Twelve countries represented in Tagaman

The extreme athletes have traded in the choppy waters off Micro Beach for the tranquil tide of the Saipan Lagoon, swapped their knobby tires and dual suspensions for racing slicks and featherweight machines, and discarded trail shoes for racing flats to participate in this morning’s 17th Tagaman Triathlon.

By the time this paper reached newsstands everywhere, the feisty field of Olympians, professionals, and top-ranked amateurs will have already completed the 2-kilometer swim behind the Pacific Islands Club and invested more than an hour in the lengthy 60-km bike course—with the leaders already returning south to the final transition at the Micro Beach parking lot for the run.

Athletes from the United States, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, Estonia, the Netherlands, Guam, Mexico, Russia, Australia, South Africa, and the CNMI will all race from San Antonio to Marpi in search of the finish line and the elusive Tagaman trophy

Just like last week, Swiss multi-sport machine Olivier Marceau is streaking to win a third straight title. Last year’s Tagaman champion Jamie Whitmore is looking to beat 2006 XTERRA Saipan Champion Renata Bucher by more than seven minutes to take the PIC Double.

Pro triathlete Ryan De Cook is hoping for a full recovery from his injuries suffered on last week’s bike course. John Douglas is looking to return to the level of fitness he felt last year when residing on Saipan. Clubmate Mieko Motoyoshi is taking on the challenge in the professional division this year. Rookie Lewie Tenorio is hoping to shake the bike woes that delayed his time last week when he broke his chain on the way up to Navy Hill.

Mexican professional Fabiola Corona is hungry to take the tape in her second race in Saipan in as many weeks along a road course that favors her strengths.

No matter who is the first to cross the finish line this morning, today’s race will stand as a test to hours spent on the training trail to those who have made it their lifestyle to rise before the sun and work up a sweat before the morning paper reaches their doorsteps.

Some will taste sweet victory by reaching personal bests while others will succumb to the extreme conditions that Saipan has to offer visiting triathletes.

Though the spectators will never know all of the stories behind the scenes, they can live vicariously though the triathletes by witnessing the exhilaration on their faces when they limp, walk, run, fall, or leap beneath the famed archway next to the Hyatt Regency Saipan before the six-hour cutoff.

As with any race, no matter what the outcome, all of today’s competitors are winners for the sole reason of staring down the challenge and calling it out for a duel.