Runners relish June schedule
Local runners have plenty of reason to celebrate the month of June and plenty of time to break in a new pair of running shoes, but they will have to choose between tradition and ambition as the Silver Streak returns to Saipan for the 13th Annual Tom Picarro Memorial Fun Run on the same day that the Marianas Visitors Authority and the KFC Triathlon Club of Japan team up to challenge Saipan’s highest peak during the Island Pride Marathon.
As they have on several occasions, the MVA is teaming up with longtime race promoters from Japan—the KFC Triathlon Club of Japan—to bring a large crowd of runners to the top of Mt. Tapochau this summer, but the second marathon to hit Saipan this year falls on the same time that runners will gather outside of the DFS Garapan Galleria and travel south to Quartermaster Road, turnaround at the tank, and return to the Galleria in memory of the former president of DFS Saipan and avid runner, P. Thomas Picarro.
For those who love to stretch their legs with lengthy jogs in the Marianas, the extra runs are a good problem to have. Now it’s a matter of whether they feel like going the distance or taking the 4.2-mile fun run follows one of the favorite practice courses of the silver-haired man that used to wave at everyone as they drove by.
The 42.195-kilometer marathon will begin at the newly remodeled Saipan World Resort, and head north to the Mobil Gas Station in Tanapag, where the runners will turnaround and start their trip to Mt. Tapochau. Once they earn the view from above, the endurance aficionados will run downhill and back to the Saipan World Resort.
While both of the runs will be exciting and challenging, they will both require a lot of volunteering and the MVA is turning to the public to pitch in and support the athletes in the morning.
Those interested in helping the MVA continue to provide support to sports activities on Saipan can email their intentions to brepeki@mymarianas.com.
Registration forms for the Silver Streak can be picked up at DFS Saipan Limited head office on the second floor of the Galleria between the hours of 8am and 5pm, Monday through Friday, in the boutique offices from 9am to 9pm, daily, or at the Gilbert C. Ada Gym in Oleai. For more information, contact race director Wolf Mojica via email at wolf@saipan.com or by calling (671)647-3981, (671)727-4274, or by fax at (671)647-5510.
For more information regarding the Island Pride Marathon, contact Wayne Pangelinan at the MVA via email at waynep@mymarianas.com, Hiroko Tenorio at htenorio@mymarianas.com, or by calling MVA Saipan headquarters at 664-3200.
