LAST time the Milo Marathon was held in Cebu before the pandemic era in 2019, Prince Joey Lee proved his worth as the king of Cebu in the 21-kilometer distance.
More than four years have passed, and nothing much has changed Sunday morning, April 7, 2024, as Lee stamped class anew en route to claiming the same crown in Milo Marathon’s return to the Queen City of the South.
The ace runner of Spectrum Runners Club posted a personal best time of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 50 seconds to win the men’s 21K crown in the National Milo Marathon-Cebu Leg held in Mandaue City, which was flocked by around 16,000 participants.
Lee, 26, erased his previous personal record by five seconds. He’s also two minutes faster than his 1:11:59 time in the previous Milo Marathon Cebu Leg last September 2019.
With that record-breaking no one came close to Lee. The closest pursuer Jovan Bensig clocked in 1:13:51 for second place and Darwin Locaylocay timed in 1:15:11 to round up the men’s top three.
Meanwhile, the fastest female half-marathoner was Cherry Andrin, who finished in 1:27:56. Jamine Cruz and Kay Cundangan were the runners-up with times of 1:34:50 and 1:36:40, respectively.
Lee and Andrin earned a spot in the 42K race of the Milo Marathon National Finals slated in December.
Mark Mahinay and Asia Paraase, both from the vaunted Spectrum Runners, ruled the 10K race.
Mahinay clocked in 32:31 to beat veteran Kenyan runner Eric Chepsiror by 10 seconds. Triathlete Andrew Kim Remolino placed third with a time of 33:21.
Paraase won the women’s crown after timing in 39:08. National athlete Raven Faith Alcoseba finished second in 42:06 and triathlete Nicole del Rosario took third place in 46:48.
Milo Marathon returned to Cebu for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic. / RSC