Fastest 1 Mile Road Race on Dec. 31

Run Saipan will host the inaugural 1 Mile Road Race on Dec. 31 from the southbound lane of Beach Road next to the World War II Tank Memorial along Quartermaster Road.

Check-in time is at 6am with start time 30 minutes later at 6:30am and medals will be awarded to the Top 3 men’s and woman’s runners overall.

Run Saipan president Edward Dela Cruz Jr. said this race is to crown who is the fastest 1-mile road runner on Saipan before the local running community says goodbye to 2021.

“As a runner I’ve always wished someone would hold a one-way, 1-mile road race to be able to run my fastest without obstacles. No one has held one for a long time on Saipan so I thought we might as well do it as Run Saipan and what better way than New Year’s Eve. I know there are people on Saipan that want to test their 1-mile capability in a race-setting and I would rather see that done on the road than on the track and field,” he said.

Dela Cruz added that track races are tactical and in road races there really is no time for tactics for a one-miler.

“Once the runners out of site good luck catching up. You’re either first or last. Make no mistake this is a competitive event. So this event will crown the champion. Medals will be given out to Top 3 male and female finishers. It will be annual and to crown who is the king and queen of the 1-mile road race. The course will be measured to be exactly 1 mile. So for people not vying for first place can use this to find out where they are with an ‘official’ race time and not by GPS or sports watch. Technology makes mistakes. Hand-timing on a measured course does not.”

And since this is race on the main road of Beach Road, the Run Saipan president reminded motorists to take an alternate route as the outer lane of the southbound lane of Beach Road from the World War II Tank Memorial will be closed between 6am and 6:45am next Friday, Dec. 31.

Dela Cruz also added that the 1 Mile Road Race will be the substitute for this month’s underground race. “We don’t have any more time to schedule a 5K with the Christmas Island Relay launching and our Dec. 31st race.”

For more information, email runsaipan@gmail.com or call or text (670) 287-0891. Registration link is https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVaz7Rzs9p-4X-F73GY87zXcFo_l15fYoInLluDRSQt-ce2A/viewform?fbclid=IwAR3OqU46tPSHFH2ip1wJpLWFiA8eaFpzX1GjLm0PbUvvzJGLIZ9dBbBGC3o.