Comendador, Sorongon top Tagbilaran 21K, lead Milo q’fiers

TAGBILARAN CITY—Up-and-coming Emmanuel Comendador and Ruffa Sorongon outkicked their fiercest rivals yesterday and clinched the top spots in the 21K races of the 12th qualifying race of the National Milo Marathon here.

About 4,000 runners joined the nation’s biggest and most prestigious race, and 30 qualifiers secured slots in the National Finals set Dec. 7 at Mall of Asia grounds in Manila.

Comendador and Sorongon each won P10,000 and a trophy for ruling the men’s and women’s races, respectively.

Expertly pacing himself throughout the race, Comendador soloed it home in one hour and 16 minutes, a full minute ahead of Elmer Bartolo (1:17:00).  Azlan Pagay finished third with a time of 1:17.35

It was only Comendador’s second half-marathon race, but the 25-year-old Tagbilaran native, a Marine Engineering student at Philippine Marine Institute, showed he has the skills to challenge for the National Finals title.

“I wasn’t ready [to compete] because of a series of unfortunate events,” said Commendador, who figured in a motorcycle mishap two days before the race and nursed a fever.

Sorongon dominated the distaff race and crossed the finish line in 1:33.48, an impressive 16 minutes in front of second placer Jennifer Sabella (1:49:08). Rhodora Oporto (1:50:06) wound up third.

The 23-year-old Sorongon, who hails from South Cotabato, is looking for a stronger finish in the National Finals. She finished out of the podium in last year’s race.

“We trained for six weeks, with 1K runs for six days and continuously added distance until we were able to do 150K each week,” said Sorongon, who trained with her brother Sherwin.

The winners of the grand finals will be sent by Milo to the 2015 Tokyo Marathon.