Patterson ends XTERRA weekend with a bang

Two-time XTERRA world champion Lesley Patterson of Scotland made her stint in Cebu memorable by topping yesterday’s 21-kilometer half marathon trail run of the Vaseline Men XTerra Weekend in Liloan town, northern Cebu.

Patterson capped off her XTERRA weekend here with a bang, dominating the trail run in two hours, two minutes and 39 seconds a day after winning the off-road triathlon event last Saturday also in Liloan.

In the men’s side, Kenyan Abraham Missous emerged on top as he crossed the finish line at the Sea Front Beach in 1:38:10 despite getting momentarily lost along the route.

“We were supposed to be faster if we did not get lost,” said Missous, who got confused with the route together with Filipino bets John Philip Dueñas and Bonifacio Monjas. They said they lost at least five minutes because of the blunder.

Dueñas finished second and was the best Filipino finisher with a time of 1:38:12 while Monjas finished in 1:38:32.

Patterson, meanwhile, had a memorable run in the distaff side.  “I thought of it at first as a recovery run until I found it outrageous because they make me climb a cliff, slide down a steep slope and run while you’re holding on to a rope in order to avoid falling into a cliff,” said Patterson. “I’ve never done this kind of extreme trail run and I really enjoyed it a lot. I could only find this kind of extreme trail run here in the Philippines.”

Manila-based Irish Aileen Breen (2:20.38) placed second for the second straight year while Cebuana Merlita Arias-Dunkin (2:27.35) placed third.

“The trail run is more challenging compared to last year,” said Breen. “It was tough and you couldn’t take your eyes off the course because it has a lot of rocks, trees and steep slopes. But it was really fun.”

In the 10k race, Cebuanos Michael Largo, Ronnie Andrin and Adonis Singson edged professional triathletes as they captured the top three spots yesterday.

Largo finished first, clocking 39:21 while Andrin placed second (41:28) and Singson wound up third (42:07).

South African Rorie Downie placed fourth with a time of 44:07 while French Oliver Marceau placed fifth, finishing in 53:21.

Karina Wasle, on the other hand, won the women’s 10k race by clocking 49:07. Marichu Luterte (1:01.31) and Jackielyn Calong (1:02.42) places seond and third, respectively.

John Cliff Debolusan ruled the 5k race with a time of 22:47 followed by Miljone Loterte at second with a time of 23:22 and Ian Gerard Rusiana at third with a time of 23:37.

Path Torremoro topped the 5k distaff side with a time of 31:16, edging Filipino elite triathlete Rochelle Tan, who finished second  (32:10), and Hannah Lou Galo, who had a time of 34:32.

More than a hundred trail runners joined the trail run yesterday while 460 triathletes coming from 17 countries competed in the off-road triathlon last Saturday.