HANOI – Christine Hallasgo placed second in the women’s marathon on Thursday, claiming the silver medal that she said felt like gold in the 31st Southeast Asian Games athletics competition.
Hallasgo clocked two hours, 56 minutes, seven seconds to finish behind Odekta Naibaho Elvina, who checked in at 2:55:28. Vietnam’s Ngoc Hoa Hoang Thi finished third with a time of 2:57:35.
While she failed to defend her SEA Games gold, Hallasgo is satisfied nonetheless considering the challenges during the preparation brought about the pandemic.
With no competition back home due to safety restrictions, she was forced to train on her own beginning in October and during their bubble training in Baguio at the start of the year. Hallasgo’s last competition was during the finals of the Milo Marathon in January 2020.
“Malaking pasasalamat ko lalo na sa Panginoon na kahit hindi ganun kahaba ang ensayo namin, at least nakalaban ako at nakuha ko ang silver. Hindi man gold pero malaking bagay na po sa akin ‘yun na na-represent ko ang bansang Pilipinas,” said Hallasgo.
“Kasi nagka-pandemic po. Pagkatapos ng 2019 Milo Marathon finals, eto na po ‘yung first event na nasalihan ko. So mahaba haba po ‘yung time na walang takbo, pati ensayo naapektuhan,” said Hallasgo.
Despite problems during training, Christine Hallasgo manages to bag a SEA Games silver.
Hallasgo was in the lead group along with four runners, before the she and Odekta broke away in the final 2.5 kilometers. The Bukidnon native, however, felt cramps and couldn’t keep pace with the eventual gold winner.
“Sa kalagitnaan ng last loop, more than 5k ‘yun, malaking pasasalamat ko na nagbakbakan kami. Pinipilit ko na hindi bumitaw sa pace. Sa last 2.5, nalaglag na ‘yung dalawa, dalawa na lang kaming nagbakbakan. Nahirapan na rin ako kasi ‘yung cramps ko, umaakyat na rin. Inaalalay na lang ako sa paa ko. Nagpapasalamat ako na nakayanan ko pa rin at nakasungkit ng silver medal.
Hallasgo hopes that with restrictions starting to ease in the Philippines that there will be competitions to be staged.
“Hopefully, sana maging okay na po at hindi na babalik sa lockdown para tuluy-tuloy ang training at ensayo namin,” said Hallasgo.
The marathon put to a close the Philippines’ participation in the 31st SEA Games where it bagged five golds, seven silvers, and 14 bronzes.
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