Tag Archives: Mary Grace delos Santos

2nd Rotary Run targets at least 1,500 runners; virtual race map now out

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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.”

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A runner’s heart

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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.

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Cebu City Marathon 42K and 21K results now out

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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.

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‘I’m gonna die but I have to win the race first’

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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.”

Mary Grace delos Santos at the finish line in Cagayan de Oro CityIRON 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.”

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Simon Losiaboi to run first 42K in Cebu City Marathon

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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.

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