Record numbers attend the 17th Edition of the Pristine Palau Half Marathon, 10k and 5k
Championships. A total of 127 registered for the event which was hosted for the first time on a the World Athletics Certified route (Koror Side to downtown Koror and back). Mr. Fong from Hong Kong, came to Palau last year in November with the assistance of the Palau Visitors Authority, Taiwan Embassy and Palau Track and Field Association to get it measured and marked. This ensures performances achieved on this route are considered and eligible for the top list, entry standards, world rankings and world records.
Palau Track and Field Association were proud to host the race in support of may sponsors and agencies. The difficult road terrains (elevations) makes it one of the unique road races in the world.
Overall Winners
Half Marathon:
Female – Mika Yamanguchi 1:46:14.13
Male – Orion Cruz 1:46:02.66
10K Winners
Female: Meriam Imperio 1:05:02.21
Male: Sakiusa Naivana 1:04:16.28
5k Winners
Female: Alanna Beck 25:47.15
Male: Alishay Henry 26:10.50
The Half Marathon event started at 4:00am from the Koror Side of the Bridge to turning point 1 in Meyuns (Front of Ngirchongor’s Residence) and to Malakal in front of the Blue Bay Main Office and back to Koror Side. The 10k event started at 5:00am from Koror Side of the bridge to PCC Parking area and back to the bridge. The 5k event started at 6:00am from the Koror Side of the bridge to Katey’s Healing Garden and back to the bridge.
PTFA was worried about the turn out as we’ve already in a lock down, but because Palau is still COVID free, PTFA and PVA decided that we’ll go ahead and do it, and it turned out to be the biggest number we’ve had over the past 17 years actually registered.
Congratulations Palau Track and Field Association and to all the runners who completed the race.
