PERENNIAL winners Mary Grace delos Santos and Simon Losiaboi added the Aboitiz Race to Reduce Challange to their growing trophy cases after topping the 21K division yesterday.
So dominant was delos Santos that she could have taken a 15-minute nap along the way and still finish first. Delos Santos won in 1:23.06, 17 minutes ahead of second placer Madelyn Carter (1:40:40). Delos Santos’s time is also good enough for fifth place in the men’s division, just one second ahead of the men’s no 5.
Mereeis Ramirez secured the third spot with 1:43:06, while Milagros Tanudtanud (1:55:07) and Melinda Ponce (1:55:57) got the last two spots in the women’s top five.
Losaiboi ruled the men’s division in 1:13:03, more than two minutes ahead of Elmer Bartolo (1:15:56), while delos Santos’s coach Sherwin Manangil (1:16:03) got third.
Alvirg Busa (1:16:31) and John Adrian Quano (1:23:07) also made the top five.
In the 10K category, John Philipp Duenas secured the top spot in the male division, while Mary Joy Tabal won the women’s title.
First time
Duenas posted a time of 34:48 to beat Riez Enriquez (36:02), Franie Canumay (36:12), Leo Abello (39:10) and Prince Joey Lee (39:16). Tabal finished in 40:53, while Joery Lee (43:42), Merlin Alin (47:30), Emeralde Hermosilla (51:14) Mizraym Capangpangan (55:17) also made the top five.
Sheena Gacayan won the 5K women in 21:39:06, while Jorry Ycong ruled the men’s division. Christy Sevilleno, the “Mary Grace delos Santos” of Cebu in the early years of the running boom, finished second to Gacayan in 22:21:12.
Meanwhile, veteran runner Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez of Danao and newbie Dra. Maria Bernadete “Bebot” Sarcuaga Chua may have finished last in the 21K but they achieved their personal goals.
Chua, who was in her first 21K race, almost gave up but managed to finish in 3:02:36.
“I almost wanted to give up after I suffered cramps in my last three kilometers but I told myself to just finish my first 21K,” said Chua.
Before joining her first 21K race, Chua ran four other shorter distance runs.
Rodriguez, who has been into running since the early 80’s, said he wasn’t aiming for a podium finish but just wanted to inspire those runners in their mid 50’s or older to continue running because of the health benefits they can get from it.
Rodriguez finish his run in 3:16.21.