Kicks and Cleats tops women’s relay

Ronda

Kicks and Cleats’ Evelyn Pangelinan and Vernice Ronda had everything clicking for them en route to winning women’s division of the 6th Saipan Duathlon last Saturday from Banzai Cliff in Marpi.

Pangelinan took care of the run portion and Ronda did her thing in the bike split to finish the 5-kilometer run, 20-km bike, and 2.5-km run with a time of 1:21:05.

Team Bingo of runner Jessica Ortizo and cyclist Marjorie Ganacias was a far second at 1:24:24 with Team Houk-Bang of Ann Bang and Rowena Houk completing the Top 3 in 1:27:42.

The women’s winners agreed that the 6th Saipan Duathlon was, all in all, a very enjoyable event.

“It was fun. The 5K was kinda tiring. It’s been a while but it was fun. The 2.5K was pretty OK and it was nice because she (Ronda) was riding alongside me for the last leg,” said the 31-year-old Pangelinan.

“The bike leg was OK but was kinda windy coming back. It’s easy going south but there was a strong headwind going back,” said Ronda.

The only hitch Kicks and Cleats encountered was the transition to the final 2.5-km run where Pangelinan was caught off guard and was still chatting with friends when Ronda came in hot for the tag.

Pangelinan

“She was too fast and I said ‘Oh, she’s here’ so I had to run to catch up with her [for the tag],” said a laughing Pangelinan, who works for Pacific Fertility.

Ronda said it was all good and the tag at the rear of her bike didn’t really affect their time. She added that it’s refreshing to return to competition after the Christmas holiday full of merriment.

“It wasn’t really easy, but it’s a good motivation to getting back in shape,” said the 43-year-old car rental company staff.

Kicks and Cleats was formed with the help of Run Saipan mainstay Rosemarie Chisato who was instrumental in putting the winning women’s team together.

“Rose was the one who found me a runner. Evelyn was her teammate in the last Christmas Island Relay so she paired us up,” said Ronda.

The results of the mixed relay division of TRAC’s 6th Saipan Duathlon will be published in the next issue of Saipan Tribune.

Proceeds from TRAC’s 6th Saipan Duathlon will go to the sport federation’s preparations for the triathlon event of this year’s Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games 2022 that the CNMI will be hosting for the very first time.

The 6th Saipan Duathlon was sponsored by IT&E.