INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines – Call it home court advantage.

Edgar Election and Edgardo Bolina, both local fishermen, won the 25-kilometer race in the first leg of the Philippine Kayaking Series held last weekend in Hundred Islands in Pangasinan.

Election and Bolina, both residents of Barangay Bolo in Alaminos, arrived ahead 13 other teams that joined the kayaking event, sponsored by the Department of Tourism.

The duo finished the race in three hours and 10 minutes, followed by German Paz and Reneric Moreno, windsurfers from Anilao Batangas, who came in second (3:11).

Brothers Efren Donato and Dennis Donato, also residents of Pangasinan, came in third (3:13).

“You need to have enough resistance or else you won’t cross the finish like,” Election said in Filipino after the race. They actually fell from their kayak at one point while Bolina broke his paddle during the race.

The 25-kilometer kayak race is one of the highlights of the first leg of the Philippine Kayaking Series 2009.

The race, which had 17 checkpoints around the Hundred Islands, started and ended at Bolo Beach.

Val Camara, chief organizer of the Philippine Kayaking Series 2009, said their goal is to create a kayaking trail in the country to help promote eco-tourism.

“The plan is to cover tourist spots in the country. We just connect the dots and that will be the kayaking trail for the country,” said Camara.

The second and third leg of the event will be held in Cavite to Corregidor and Cebu to Bohol, respectively.