The sense of satisfaction Rafael Pescos and Jenelyn Nobleza felt when they won the 42-kilometer race of the Cebu City Marathon on Sunday was a bit higher than the usual.
Both were crowned champions when Pescos topped the men’s race in two hours, 38 minutes and 14 seconds and Nobleza defended her women’s crown by crossing the finish line at the Cebu Business Park in 3:18:42.
What made the victories sweeter is the fact that both weren’t expecting a top place finish.
“It’s a great feeling to win a race when you least expected it,” said the 22-year-old Hinigiran, Negros Occidental native Pescos. “This will be a great start for 2017.”
The reason why Pescos didn’t expect this win is because his preparation for the race was disrupted.
“I had a fever so I was forced to stop training for a week,” Pescos said.
Still, the runner, now based in Cebu, delivered and he did it with a bang as he dethroned last year’s champion, Noel Tillor, who only managed a sixth-place finish.
He also outran reigning National Milo Marathon Finals grand champion Jeson Agravante, who placed second with a time of 2:39.36. Maclin Sadia rounded off the top three, clocking 2:39.39.
After this race, Pescos said he is going to prepare for the 7-Eleven Run in Manila on Feb. 5. “I hope to continue winning races.”
Nobleza, on the other hand, admitted she had a difficult time focusing on her training during the Holidays. She said her preparation was not that intense compared to the other races she joined. “There were a lot of parties and gatherings [during the Holidays] so I was not able to fully focus on my training,” said the back-to-back women’s 42k champion Nobleza. “I will make sure that I will win this race again next year.”
Lizane Abella (3:45.39) and Sandra Soliano (3:47.13) were Nobleza’s runners up, respectively.
Kenyans’ Eric Chepsiror (2:34.22) and Susan Chepkwony (3:33.31) were the winners in the 42k foreign category.
University of Cebu’s (UC) ace runner Prince Joey Lee, meanwhile, defended his title in the 21k category by finishing in 1:15.33. Ruffa Sorongon of Sultan Kudarat topped the distaff side with a time of 1:35.49.
In the 10k race, Ariel Saballa (35:11) and Cherry Andrin (47:57) emerged victorious. Mary Joy Loberanis (19:52) and Earl Pionela (17:17) were the winners in the 5k race.
Organizers of the annual race held in line with the celebration of the Sinulog Festival in Cebu City were glad with the outcome of the race despite the gloomy weather.
They actually said the weather was perfect for running.
“It was cloudy and the [there was] slight drizzle but we had perfect running weather,” said one of the organizers, John Pages of the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC).
Pages was also delighted to see a lot of international runners. There were over 160 foreigners representing 30 countries out of the 4,000 runners who joined the race.
Pages also gave credit to the local government units of Cebu City, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City for a job well done, especially in manning the traffic yesterday morning. It was the first time that the route of the race passed through roads of the three cities.