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Rota Blue not yet confirmed
A participant in last year’s Rota Blue Triathlon negotiates the run leg of the race, which will not take place next month after the island was hit hard by Typhoon Mangkhut. (Contributed Photo)
The 24th Rota Blue Triathlon is not yet confirmed, as the signature sporting event could be pushed back at a later date after the CNMI’ southernmost island was hit by Typhoon Mangkhut.
Mangkhut’s damaging winds took down power and telephone poles, and brought significant damage to houses and other structures on Rota.
Marianas Visitors Authority managing director Chris Concepcion said hotel accommodations may be an issue for the hosting of the triathlon event since they are expecting that most of Rota’s hotels are occupied or have been reserved for federal and military officials helping the island’s recovery efforts. Bayview Hotel, Coral Garden Hotel, Rota Resort & Country Club, Rota Resort Hotel, and Valentino Hotel are the hotels on the island.
“The Rota Blue Triathlon, and some of the other events in line after that, are still not confirmed because of the situation down there. The hotels, I understand, some of them suffered major damages. And so that’s a concern, especially people are going in and out of Rota,” said Concepcion. “[Federal Emergency Management Agency] and other Department of Defense officials are going in and out of Rota to help rebuild the island and they need accommodations as well.”
Concepcion cleared that they are not canceling the event and would only move it to a later date.
“That’s going to be a factor for us, whether or not we’re going to continue with it this year or postpone it for a few months. One thing is for sure, the Rota Blue Triathlon is not going to happen in October. We’ll see if it’s possible to hold it at a later date. I have to go talk to the team to see what we can do and how far we can push it back,” the MVA official said.
He added that last week’s Rota Coconut Festival was called off, but two other events for October would push through, as MVA continues its efforts in promoting Rota and the entire CNMI to various channels in their target markets.
“We were supposed to co-host the Rota Coconut Festival last week with the Rota Mayor’s Office, but that was postponed. The Bisita Luta and San Francisco de Borja Fiesta are still scheduled in the first week of October.”
