Elementary student wins 10K race anew

Gregorio T. Camacho Elementary School student Conatsu Kaga notched back-to-back 10K victories in the girls U14 division during last Saturday’s 7th Saipan Marathon.

The 8-year-old runner crossed the finish line at Micro Beach at the 56:26 mark, about seven minutes faster than her 2011 winning time (1:03:31).

Kaga was one of the three CNMI runners who topped their respective age group in the shortest race of the weekend. The other two age group winners in the women’s 10K were Chiharu Sato (53:09/30 to 39 division) and Akane Imaya (53:44/40 to 49). Rounding out the age group winners in the race that brought runners to as far as the Hakubotan turn (in Beach Road) and back to Micro Beach were Japan’s Eimi Hirano (1:27:47/ 15 to 19), Rie Takagi (56:00/20 to 29), Chiyoko Kitamura (56:21/50 50 59), and Setsuko Fujita (1:14:13/over 60).

In the men’s 10K division, the CNMI’s Cesar Danao (44:07), not Yuji Yamada (44:47) as announced during the awards ceremony last Saturday night, was runner-up to Charles Epperson (37:45). In the age group divisions, the top placers were the CNMI’s Rintaro Miyawaki (54:00/U14), Kenji Suzuki (1:10:40/15 to 19), and Hansu Chung (59:14/20 to 29), Japan’s Yoshihiro Miyazaki (53:35/30 to 39), Mitsuaki Sosumi (50:26/40 to 49), Eichi Ishigami (48:54/50 to 59), and Sakae Sato (47:19/over 60).

In the half marathon, Japanese runners swept the men’s and women’s fields. Top finishers include the men’s division’s Ryoichiro Goto (1:58:36/U14), Fuma Sadamoto (1:46:06/15 to 19), Koichiro Ishii (1:37:28/20 to 29), Kunihiro Sasamoto (1:36:42/ 30 to 39), Kenichiro So (1:38:58/40 to 49), Norio Teraoka (1:41:13/50 to 59), and Kiyoshi Sato (1:37:37/over 60); and women’s Natsumi Ishikawa (2:02:29/20 to 29), Mika Yabe (2:12:23/30 to 39), Naomi Amai (2:02:32/40 to 49), and Kazuyo Tanabe (2:08:44/50 to 59).

751 finishers, over 2M advertising exposure

Counting the full and ultra marathon finishers, 751 individuals crossed the finish line of last weekend’s Saipan Marathon.

Runners cruising the northern and southern parts of the island had their photos and videos taken by visiting media groups from Japan and Korea.

Five television stations and two magazines from Japan and two magazines from Korea covered the race, according to the organizing Marianas Visitors Authority and these would translate to over $2 million in advertising exposure in Japan and Korea

“The Saipan Marathon, along with the upcoming XTERRA Saipan Championship on March 24 and the Tagaman Triathlon on March 31, are all promotional tools organized or supported by the Marianas Visitors Authority (MVA) to spread the word about the Northern Marianas,” said MVA marketing manager Bruce Bateman. “Not only do these events attract visitors, they also provide an opportunity to showcase our beautiful islands through visiting media, as well.”

MVA in a press statement said that the “opportunity is expected to translate this year to millions of televisions viewers and nearly 300,000 readers throughout Japan, as well as hundreds of thousands of readers in Korea. The agency added that Boom-Up filmed a 30-minute program to air on Yomiuri TV and Chukyo TV with CNMI Sports Tourism Ambassador and marathon supporter Kampei Hazama featured in the show. Two female reporters of TV shows Hirujige-don from Nagasaki International Broadcasting and Niigata Ichiban of TV Niigata Network were also scheduled to run the marathon as part of their programs. Sapporo TV’s What’s New Cute will air a 50-minute show about Saipan, while TV Oita Broadcasting and BS Nippon Broadcasting will team on another production introducing Saipan to their viewers.

“We give a big thank you to all our sponsors and the community for coming together to make this year’s marathon a safe and enjoyable one for the participants,” said MVA community projects manager Martin Duenas. “We look forward to another great event in 2013.”