CNMI represented in Army Ten Miler

Three runners represented the CNMI in the prestigious Army Ten Miller held on Oct. 9 (Oct. 10 on Saipan) in Washington, D.C.

Leading the list was Tinian resident and 2010 XTERRA World participant Joshua Manglona, who completed his debut race in one hour, 17 minutes, and 52 seconds.

The Army Ten Miller is an annual event open to people affiliated with the U.S. Army and other Armies in the world and runners start and finish the course at the Pentagon, passing through DC landmarks, like the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and the Capitol Building.

Joining Manglona in the race were Tinian resident Abigail Evangelista and Saipan resident Paul Anthony Viator, who was the best finisher among the three, clocking in at 1:14:39. Evangelista submitted 1:41:56.

The 23-year-old Manglona is now based in Lexington, Missouri, serving in the U.S. Army Reserve. The son of James and Emily Manglona placed 266th out of 714 runners in his division and No. 2,348 in the men’s (12,245 participants) and 2,795 overall among the 21,914 finishers. He had a split time of 48:34 in the 10-mile race.

Viator joined the race as part of the 9th Mission Support Command’s teams that include Army reservists from Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, American Samoa, Guam, and the CNMI.

“There were tryouts held in July in all the different locations. Captain Ryan Mortensen of Saipan, who ran the race last year, conducted the tryouts this year. The command entered six teams; an all male team, an all-female team, a mixed over 40y team, and three other mixed teams. The all female team won first place in the reserve category. The mixed team was second in the reserve mixed category. I was on the all male team, which won third place in the reserve men’s category,” Viator said in an email to Saipan Tribune.

Viator, who was also a first timer like Manglona, finished 1,911th overall and was No. 1,639 in the men’s and 182 in his division. His split time was 46:07.

Evangelista joined her fourth Army Ten Miller and this year was ranked overall at No. 13, 544, No. 4,561 in the women’s (19,645 female runners), and No. 890 in her division (1,760 runners). Evangelista, who is based in Alexandria, Virginia and works as the executive assistant to the Commander of the White House Communications Agency in Washington finished the halfway mark of the race in 1:00:36.

Tesfaye Sendeku of Maryland was the top overall finisher of this year’s Army Ten Miller, clocking in at 47:51, while Tesata Dengera, also of Maryland, was the first female finisher at 56:35.

The inaugural Army Ten Miller was held in 1985 with Kevin McGarry of University of Maryland topping the race that drew only 1,600 runners. Marianne Dickerson, the runner-up in the 1983 Marathon World Championships, claimed the women’s title.