The alumni members of the Sacred Heart School (SHS) Batch 1998 that organized the St. Ignatius Run gather for a group photo during the race. | By Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Over 2,500 runners took part in the St. Ignatius Run on Sunday, October 8, 2023.
The running event organized by the Jubilarians, the Sacred Heart School (SHS) Batch 1998, accomplished their mission of gathering the entire Sacred Heart community and Cebu’s local running community for this cause-oriented footrace.
In the running event’s competitive side, former All Women’s Ultramarathon (AWUM) champion Lizane Abella and American Samuel Stiff emerged as champions in the 16-kilometer open.
16k women’s open top three finishers.
Abella clocked in one hour, eight minutes, and 36 seconds, while Stiff crossed the finish line in 55:47.
16k men’s open top three finishers
Bohol International Marathon champion Kaye Cundangan settled for second behind Abella in 1:09.46, followed by fellow elite runner Eva Mae Villarin who finished the race in 1:12.23.
Joseph Emia (59:36) captured the No. 2 spot in the 16k race, while Ryan Nedamo (1:05.10) grabbed the third spot.
In the 16k alumni category, John Paul Yap (1:20.44), Pierre Mella (1:23.10), and Afshin Ghassemi (1:24.10) emerged as the top three finishers in the male division, while Vilididulen Tumampos (2:09.12) topped the 16k alumni distaff side.
The 10k champions were Mon Dexter Melandrez (37:59) and Clarissa Abay (51:05), while the 5k open champion was Cody Renejane (16:14) and Ana Konikhince (34:48).
On the other hand, the 5k students category winning runners were Jacob Tan (18:47) and Patriz Vergara (37:11).
Lastly, the 3k open top placers were Charlie Hijara (12:18) and Amera Lacanaria (11:09).
According to its chairman, Joe France Cañizares they achieved their goal of drawing the desired number of runners to help them raise funds to sustain their scholarship program for the SHS-AdC and the SHS-AdC Alumni Association.
“It was a very successful event. We are very thankful to the Sacred Heart community and to all the runners who joined our race. We achieved our goal for this run. In fact, there were many on-site registrants who wanted to take part of this running event,” said Cañizares.
“With this success, we are very hopeful that the next Sacred Heart School batch will also have a successful hosting of the St. Ignatius Run. It was a fun experience seeing families, students, and Sacred Heart School alumni joining this running event,” he added. / dcb
RELATED STORIES
St. Ignatius Run returns on Sunday with over 2,000 runners
3,500 runners expected to participate in St. Ignatius Run this October