A SPANISH national & Sta. Cruz local took the top spots in the 2017 Visit Davao Fun Sale (VDFS) Mt. Apo Vertical Challenge, in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
With the starting pistol sounding at 2 a.m., Pablo Gonzales, a 35-year-old Spanish based in Singapore, finished the 70-kilometer race clocking in 12 hours, 6 minutes.
Gonzales will take home P35,000 worth of prizes, which includes free registration to Magnificent Merapoh Trail 2017 in Malaysia this August, round trip tickets and accommodations in Merapoh, Pahang, Malaysia.
Race organizer, DoyCalvez of Vertical2Sky, Inc., said that this year's race was participated by 140 racers, 10 of which are foreigners (Hong Kong, Spain, Khazakstan, Russia, Thailand and Singapore), 12 are from Davao and the rest are from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
"The increase in foreign participants is due to the event's registration at the Asia Trail Master and International Trail Running Association. The two websites are regularly visited by avid racers," said Galvez.
Gonzales, who said that he has been racing all his life, found out about the Mt. Apo Vertical Challenge via Asia Trail Master website. It was his first time to race in Davao and found it to be a good opportunity to meet new people.
"I know I'm a strong racer and hoped to land on the top five."
But as the race progressed, he knew he had a commanding lead over the next racer and took a safer pace heading down the slippery slopes of the jungle.
James Lescano, a 30-year old resident of Sta. Cruz, won the 35-kilometer race finishing the course in 4 hours and 26 minutes.
"I felt I was going to win," and refers to it as hometown advantage. The race's locale is his usual trail during his practice runs.
The Mt. Apo Boulder Challenge listed 35 participants, all from Davao. The race is comprised of three disciplines -- the 35-kilometer water tubing, 36.6-kilometer mountain biking and 53.5-kilometer trail running.
In the open elite category, Elias Tabac of Team Tri-Buddies Tagum emerged as champion with Narcial Catangi, Dexter Nonato, and Ronald Dagaang taking the second, third and fourth places, respectively.
The fastest in each category took home awards - Christopher Eyao for water tubing, Irezbonne Barrientos for biking while Elias Tabac took home two awards for trail running and first summiteer.
Julius Paner, senior municipal tourism officer of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, said that the races have raised the tourism arrival of the province.
"Since we started the race in 2008, we only have an annual arrival of tourists for the Mt. Apo trekking of about an average of 400 to 500 persons. In 2015, it reached 1,500 persons a year considering that this is a very minimal figure because we have to consider the environment. We have to regulate the trekking activities because it's in the Mt. Apo area. The increase is really significant."
In 2012, when the Mt. Apo Boulder Challenge turned international, it had the most number of foreign participants with 12 teams. From then on, Davao del Sur witnessed a 12 percent increase of visitors annually, 7 percent of which are foreign climbers.
"The boulder face, a volcanic feature of Mt. Apo, has become an attraction even to all mountaineers. You won't see the boulder face in the other trails except in the Sta. Cruz trail and Digos City on the Sta. Cruz side," Paner said.
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