On the run in the beautiful island
Posts tagged Mary Grace delos Santos
Mary Grace delos Santos places 2nd in Kuala Lumpur
Jun 28th
Top Cebu-based runner Mary Grace delos Santos placed second in the half-marathon women’s open in last Sunday’s Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon in Malaysia.
Delos Santos, who has dominated Cebu races ever since she relocated here from Zamboanga, finished her 21K run in 1:26:13, 3 minutes behind the winner, Kenyan Eunice Nyawira Muchiri, who finished with a time of 1:23:20.
MARY GRACE IN KL. Top Cebu-based runner Mary Grace delos Santos at the starting line of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon. (CONTRIBUTED FOTO)Delos Santos finished ahead of Malaysian Noor Amelia Bt. Musa (1:28:58), Kenyan Jepleting Maiyo (1:29:30), Kenyan Irine Jeptoo Kipchumba (1:29:49) and German Janna Hinz (1:32:03).
Delos Santos’ trip to Kuala Lumpur was sponsored by specialty running store Runnr, which has been supporting her. Runnr founder Roberto “Toby” Claudio, Jr. first met delos Santos when he went to the store to show it to Cebu reporters and bloggers during last year’s soft opening.
Delos Santos, Losiaboi dominate Run4Q
May 30th
IT WAS the usual podium finish this morning for the top runners of Cebu City, with Simon Losiaboi and Mary Grace delos Santos topping their respective races in Qualfon’s Run4Q: The First Call Center Run.
Losiaboi topped the 16K race that started and ended at The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu. The Kenyan missionary finished the distance in 53 minutes and 36 seconds. Mendel Lopez, who twice defeated Losiaboi in back-back-back races, finished second with a time of 55 minutes. Adonis Singson was third with a time of 55:20. (Complete list of winners at the end of this article)
SUN.STAR CEBU TEAM. Runners of Sun.Star Cebu who joined the Run4Q. (SUN.STAR PHOTO/RUEL ROSELLO)In the women’s 16K category, delos Santos went back to her winning ways after a temporary setback during the SRP Sundown Run (the first race she ran after joining an ultramarathon relay in Laguna). Delos Santos, an Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) awardee for running, topped the women’s 16K category by finishing the course in 1 hour, 1 minute and 42 seconds, a new personal record.
Delos Santos was so far ahead of her pack that the second-placer, Mary Joy Tabal, finished 10 minutes later at 1:11:37. Lorhiz Echavez, a SAC awardee for triathlon, finished third with a time of 1:20:37.
Losiaboi, delos Santos dominate Citirun
Mar 28th
As widely expected Simon Losiaboi and Mary Grace delos Santos dominated their respective divisions in the Citygym Citirun this morning.
Losiaboi finished the 12K route in a blistering 00:39:15.01. Jobert Carolino finished second a full minute later, clocking 00:40:39.50. Veteran runner Reprinel Banzon completed the top three by finishing third with a time of 00:40:48.58.
DOMINANT. Mary Grace delos Santos sprints with trainer Mosherwin Managil to win the women’s 12K category in the Citygym Citirun held in Waterfront Hotel Cebu City early today. CLICK ON PHOTO TO VIEW LARGER IMAGE (Photo by Max Limpag)Completing the men’s 12K top 10 are 4th John Philip Duenas (00:41:23.49); 5th Riez Enriquez (00:42:09.84); 6th Paul James Zafico (00:43:52.95); 7th Noel Tillor (00:43:55.39); 8th Alvirg Busa (00:44:39.52); 9th Roger Saldo (00:46:25.97); and 10th Renvie Gabuya (0:48:11:117).
Losiaboi just came from two successive defeats Mendel Lopez.
In the women’s 12K, delos Santos finished first with a time of 00:45:37.17. Madelyn Carter was second with a time of 00:49:27.63 while Joeyry Lee finished third by clocking in 00:52:56.95.
