Elizabeth hinted in her earlier blog post about her training for the Saipan 10K. However, what she didn’t mention was the amount of overwhelming encouragement she received from a teacher at our school, Chang Wang Jang (you can’t make that up). Mr. Jang, who is a delightfully quirky individual with tireless endurance and optimism, has participated in 27 of the 30 half-marathons run on Saipan. Even more impressive is the fact that he’s run most of those WITHOUT SHOES. He provided Liz with inspirational quotes and training regimens throughout the process and was the first person to tell us that her picture was in the paper finishing. All in all, he was truly a Mr. Miyagi to Liz’s Daniel-San.
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| Lizza-San with her Mr. Miyagi |
Also crucial to Liz’s attack on the 10K was her partner in running, Mr. Brian O’Laughlin. While Brian wasn’t able to get registered in time to “officially” run in the race, he hopped in right after the start and ran with Liz all the way (hopping out right before the finish line). Brian and Liz both completed their first 10K and became local celebrities in the process (Liz’s finish shot below is priceless). Great job Liz and Brian!
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| Finish Line Picture, courtesy of Saipan Tribune |
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| Brian and Liz after the race |
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| Liz, Steve, and Michael (friends of ours) after the race being filmed by a Japanese film crew! |
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| I DID IT! |
Our good friend Steve Gardiner (Daniel Stafford’s roommate) is quite an accomplished runner in his own right, and ended up finishing second in his age group in the half-marathon (see picture above). However, his Karate Kid moment really came through another popular Asian pastime, table tennis. Steve’s coach, Jean, is one of the better players on Saipan, and has enabled him to improve leaps and bounds in his ping pong skills. Liz and I were fortunate enough to witness part of his “coming of age” moment a few weekends ago in a tournament held at Ada Gym. Eliminate all preconceptions you have of a leisurely backyard game. Players were from all over the CNMI and Guam. Serves all had tremendous spin, players were backed off the table to handle the velocity, and there was no such thing as an easy match. Nonetheless, Steve not only competed well but also won…not one, but TWO MATCHES!! Mad props to the Wiley Washingtontonian (representing Bainbridge Island) for taking down Cobra Kai and exposing us to the entertaining world of international table tennis! And, of course, thank you Jean for serving as Steve’s Mr. Miyagi!
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