Running queen Mary Grace delos Santos made sure she left Cebu with a bang as she won the women’s 21-kilometer crown of the Globe Run for Home yesterday at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City.
Delos Santos is set to return to Baguio to resume her training with the Philippine Team, which means she has to momentarily leave the Cebu running scene.
Before doing that, Delos Santos made it a point to leave a good mark as she clocked one hour, 25 minutes and 22 seconds to rule the women’s 21k race.
She was way ahead of second placer Cristy Sevellino-Tutor (1:38:41) and Leslen Abella (1:41:00).
Meanwhile, Manila-based Kenyan Benjamin Kepkazi brought home the men’s crown with a time of 1:09:00.
He led a top three Kenyan finish as Joseph Too came in at second and Elliud Kering finished third.
Mary Joy Tabal won the 15k title after clocking 1:08:53 while Another Kenyan, Jackson Chirchir, topped the men’s side with a time of 49:18.
In the 10k category, Mary Jane Beboso (43:20) and Mendel Lopez (34: 15) emerged winners.
The Andrin sisters, Lovely Fe (20:10) and Cherry (21:22), finished one-two, respectively, in the 5k (17:13) female category while Joel Delposo topped the men’s division.
Jorry Ycong (09:48) claimed the top spot in the 3k men’s side while the eldest of the Andrin siblings, Jean (12:15), finished first in the distaff side.
A total of 5,319 runners from all walks of life took part in one of the biggest fund-raising running events in Cebu this year.
The proceeds of the race will be given to the Gawad Kalinga, Habitat for Humanity, Cebu Biodiversity Foundation and the Philippine Tarsier Foundation.
Gawad Kalinga and HFH are raising funds for their housing developments for Iligan and Cagayan De Oro, two cities badly hit by typhoon Sendong last December.