BONIFACIO MONJAS (Contributed)
One of the City of Naga’s top long-distance runners Bonifacio Monjas and veteran female sprinter Rosalinda Cosino emerged as the fastest runners in the Halad Ni Leon Kilat 42k Marathon, which started at the Mancao Ancestral house in the City of Carcar and ended at the Yap-Sandiego ancestral house in downtown Cebu City.
Monjas, who has missed a lot of big running events lately after he decided to focus on his work as a trainer in the City of Naga’s track oval, proved he still has a lot left in his tank as he clocked three hours, 30 minutes and 28 seconds to win the men’s title.
Cosino, on the other hand, ruled the women’s run with a time of 4:55.27.
Niño Joel Lumontad finished second (3:46.58) and Robert Bactong (4:08.56) third in the men’s race.
In the distaff side, multi-titled long distance runner Rhoda Oporto finished second with a time of 4:55.57 while Mary Luz Shimizu clocked 5:56.23 for third place honors.
In the relay division, the Naga Baywalk Buddies Team 2 placed first with a total accumulated time of 5:11.23 followed by Dueñas-Velocity Fusion (5:19.23) and Naga Baywalk Buddies Team 1 (5:33.45).
The event was participated in by 235 long-distance runners. The race was held to commemorate the heroics of Cebuano revolutionary leader Pantaleón Villegas, also known as León Kilat, in the battle of “Tres De Abril” against the Spanish colonizers.