Run Saipan’s Dela Cruz, meanwhile, thanked Cutting and Latte Built Gym for making the 4th of July Independence Day 2-mile Race possible.

“Thank you so much to Derek Cutting and Latte Built for taking ownership and sponsoring a great run for 4th of July. Thank you to Marianas Visitors Authority for providing our race clock for all our run events. Thank you to Dr. Ron Snyder and Saipan International School for providing the start/finish archway for our runners. Most of all thank you to our volunteer staff and runners that came out today to celebrate our independence.”

He also thanked the local media and volunteer photographers Lao Zhang and John Ibajan for lending their creative talents in covering Run Saipan and NMA’s event.

Marshall Hoskins and Tiana Cabrera won the 4th of July Run from Garapan Fishing Base to National Office Supply and back with times of 11:50:39 and 15:11:57, respectively. Completing the Top 3 in the men’s division were Kosuke Sato (12:01:31) and Ken Song (12:25:61), while coming in second for the women was Mira Valle (17:44:86) and third place was Anika Snyder (17:59:25). A total of 20 took part in the early morning race.