Sunday, March 16, 2008 Lowly bike to victory By Marian C. Baring Sun.Star Staff Reporter
TRAINING at the last minute proved to be effective for adventure racers Merlita Arias, Jappy Lumongsod and Ricky Gonzaga as they went on to cross the finish line first in the Manunggal 2008 Adventure Race yesterday at Mt. Manunggal in just a little over four hours.
“We received a lot of discouraging comments before coming to the race,” said Arias, the lone lady in the three-man Skyrunners team.
“People were telling us that we were not ready because we have not practiced for this and they kept telling us not to join. But our minds are set on competing. Some even made fun of our bikes. But we all proved them wrong,” she added. Their bikes were second-rate. “They laughed at us because we looked like we were peddling bread, but I guess we had the last laugh,” said Lumongsod, who just might win P10,000 for their feat.
Uncontested
Although results were not yet official at press time yesterday, Arias, Lumongsod and Gonzaga reached the finish line virtually uncontested. They started the race at 9:50 a.m. and checked into the last CP at 2:37 p.m.
Apart from the lack of confidence some people had on them, the team also hurdled several other obstacles before crossing the finish line. While training in Kalunasan a day before the race, Arias had an accident where she suffered a bad fall on a rocky pavement resulting to scraped legs and chest.
To make things worse, Arias had to overcome not only her weakness in downhill cycling but also had to suffer busted brakes on her bike that in the final stretch going to the last control point, Arias had to literally drag her bike downhill.
The team was always at the forefront of the pack. However, they hit a huge snag when they got lost going to the second to last CP costing them a 45-minute delay.
“We became too complacent but thankfully we recovered and maintained the lead,” Gonzaga said.
In the fun category, team Coat Tagay ta Bai’s Jovel Villamor, Marcelo Ouano and April Pilardca were first to finish the race.
The three were tailing three other teams in the first four CPs.
“The navigation skills of Villamor really paid off because we were able to locate the fourth CP, which others had difficulty in finding. That was when we took over the lead and went on to win,” Ouano said.
Teams Hipulan Construction checked in next after teams Umod and Elite.
At presstime, expected to check in next to the Skyrunners in the elite division were Team Elite’s Hernan Solo, Ice Arguilles and Jojo Olivar and CP16’s Ian Gonzaga, Johnrey Paglinawan and Noella Zosa.
The results however are still unofficial as marshals were still tabulating the final time and penalties before they announce the final winner.
The winning team in the elite class will get P10,000, while runners up get P6,000 and P3,000 respectively. The fun division winner will receive P3,000.
