CEBUANA runner Rhoda Oporto placed third in a grueling 250-kilometer ultramarathon, which started at the Luneta Park in Manila and ended at Burnham Park in Baguio City last weekend.
Oporto snagged the women’s third place honors after clocking 46 hours, 44 minutes and 24 seconds in the first event of the series dubbed as PAU 200K Plus Grand Slam.
Remy Caasi was the fastest female to finish the grueling race in 46:12:10, followed by Jocel Lanas.
“What a journey it has been. What made me worry in the race was the extreme temperature—it was super cold at night and super hot at day time. I told myself no matter how prepared you are, you can never tell what will happen on race day,” said Oporto, who trained for six months for the race.
Oporto said in her Facebook account that she had LBM and severe dehydration during the course of the run.
“No excuses. I prayed for faster recovery. Thank God and to my crew, who found ways for me to recover,” said Oporto adding that coconut water, tailwind and unlimited water intake helped her recover.
Oporto, the 2015 Cebu City Marathon women’s 42K Filipino category champion, said that one of her bucket lists is to join all the four races of the series.
The second leg will be a 280K distance set in April, the third leg will cover 320K in May, and the fourth leg will cover 232K.