Yong, Donna Cruz top Valentine’s Day couples run
Feb 14th
Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III and Donna Cruz-Larrazabal won this morning’s couple’s run edition of the Run With a Smile at The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu.
Yong and Donna finished the 10K race together in 54 minutes and 11 seconds to top a field of about a dozen couples who joined the run. The Escasinas couple finished second with a time of 57:28. Noy and Amale Jopson were third with a time of 58:06.
Yong said it was the “best birthday gift” for Donna, who celebrates her birthday today, Valentine’s Day.
2nd Rotary Run targets at least 1,500 runners; virtual race map now out
Feb 11th
Organizers expect at least 1,500 runners to join the 2nd Rotary Run on Feb. 21 that will kick off the annual celebration of the Rotary Week. The run will feature 3-kilometer, 7K and 15K races.
The run will also have a 200-meter sprint for 7-year-olds and below and 400-meter race for 8-year-olds to 12-year-olds. The races for children will be held inside the SM City Cebu compound.
The Rotary Run will start and end at the old v-hire terminal near the Northwing of SM City Cebu. (Interactive map found at the end of this article)
ROTARY RUN. Rotary PR Chair Lilu Aliño answers a reporter’s question during the press briefing for the 2nd Rotary Run. Among those who attended this afternoon’s press conference are (from right) Jet Neric, Me’Anne Alcordo and Rotary Run chair Kenneth Casquejo. The run is directed by Raffy Uytiepo (extreme left).“On top of promoting Rotary and a healthy lifestyle, joining the race is an opportunity to contribute to the End Polio Now, a program of the Rotary Foundation to eradicate polio worldwide,” said race co-organizer Kenneth Casquejo.
“Running is a good way and a very cheap way to be healthy,” said Casquejo.
Co-organizer Jet Neric said that apart from promoting a healthy lifestyle, running also encourages family bonding. He said organizers hope Rotarians “will develop a running lifestyle.”
A runner’s heart
Jan 14th
In front of the traffic sign that announced a 20 kilometers per hour (kph) speed limit inside the Asiatown IT Park, Aileen Tolentino gave her all.
She covered the last 300 meters to the finish line within the automotive speed limit but at a combustive endgame 18 kph before collapsing at the finish line in a guttural scream.
“Aaahhh!!!” her victory cry a shriek of pain. Tolentino snatched the Cebu City Marathon Women’s 42K crown from Mary Grace delos Santos in the final minute and paid for it with a body racked by cramps.
SHE GAVE HER ALL. Aileen Tolentino collapses after winning the Cebu City Marathon 42K Women’s event. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. (PHOTO BY IGI MAXIMO OF PabolFC.com) The celebration would come later.
Three hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds from starting her run, Tolentino lay screaming in agony, her head saved from slamming into the pavement by race organizer Meyrick Jacalan. Thirteen seconds later, delos Santos crossed the finish line, buried her face in her hands, and leaned slightly on pacer Elmer Bartolo.
Until that 20 kph traffic sign, you’d have thought the race was delos Santos’s to take.
Delos Santos, the top female runner in Cebu, built an early lead at the South Road Properties, running at least a minute ahead of her long-standing rival. Someone who saw the two runners there said he thought Tolentino was done for, lagging behind a still fresh-looking delos Santos.
But near the Bureau of Internal Revenue office in Banilad, Tolentino already caught up with delos Santos. With their teammates and pacers, the two ran in a pack.
Cebu City Marathon 42K and 21K results now out
Jan 10th
Official race times for the very successful Cebu City Marathon 2010 are now out. The times are based on ChampionChip data.
Kenyan Willy Tanui dominated the 42K race by finishing the race in 2 hours 30 minutes and 57 seconds. Kenyan missionary Simon Losiaboi, who is currently based in Cebu, placed second with a time of 02:30:57. Eric Panique finished as the fastest Filipino by placing third with his time of 02:32:23.
Kenyan David Kipsang was fourth with his time of 02:35:41 while Elmer Sabal placed fifth with a time of 02:37:23.
