Long-distance runner Artjoy Torregosa. | Photos from Torregosa’s Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Vaunted long-distance runner Artjoy Torregosa flexed her winning form in the recently concluded Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon after emerging as the fastest female 21-kilometer finisher, despite being not recognized by the organizers as the overall winner last Sunday, December 3, in Singapore.
Torregosa raced head-to-head against Singapore’s top long-distance runners and surprised the latter after she clocked in for one hour, 28 minutes and 31 seconds to finish first overall in the 21k distaff side.
She beat Vanessa Lee of Singapore via a photo finish as both runners sprinted neck-to-neck all the way to finish line.
However, Torregosa, who represented Easy Runners Club in this international race, ended up disappointed after the organizers didn’t award her the title.
According to Torregosa’s head coach, Arvin Loberanis, who accompanied the Easy Runners Club’s participants, they were not informed by organizers prior to the race that they would only recognize locals as the overall winner.
“Actually mao na among gi debate kay sa registration wala man nka state nga good for local. It’s open man but kanang gipilde ni art (Torregosa) kay ila nang top elite athlete sa Singapore karon. Ila na gi bida before nag gunstart, said Loberanis.
Despite the disappointing outcome of her race, Torregosa captured the hearts of her teammates and Loberanis for her outstanding performance abroad.
Beside Lee, Torregosa defeated two more Singaporean long-distance runners in Serena Teoh, who finished third in 1:29.57, and Concetta Arcella, who settled for fourth place in 1:32.12, so as South Korea’s Euna Kim, who landed at fifth place.
It can be recalled that Torregosa captured three gold medals for the University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (Cesafi) women’s athletics competition on November 27, 2023, at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (SHS-AdC) track oval in Mandaue City.
Aside from Torregosa, her fellow USC Warrior, Cody Blake Renejane, finished eighth place in the men’s 10-kilometer race.
The rest of the Easy Runners Club’s runners who joined the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon were its club president Carolyn Renejane, vice president Erwin Alegado, Donna Embrado, and John Dunadaug.
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