The Team 7-Eleven team from the Philippines takes time for a photo opportunity in Phuket, Thailand. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Runners Prince Joey Lee and Azlan Pagay are making not only Cebu proud but the whole Philippines as well after entering the top 3 in their respective distance categories in the Laguna Phuket Marathon 2019, Sunday, June 9, 2019.
Cebu’s very own Prince Joey Lee finished second in the 21-kilometer men’s with a time of one hour and 14 minutes (1:14:00).
Davao native but now Cebu-based Azlan Pagay, for his part, finished third in the 42K men’s with a time of 2:41:20.
Read more: Tabal, three others gain slots to Phuket International Marathon
The two were part of the team of Filipino runners that 7-Eleven sponsored for the Phuket race as part of their incentives for finishing in the top 3 overall in their respective categories in the 7-Eleven Run 2019 held simultaneously in Cebu, Davao and Manila last February.
Read more: Tabal places 14th in Ottawa Marathon
Cebu’s Olympian marathoner, Mary Joy Tabal was supposed to be part of the team but she had begged off because she had just raced in the Ottawa Scotiabank Marathon in Ottawa, Canada last month as part of her preparation to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Read more: Another uphill climb for Cebu’s Tabal
7-Eleven treated the runners to an all expense paid trip as well as shouldered the registration fee for the race.
They were also provided with a complete runner’s wardrobe—Under Armour sun visor, singlet, shirt, shorts, jacket and running shoes.
Aside from that, they were each given US$100 as allowance and will be treated to a tour in Phuket.
Last year, the 7-Eleven winners joined the Jeju International Tourism Marathon on Jeju Island in South Korea wherein Tabal topped the 21K female category./dbs