INQUIRER Sports

ROXAS CITY?Rene Desuyo and local bet Hanny Jean Delfin Sunday ruled for the second straight year this city?s 21-kilometer elimination leg of the 32nd National Milo Marathon.

The 23-year-old Desuyo, representing Bago City, shook off the spirited challenge of four-time leg winner Adonis Lobaton of Sara, Iloilo, in the final 5 km before formalizing his stint in the Nov. 30 national finals.

Desuyo clocked one hour, 13 minutes and 46 seconds to edge Lobaton, who timed 1:15:22. Lobaton nevertheless made it to the 42.195-km grand finals along with third placer Rommel Hulleza of Bacolod City.

?Sinubukan ko siyang (Desuyo) habulin pa pero hindi na talaga makaya (I tried to overtake him but I really couldn?t do it),? said the 30-year-old Lobaton, a Philippine Army enlisted man from the 2nd Infantry Division.

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Delfin did not disappoint the hometown crowd when she topped the women?s race in 1:35:38.

Another Roxas City native, Cerila Cortel, made it a double celebration for the hosts when she placed second in 1:37:07 while Joanne Campos finished third in 2:13:31.

In the 5K race, Eugene Alvarez (17:21), Ramonito Cortel (17:28) and Jun Ino (17:51) collared the top three places in the men?s race while Janette Delfin (22:30), Janine Arrey (23:08) and Leah Faith Borda (23:12) finished in that order among the women.

Ruling the 3K kid?s race were Bryan Nino Dumaguit and Nica Joy Bernada (6-9) and Delfin Gumacal and Christen Cortel (10-12).

A total of 6,704 runners joined the race which was fired off in front of the Roxas City Hall.

The marathon will take a two-week break before holding simultaneous races in Manila, Davao City, Tarlac City and Cebu City on Aug 3. About 60,000 participants are expected in the four-city event. Steve Silva, contributor