Rota half offers more than just a road run

One of the reasons that the Rota Half Marathon appeals to so many athletes is its configuration as a combination on- and off-road race that takes runners through town and along the scenic cliff line, and uphill along a coral road to the halfway point.

After reaching the two-mile marker, the racers made the transition to the unpaved section of the course that sent them on an extended hash-like trail past the abandoned World War II-era Japanese cannon, a waterfall, and over a babbling brook.

As if running 13.1 miles wasn’t enough to take their breath away, the long-distance runners were treated to breathtaking views from death-defying heights as they trekked along within a few feet of the sheer rock face.

Many courses offer runners a water stop roughly every five kilometers, but the 20-km Rota course had more than twice that many, as smiling volunteers dotted the course every three-quarters of a mile or so with ice-cold water and PowerAde for their visitors.

“The people of Rota and the MVA really came through. The water stops and the support this year were probably the best they’ve ever been. The water stops were all cold water and they were less than a mile apart. It was perfect,” said race winner Rob Carruth.

That kind of attention to detail is one of the reasons that Carruth made the trip from Saipan to take part in the race—his last half marathon before leaving the CNMI.

Before making his exit from the Marianas, Carruth is hoping to return to Rota one last time next month for his last multisport event in the chain, but his next leap into the world of endurance will take him much further than 13.1 miles.

“Well I’m gonna be leaving here at the end of the year going to Arizona, so the next thing for me is an ultra marathon in March—a 50-mile run, but hopefully I’ll be coming back for the Rota triathlon,” he said.

As one of the first events of the annual Bisita Luta Festival, the Rota Half enticed all but a pair of runners to stay for the weekend celebration of Francisco De Borja and the unmatched local hospitality.

The rest were the warmly welcomed guests of the people who spent most of the year planning and the better part of the week working with their hands to ensure that everything down to the hand-woven birds hanging from the tents were ready in time for the grand feast.

Mina Atalig, Liz Kani, Julita Calvo, Ray Sablan, and Tano Calvo are just a few of the people who were weaving banana leaves all day to make the decorative hangings for the fiesta grounds, and the Director of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources and the chairman of Bisita Luta Fiesta Vinanney Hocog said that it comes with the territory.

“Locally I think the people are waiting for this for a long time. You know this is a tradition that goes back to the 1600s. Originally people celebrated in September in the village, and along the byways San Francisco became the patron and then it came to become Oct. 10. This is one of the major events in the Commonwealth so we’re just keeping up with the tradition. We’re doing okay as long as there are generation’s like us keeping tradition alive,” he said.