CEBUANOS Florendo Lapiz and Lizanne Abella of Spectrum Runners emerged as the new men's and women's 42K champions of the 2024 National Milo Marathon Manila leg on Sunday at the Mall of Asia complex.
Lapiz, a Carcar native, and Abella of Minglanilla, Cebu, traveled all the way to Manila to compete for spots in the national finals since the Mandaue leg of the qualifiers only had a half marathon as the longest category.
Travel worth it for pair
Lapiz and Abella made sure the effort was worth it, winning with times of 2:42:33 and 3:21:05, respectively.
"Dahil pumunta ako dito, gagawin ko talaga yung best ko kasi pamasahe pa lang, lugi na kung di ka papalarin, pero ito yung hiling namin, so manalo-matalo, tanggap namin yan," Lapiz said.
Abella added: "Kapag dumadayo kami, magt-training talaga para manalo."
The two revealed they had trouble adjusting to the Manila heat which reached 42°C on race day. They didn't come close to their personal bests.
"Mainit yung pagtakbo namin, 'yung personal record ko is 2 hours and 31 minutes, pero hindi ko kabisado ang klima sa Maynila, sa Cebu kasi, malamig, dito magkahalo, kaya mahirap tansyahin," Lapiz said.
Third time's the charm
Abella added: "Dahil mainit, ang challenge sa akin ay imaintain yung pace ko, bawat [water] station naliligo talaga ako para hydrated yung katawan ko."
Lapiz and Abella revealed that this is also their third time competing in the country's longest-running marathon.
"Yung unang dalawa ko, second place ako, tapos ito, third time, nakuha ko na din ang kampeonato," Lapiz said.
After Winning the top prize of P50,000 each, the Cebuanos said they would use the money to help their respective families.
Lapiz said: "Itutulong ko sa pinapagawang bahay ng pamilya namin, at pambili ng bagong sapatos."
Abella, a mother of three also weighed in: "Yung premyo, para sa mga anak ko, lahat naga-aral pa."
Other winners were Richard Salano for the 21K men's category, national athlete Christine Hallasgo in the 21K women's race; UAAP athlete James Orduna for the 10K men's race, and Anisha Caluya for 10K women's run.
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