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.”

Delos Santos, instead, asked the race official who was telling her withdraw to just tail her on a motorcycle as she dashed to the finish line.

When she touched the back of her head, delos Santos found blood in her hand. That wound would later require five stitches to close.

“I told myself, I’m going to die. I’m going to die. But I have to win the race first,” she said with a soft laugh.

Minutes later, delos Santos finished in first place, way ahead of the others. She would probably have been first even if doctors had attended to her and did a quick stitch to close that wound right on the spot where she met the accident.

The expression on her face as she crossed the finish line is a cross between relief and trepidation. Delos Santos was sure she would die. She would later be vomiting repeatedly in the hours after the race, her trainer Mohsherwin Managil said.

Not only did delos Santos survive the accident that killed the driver of the motorcycle that hit her, she went on to finish a full marathon—all 42.195 kilometers of it—three weeks later.

On any given Sunday in Cebu, delos Santos would be on the winner’s podium claiming yet another medal or trophy and an envelope containing cash for winning yet another road case.

Delos Santos has thoroughly dominated Cebu running that she has won all the races she joined here—all first place finishes.

But when she was first here on the eve of the Run to the Max race in October 2008, delos Santos had nothing but hope, a pair of shoes and enough money to buy apples for dinner.

She won that race.

CEBU’S TOP RUNNER. Mary Grace delos Santos has won all the races she has joined in Cebu. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. (PHOTO BY MARLEN LIMPAG)

Part of the money she won she used to pay for the loan she got to pay for her fare to Cebu. The rest she gave to her parents and spent for incidental expenses.

With no regular races in Zamboanga, delos Santos decided to transfer to Cebu with Managil.

Managil is a fast runner and has won races here. But he stopped racing to concentrate on training delos Santos and a group of newbie runners. During races, Managil also paces delos Santos, who still fears being hit by vehicles on the road.

The 22-year-old delos Santos said she loves running so much that she plans on doing nothing but race until she is 30.

To delos Santos, running is a living.

Her race winnings pay for the apartment where she lives in, her food and the equipment of her trade—her shoes. She is also supported by running brothers JR and Rovie Aguilon. Managil said he makes sure that they budget part of her winnings to buy a pair of shoes.

Shorn of everything, delos Santos can always make money with her pair of shoes.

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.

Losiaboi and top Cebu-based female runner Mary Grace delos Santos were presented by organizers Meyrick Jacalan, Perl Jacalan, John Pages and CERC president Jessie Taborada to reporters in a press conference yesterday afternoon.

Delos Santos, who has won all the races she joined in Cebu since she started running here in October 2008, returned to Zamboanga over the holidays to train in the mountains with her trainer Mohsherwin Managil.

Managil said they decided to go home because had they stayed in Cebu, they would have been tempted to join the weekly fun runs in the city and get diverted from their training.

Delos Santos, whose best 42K time is 3 hours and 11 minutes, will be facing stiff competition from Aileen Tolentino, who finished in top spot in her back-to-back outings in the Quezon City International Marathon and the Subic International Marathon. Tolentino was the top Filipina finisher in Quezon City in October while delos Santos was second. Six days later, Tolentino finished third in Subic.

TOP RUNNERS. Reporters interview Cebu’s top female runner Mary Grace delos Santos and Kenyan missionary Simon Losiaboi during a press conference in Mooon Cafe in Ayala Center Cebu. (PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARLEN LIMPAG)

Among the top Kenyan runners expected this Sunday is David Kipsang, who finished 8th in the Subic International Marathon. He will be running the 42K event with compatriots Willy Tanui and Kimber Keberes. Susan Chepkwony will be running in the women’s 42K event.

Kenyans Willy Rotich and Jonathan Cheboi will run in the 21K event.

Jacalan said that as of yesterday, 500 runners have signed up for the full marathon while 750 have registered for the 21K event. At least 1,900 runners have registered for the 5K event.

Organizers have extended the registration for 5K because they don’t need to close it early since runners in the event will not be using timing chips, Jacalan said.

Pages said the 42K race will start at 4 a.m., the 21K at 5:10 a.m. and the 5K at 5:30 a.m. Pages also said a pre-race pasta party will be held at The Terraces in Ayala Center Cebu on Friday at 6 p.m.