SAIPAN – CNMI distance runner Addalee Taflinger turned in a personal-best 5:28.32 in the women’s under-18 1,500 meters at the Oceania Athletics Championships in Darwin, Australia, Tuesday, trimming two seconds from her previous time after a training stretch disrupted by Super Typhoon Sinlaku.
Taflinger, 16, finished sixth in a six-runner field that included three Australians and three New Zealanders. The race was won by Australia’s Zoe St John in 4:34.78. The personal best came one day after Taflinger ran the 800 meters Monday at the same championships, which run May 18 through 23.
“The race felt really good,” Taflinger told NMI News Service in a video call from Darwin shortly after finishing. “I feel like training, I wasn’t as prepared as I wanted to be, but when I was running it kind of just all faded. I pushed myself and I’m proud of what I did.”
Training looked different for Taflinger in the weeks leading up to the meet. With Beach Road and the Oleai Track both damaged by Super Typhoon Sinlaku, she shifted indoor and into the gym, working leg machines and adding shorter runs behind the airport.
“After that typhoon, like, it was nice, like, passing out stuff and, like, helping the community,” she said, referring to relief distributions her family participated in through their church. “But training did look different after the typhoon.”
Taflinger said the conditions in Darwin presented their own adjustments. The Australian heat is more intense than what she trains in at home, though less humid. Races also run at different times of the day than the late afternoon schedule she is used to on Saipan.
The 1,500 was her last event of the championships. She said she plans to stay through the week to cheer on the rest of the CNMI delegation. Taflinger said she came away from the race with a clearer sense of what the top under-18 distance runners in the region are doing to be competitive.
“I was asking what they’re training with, and they just put in a lot of time and dedication to running,” she said. “They run, like, eight times per week, and they do a lot of other training other than running. When I come back, I’m going to try and get that mindset so I can improve my time.”
Taflinger thanked her parents for supporting her training and travel. “I just want to thank my parents for always, like, taking me places to go run and train and stuff, and to pushing me when I’m there competing,” she said.
The Oceania Athletics Championships run through Saturday in Darwin, with additional CNMI athletes still scheduled to compete in their events.
