Isports ATBP.

Saipan, CNMI—Choosing to use a pair of tires with tubes proved to be costly for Joe Miller as the Filipino bet finished sixth among the pros that competed in the 2015 XTERRA Saipan Championship last Saturday here in the United States territory’s largest island. The two-time XTERRA Philippines Filipino Elite champion completed the 1.5-kilometer swim at Micro Beach, a 40K bike ride around the steep hills of Mt. Tapochao, and a 10K run through the rugged jungle trails in three hours, 22 minutes, and 33 seconds. Miller submitted times of 22;:10  in the swim, 1:37:46 in the bike, and 1:01:12 in the run legs in his first try in the Crown Jewel of the Global XTERRA Circuit. He was 22:08 behind Australian Ben Allen, who claimed his fourth XTERRA Saipan crown with the fastest time of 2:40:25, 13:09 slower than the record held by International Triathlon Union World Championships gold medalist Olivier Marceau of France (2:27:16) in 2007. Miller said he was supposed to use...

Filipino triathlete Joe Miller used to hear stories from fellow pro Ben Allen of Australia and two others on how beautiful and challenging the XTERRA Saipan Championship course was. On Saturday, the first-year pro and former two-time XTERRA Philippines Filipino Elite champion will finally try his luck in conquering the first stop of the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship Off-Road Triathlon series. “A lot of the pros that I used to compete with like Ben, Jacqui Slack, and Daz Parker used to tell me stories about XTERRA Saipan. How beautiful and challenging the course is, and that I should try competing in it,” said the Zamboanga City native. “I trained for 13 weeks for XTERRA Saipan and I’m targeting a third or fourth-place finish. I really wanted to see the result of my training that’s why I’m pushing myself hard. I wasn’t satisfied with my performance in XTERRA Philippines and I’m craving more. I want to challenge myself,” Miller said. XTERRA Saipan starts wit...

Ms. Elisa Cruz, my English and Filipino teacher in my junior and senior years, respectively, at San Sebastian College's high school department, introduced me to the Japanese poetry called haiku. A haiku is characterized by three lines in a 5-7-5 syllabic structure. Now, I decided to review my past tweets and posted them on my own blog. I'm used to writing news and sports stories, but a friend of mine told me to sometimes get out of my comfort zone. I'm not much of a literature or poetry kind of guy, so bear with me in my attempt to write haiku. Daybreak Gentle morning breeze. Waking me up at this hour. I went back to sleep. Horizon A bird takes its flight. Free to widely spread its wings. Soaring with the wind. Meditation Deafening silence. Teach me to see the real things. The world's true colors. Night Neighbor's dog howling. Other dogs are joining in. Disturbing my peace. Setback Humbled in defeat. Choosing to do what is right. Re...

I am not a guru nor a philosopher but most of the time, especially when my mind is wandering to another place, I think of words, those words become phrases, and those phrases become quotes or sayings. Here are some that I came up with and posted on Twitter. Some are self-explanatory, while others are quirky or out of this world. Enjoy reading... Why let anger and hate consume or control your life? Detach yourself from the chains that hold you down. Good and evil are always at war within ourselves. Climb a mountain to see blue skies. Every journey begins with one small step. The adventure continues... Get out of your comfort zone. When we're angry, our judgment gets clouded. The choices we make shape our future. Give me courage and strength. In humble silence, I submit! We are but a tiny blip on the radar. Let God be our judge. Football players are goal-oriented. Sprinters are always in a hurry. We are constantly searching for ...

So sorry for this Halloween-related story. October 31, Saipan time, was my second straight Friday of walking from my friend's place on Quartermaster Road to the Saipan Tribune office at JP Center in Garapan. The distance is around three kilometers more or less and some 20 minutes of brisk walking.  It was a cloudy afternoon, and except for a handful of  tourists wandering and taking pictures of the lagoon, the Beach  Road pathway had less foot traffic that day. As I get near Triple J Motors, and the  building where Mega Byte and Hardt Eye Clinic was located, I saw an old Asian-looking man slowly walking beside his bicycle, which has a basket in front of the handlebars. He was wearing an orange-hued undershirt and an unbuttoned checkered polo, and black pants. I knew that in a few minutes I would come across the man since we were on the pathway. But in just one snap, as he passed by some trees, he vanished.  I was amazed, stunned, and surprised by what had ...

Sorry for this promotion but this one is for a good cause. A friend, colleague, and talented lens person, Jacq Hernandez (http://jacqhernandez.blogspot.com/), was recently diagnosed with Stage II HER2-positive breast cancer. Jacq used to work as a photographer for the Marianas Variety and Saipan Tribune in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Pacific Daily News in Guam. She is now connected with the Manila Bulletin in the Philippines but some of her photos were also used by the Associated Press and Agence France Press. It is a treatable form of cancer but medication, chemotherapy, and radiation are too costly. That's why a group of her friends decided to have this fundraiser to help with her mounting medical bills. Any amount would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support and understanding. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jacq-s-get-well-fund/x/8931368

Rain or Shine. Sun and (then) Rain. I'm not promoting a particular brand of house paint in the Philippines. It was actually raining when I was writing this. Instead, I just wanted to describe and share the weather conditions/situation on Saipan. One minute, the sun's shining. Spreading her warmth and cheer. And just before you say: "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?" Dark clouds assemble and, just at the same time when I'm waiting for my clothes to dry under the sun after doing my laundry, the rain slowly falls down. I have to run outside the house and get my newly-washed clothes but in less than five minutes, the sun is out again. Mother Nature has a sense of humor.