Juneil Languido of Bukidnon regained his winning form to win the 21-kilometer crown of the 36th National Milo Marathon-Cebu leg that ended at the Cebu City Sports Center yesterday.
Languido, a former running star from Malaybalay, Bukidnon, was a consistent top three placer in the National Finals but was forced to quit in 2009 after a severe knee injury. He then worked in a banana plantation in Bukidnon while recovering from the injury.
Yesterday, the 28-year-old Languido showed he is ready to try his luck anew in Manila as he ruled the men’s 21k by clocking one hour, 11 minutes and 56 seconds.
“It’s good to be back in the running scene,” said Languido, who said it was his first time to race in Cebu. “I never thought I could return to running after the injury.”
In the women’s 21k race, Mary Joy Tabal booked a seat to the National Finals after topping the race with a time of one hour, 26 minutes and 56 seconds.
Despite being relegated to the non-competitive side of the race to give Pinoy runners a chance to win, Kenyan Abraham Missous still had the best time of the race at 1:11.39.
He will qualify for the National Finals together with Languido, Tabal and others who made the cutoff time of 2:15:00 for the male and 2:30:00 for the female.
But only Missous, Languido, Muhammad Sherwin Managuil (21k second placer 1:14:46) and Tabal will enjoy the privilege of an all-expense-paid trip to the National Finals slated Dec. 9 because they made the cutoff for that incentive, which was set at 1:15:00 for male runners and 1:30:00 for female runners.
German Beate Krecklow, meanwhile, dominated the 10k women’s race clocking 41:52 while local runner Jordan Bacong (34 :17) ruled the men’s side.
Fourteen-year-old Lovely Fe Andrin topped the 5k women’s side with a time of 18:55 while University of Cebu’s Jorry Ycong finished first in the men’s competition with a time of 16:13.
Cherry Andrin, the younger sister of Lovely Fe, crossed the finish line first in the 3k girls division with a time of 11:49 while Paulo Kent Lauron topped the boys side (12:02).
In the side events, the Cebu City Central School won the elementary cheerdance competition while Saint Paul College Foundation ruled the secondary division. The University of the Visayas (UV) pep squad lorded the tertiary division as UC was named the biggest delegation with 2,244 runners.