A NEW champion emerged from the women’s side—on paper, that is—while the former youngest runner Prince Joey Lee crowned himself king during the Milo Marathon Cebu Regional leg at the Cebu City Sports Center on Sept. 28, 2019.
Ruffa Sorongon, listed as Ruffa Ongon in the official list of winners, won her fourth straight crown. She said it was an unexpected victory as she just came from a race in Manila.
Sorongon, 28, clocked 1:31:31, a leisurely 32 seconds ahead of Evamie Villarin. Engiel Estillor got third place in 1:41:16.
On the other hand, Lee finally came full circle two decades after lacing up as a two-year-old and becoming the youngest runner of the event in 1999. Now 22, he hoisted the 21-kilometer trophy for the first time after dominating the event in 1:11:59. He could have had enough time to down a cup of Milo while waiting for the next finisher as second placer Ariel Saballa was nearly three minutes behind at 1:14:29. Florendo Lapiz got third place in 1:14:40.
The ace runner of Spectrum Runners Club won his first regional title in Iloilo City last year and set a personal best of 1:09:58. However, he considers this win sweeter, having won it in the event where he started his love affair with running.
“Twenty years ago I was in this race. I was awarded as the youngest runner at that time at two years old. I can’t believe that I’m now the champion in the longest distance of the Cebu leg,” he said.
In the past two decades, Lee has been active in the Milo Marathon and has racked up a collection of medals in the 3K, 5K and 10K categories. It was just last year when he decided it was the right time to move up to the 21K division.
Lee said there were times he was burnt out but he chose to continue since running has already become part of his lifestyle.
“I can’t live a day without running,” he said.
Lee said that though running may be considered an individual sport but it takes team support to succeed. He said the Spectrum Runners Club has been instrumental in his achievements and improvements in running.
“Teammates help each other. My team is motivating me to reach my full potential,” he said.
As a computer engineer, Lee uses his knowledge and skills to help and give back to fellow runners by putting up a website dedicated to the sport.
“I have a website for runners. It contains the training program, videos, lactate calculation and training intensity. It has everything about running,” he said.
Running has become Lee’s ticket to success--from being the youngest runner, a student athlete of the University of Cebu, a computer engineer practitioner and now a Milo Marathon 21K Cebu champion.
Kenyan Eric Chepsiror and Melissa Dinneen, on the other hand, topped the men’s and women’s divisions in the 10K race after clocking in 33:38 and 41:45.
Gimar Magdalino nabbed second with a time of 35:35 and Jemar Morales clocked 35:53 to complete the men’s top three. Cherry Andrin and April Joy Alampayan settled as runners-up in the women’s side with times of 43:20 and 43:38, respectively.
The 5K division saw a close contest with Jhonn Mare Dizon (16:07) beating Rinmarch Gonzaga by just a second for the men’s crown, while Jessie Abelgos got third place in 16:11.
Asia Abucay Paraase conquered the women’s 5K in 19:59. Joan Lovilla Lim secured second place in 20:07 and junior triathlete Moira Frances Erediano took third place in 20:22.
Louis Gabriel Ariola and Laurence Yvony Garcia won the short 3K with Ariola finishing the course in 10:16 to beat Gino Camille Lamoste (10:42) and Noey Andre Onge (11:29). Garcia won in 11:30, beating Juliana Sevilla (11:44) and Maryll Gayson (11:50).
The run started in front of Cebu Normal University and ended at CCSC. It attracted 24,000 participants, the third-largest edition in recent memory.
The 21K runners who made the benchmark time for the 21K have earned a slot to the culminating race—the Milo Marathon National Finals set in January 2020 in Tarlac City.