AFTER having gone through a training under the grassroots running program of the Cebu City Sports Commission, three trainees plunged into action and snag podium finishes in the Flame It! Burger Run 2015 at the SM City Cebu car park yesterday.
These students, guided by coach Philip Dueñas and two-time Milo Marathon queen Mary Joy Tabal, started running just two months ago and ran their very first road race yesterday. But despite being first-timers, Ken Harold Sadile, Rey Suquib and Jessel Ochia showed inevitable potential in the men’s and women’s 3K open divisions.
Sadile and Suquib pulled off a 1-2 finish in the men’s 3K race. Sadile clocked 12 minutes and 5 seconds to outlast fellow student Suquib by a second. Michael Dela Pena had a time of 12:10 and completed the top three.
In the distaff side, young triathlete and runner Nicole del Rosario of Sacred Heart School-Hijas de Jesus claimed the title after crossing the finish line in 13:42, the second placer was nine-year-old grassroots runner Ochia, who clocked 14:09, while Annamae Dela Pena came in 16:17 and nabbed third place.
“The students showed great progress, especially those who joined in the open 3K race.
I was impressed by their performances, especially the time of Ochia. She (Ochia) has the most potential basing on their performance today,” Dueñas said adding that Ochia’s time was not far behind from the women’s 3K winner Del Rosario.
Sixty-five grassroots students ran their first road race, some of them joined the 3K open division while the majority graced in the 1.5K division.
“We want this to be sustainable, we will continue the training and will let them join in this year’s Milo Marathon. Milo has promised to give these children running shoes and we will be using that in the competition,” said Dueñas. “Hopefully, there will be a chance that a student from Barangay Guba Elementary School can join in the Cebu City Olympics.”
Most of the elite runners laced up in the 13K individual race; Kenyans stamped their class in the men’s division with Elphiz Kipngetich (37:56) bagging the top prize and Isaac Simat (39:04) nabbing second place.
University of Cebu’s Prince Joy Lee (39:35) wounded up at thhird place.
Davao’s Ruffa Sorongon (48:20) dominated the women’s 13K, followed by Cherry Andrin (51:39) and Jona Dela Torre (52:49). The 13K group division was topped by Spectrum 1 (57:12), TAD (59:36) got second place and Spectrum 2 (1:00) bagged the third spot.
Another Kenyan Abraham Missos (20:38) shone in the men’s 6K, while Robert Daang (21:04) and Ray Rolly (21:47) came in at second and third.
Flame It! Burgers chief operating officer Ella Villacin said they are happy with the turnout and have reached more than the expected number of runners.
“The event was successful and we were able to achieve our goals,” Villacin said.
A total of P70,000 cash prizes were given away to the top 13K and 6K runners. The event also had sidelights like the burger eating contest and Flame It! Burger jingle singing contest.
The first Flame It! Burger Run was part of the company’s 13th year anniversary. The run was for the benefit of CCSC grassroots running program and the Department of Social Welfare and Services Home for women.