On a personal note, I finished my first 21K in 02:04:59. I aimed for a sub-2 finish but couldn’t pass up witnessing the drama in the race between Aileen Tolentino and Mary Grace delos Santos in the last few kilometers.
Here are the official race times:
The results are searchable, to get your time, go to your category and use the search bar at the lower right portion.
‘I’m gonna die but I have to win the race first’
Jan 8th
On the halfway point of her 21-kilometer race during the Mindanao eliminations of the Milo Marathon on Nov. 8, 2008, Mary Grace delos Santos blacked out.
The Zamboanga City native lay sprawled and bloodied on one of the roads of Cagayan de Oro City after a motorcycle, sent flying by a rampaging truck, hit her.
“I don’t know how long I lay there,” delos Santos said, her expression still pained while recalling the point of impact a year later on the tracks of the Cebu City Sports Center, “I blacked out.”
IRON WOMAN. Mary Grace delos Santos, her face bloodied after getting hit by a motorcycle in a road accident, finishes first in the women’s 21K race in the Mindanao eliminations of the Milo Marathon in 2008. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. ( PHOTO FROM SUN.STAR CAGAYAN DE ORO)She also does not know whether she was between the wheels of the truck or beside them when the vehicle continued to run after the accident.
What she recalls, however, is her fierce determination to finish the race that she was already leading. She got on her feet and started checking her body gingerly for injuries before breaking into a run.
“People were telling me to pull out of the race,” delos Santos said in Bisaya, “but I wanted to continue. I wanted to finish the race. I was determined to finish the race.”
Simon Losiaboi to run first 42K in Cebu City Marathon
Jan 6th
Cebu runners will see a familiar face wearing race bib no. 1 in this Sunday’s Cebu City Marathon—Kenyan missionary Simon Losiaboi.
Losiaboi, who has won all the races in Cebu that he joined since he arrived here late last year, will be running his first full marathon this Sunday. Being the only Cebu-based top Kenyan runner, organizer Meyrick Jacalan of the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC) said they will be assigning race bib no. 1 to Losiaboi.
CEBU CITY MARATHON organizers with Cebu’s top runners (from left): Perl Jacalan, Meyrick Jacalan, Mary Grace delos Santos, Simon Losiaboi, John Pages and CERC president Jesse Taborada. (PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARLEN LIMPAG)Losiaboi told reporters gathered in Mooon Cafe in Ayala Center Cebu yesterday that he is “not really confident” with winning the race because he is not used to the distance. He said he has no target time to finish the race.
Losiaboi said he only trained for the distance in just one month—running on the roads in Cebu and the two Mandaue-Mactan bridges and doing speed work in the Cebu City Sports Center track oval.
Chaotic timekeeping, awarding mar Go for Green Tourism Eco-Fun Run
Nov 30th
An otherwise good Sunday fun run attended by about 1,500 runners was marred by chaotic time-keeping and awarding of winners yesterday. The Go for Green Eco-Tourism Fun Run awarding dragged on until close to 9 a.m. because members of the racing technical committee took so long to finalize rankings.
Some finishers questioned the result reported by the race’s technical staff. The confusion got to a point that a man was named a top 10 finisher in one of the women’s categories.
Race director Joe Deresas blamed yesterday’s snafu on last minute adjustments and changes by registered runners on their race distances.
CLICK TO ENLARGE. Media category winners (from left) Allain Cortes of Sun.Star Cebu (3rd), Ronald Banugon of Bombo Radyo-Cebu (1st), and Max Limpag of Sun.Star Cebu and CebuRunning (2nd). (PHOTO BY SUN.STAR CEBU’S ARNI ACLAO)
The announcing of winners got so drawn-out that even if people were already leaving, winners of some categories were still not determined. The winners of the special categories for media and the Cebu Association of Tour Operators (Cato) took so long to determine because of the chaos in the technical staff’s booth. The Cato winners, in fact, were no longer named, only the numbers were read and very few winners approached the stage to claim the prizes.
