Corona leaves Saipan with a smile

After racing in taxing triathlons separated by a week of events hosted by the local community, Mexican professional Fabiola Corona and her newlywed husband Aaron Sanchez enjoyed the fruits of their hard-earned efforts in the water, on the roads, and along the trails of Saipan during the 17th Tagaman Triathlon awards banquet Saturday night at the Pacific Islands Club.

While she placed fifth for the second time in as many races with a speedy 3:24:02, Corona said that she gained valuable experience on the course and will have to put her nose to the grindstone if she hopes to gain some more speed.

“It was good but I was hoping to finish better. I came out of the water behind Jamie [Whitmore] in second place and I was in first place at one point on the bicycle, but as in XTERRA, everybody passed me. I thought I was fast but they were faster than me.

“And then on the run, well, I need to be faster, but I am happy. At least I have a trophy, I have some money, I have the experience, I have the friendship—we were just happy to be here to compete in both events,” she said.

Aside from competing in the XTERRA Saipan Championship and the Tagaman Triathlon, the couple said that they had a lot of fun participating in a special running of the Saipan Hash House Harriers, Go-Kart racing, the Tank-2-Tank lagoon swims, a Forbidden Island tour, and capped off the 2nd Annual Saipan Sportsfest with a Sunday barbeque at Obyan Beach on Sunday.

“I love this island. We had a great time, we had a lot of fun, and we are very happy because we met some great people. Everyone is very friendly, they want to help you with everything. It’s very different from many places that we have traveled so we will keep out memories of Saipan in a special place in our hearts and in our minds,” said Sanchez.

With their stay in Saipan now complete, the couple extended an offer to the local community to participate in the XTERRA Mexico Championship on Saturday, June 24, in Puerto Vallarta.

“We hope that some people from here come to Mexico so we can be as good as the hosts from Saipan were to us,” said Corona.

Now the pro is on her way back to the “real world” in Mexico City and face the reality of a sponsored triathlete in a 20 million-person strong metropolis. While Corona and Sanchez say that they hope to come back next year, they said that they have to work to pay the bills before booking a return flight for the 2007 XTERRA Saipan Championship and the 18th Tagaman Triathlon.