THE Kenyans made the 4th SM2SM Run their own show.
The vaunted runners from Kenya ruled the annual running event by dominating the long-distance races yesterday.
Leading the Kenyan domination were Alex Melly and Immaculate Chemutai, who won the men’s and women’s 21-kilometer crowns, respectively.
Melly topped the men’s side by crossing the finish line at the SM City Cebu in one hour, five minutes and 50 seconds. Chemutai clocked 1:20.40 to win the women’s title.
Milo Marathon Queen Mary Joy Tabal prevented a foreign sweep in the women’s side as she finished the race in 1:22.22 to settle for second place while Kenyan Susan Jemutai clocked 1:27.05 for third place.
Benjamin Kepkazi placed second (1:06.50) and Elephiz Kipgetich third (1:08.16) for a Kenyan sweep in the men’s 21k category.
Not contented in just winning the 21k division, the Kenyans also ruled the 12k category with Willy Tanui emerging first with a time of 36:54 followed by Isaac Simat (36:55) and Abraham Missous (39:11).
The locals finally made their mark in the women’s 12k as Lovely Fe Andrin won the title with a time of 50:45. She was followed by Keisha Mae Delechos (50:47) and Cristy Tutor (57:20).
Winners in the 6k race were Rafael Piscos (19:16) and Cherry Andrin (24:53).
Noy and Amale Jopson won the couples 21k category while Mendel and Lorhiz Lopez topped the 12k couples race.
Around 4,000 runners took part in the running event that aimed to raise funds for the typhoon stricken Barangay Pulang Bato in Bogo City, northern Cebu.
The running event is also for the benefit of the Cebu Newspapers Workers Foundation (CENEWOF) and the Cebu City Task Force for Street Children.