11 complete PIC Double

Aussie Andrew Noble and Renata Bucher of Switzerland earned another return trip to Saipan next year after winning the Pacific Islands Club Double, leading nine others that completed the race.

The PIC Double is awarded to triathletes that had the best combined times in the XTERRA Saipan Championship and the Tagaman Triathlon, held one week apart.

Noble and Bucher claimed their second PIC Double and at the same time collected close to $5,000 in cash and other prizes. They both earned a free return trip to Saipan next year to earn a chance of defending their XTERRA and Tagaman titles, while at the same time winning a seven-day free stay and meals at PIC.

It was Noble’s second straight PIC Double title after winning it last year with United Kingdom’s Julie Dibens. Noble’s combined time of five hours, 41 minutes, and 16 seconds was slower than his last year’s record of 5:34:46.

In last year’s XTERRA and Tagaman, Noble logged in times of 2:39:56 and 2:54:50 compared to the 2:46:51 and 2:54:25 he registered this year in both races.

Bucher, which won the 2005 PIC Double with compatriot Olivier Marceau, won her second Double after three years. She logged in a total time of 6:38:20, which is 6:01 better from her 2005 record of 6:14:11.

Bucher was the third best among the 11 PIC Double finishers after logging in times of 3:12:46 and 3:25:34 in the 2008 XTERRA Saipan and Tagaman.

Saipan’s Eli Torgeson was the second best PIC Double finisher as the Commonwealth Health Center anesthesiologist tallied 6:33:00, a full 5:20 ahead of Bucher.

Torgeson finished strong in his first XTERRA Saipan Championship with a time of 3:17:11 to become the top amateur finisher that earned him a slot to the 2008 XTERRA World Championship on Oct. 26 in Maui, Hawaii.

He then registered a 3:15:49 time in the Tagaman to finish sixth overall behind the pros and placing fifth in the open division. He was again the top finisher from Saipan earning him a slot, together with female winner Maimi Shimizu, in the 28th Annual Kaike Triathlon on July 15 in Japan.

Mieko Carey, who gave Bucher a hard time in both races, placed fourth overall in the PIC Double with a combined time of 7:05:29, eclipsing her 2007 record of 7:28;14.

Tinian’s Ken Halliday placed fifth with a total time of 7:52:42, while Lewie Tenorio logged in 7:52:54. Nate “The Snakeman” Hawley broke the eight-hour barrier when he tallied 7:57:13 compared to his 2007 time of 8:15:52.

The other PIC Double finishers were Russia’s Sergei Makarenko (8:07:24); Australia’s Allan Callinson, who is Bucher’s trainer, (8:46:02); former Saipan Tribune sports reporter Brad Ruszala (9:54:50); and Hans Dieben of Chula Vista, California (11:22:29).