Mary Grace delos Santos’ determination lands her spot at country’s National Team

Mary Grace delos Santos had everything going for her in Cebu.

She was dominating weekend races and started to become one of the most feared women runners in the region.

But in late 2010, injuries started to come. Her time slowed and was eventually overtaken by another promising runner in Mary Joy Tabal.

Humbled by those injuries, the Zamboanga-Sibugay native left Cebu to be part of the Philippine National Team training pool.

“Grabe jud ug sacrifice atong panahona. Daghan kaayo ko ug lumba nga dagko nga na miss so nasayangan ko, “ said the 24-year-old Delos Santos. “I almost lost hope at that time.”

But she persevered.

With the help of her long time partner and trainer Sherwin Managuil, Delos Santos’ continued to train hard. When her injury healed, she suddenly found herself at the top of her game. Her sacrifice finally paid off.

At the 35th Milo Marathon Finals last Dec. 11, she outran both local and foreign runners en route to bagging the prestigious 42-kilometer crown.

Among the elite runners she beat were Tabal and National Team mainstays Jho Ann Banayag and Flordeliza Donos, who competed in the Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia last November.

She logged her personal best of 2 hours, 53 minutes and 07 seconds in the Milo Marathon, enough to gain her a seat at the Philippine National Team. She is, thus, officially part of the lineup composed of 27 elite runners.

“Happy kaayo ko kay dugay na kaayo ko ni gipangandoy nga maapil sa national team,” she said during a thanksgiving bash hosted by her major sponsor RUNNR last Wednesday. “Dili ing-ana kasayon makasulod sa national team mao fulfilling kaayo.”

Delos Santos was actually also supposed to compete in the SEAG but was cut from the official lineup.

That proved to be a blessing in disguise. Because she was training hard for the National Team, Delos Santos was at her best form entering the Milo National Marathon. Then the rest was history.

Next year, Delos Santos will compete in the 21k of the Cebu City Marathon. She also plans to join the prestigious Boston Marathon on April. Before that, she will try to improve her third-place finish in the 21k of the Hong Kong Marathon slated this February.