Cebu's Madelyn Carter performed beyond expectations as she landed in the top 10 cast of the women’s open division during the 32nd Milo Marathon National Finals yesterday in Manila.
Carter's eighth place finish overall was a timely present for herself as she turns a year older today.
Among the Cebuano qualifiers, five did not show up, seven did not finish, while five had a decent showing bannered by Carter.
Carter proved to all that her victory in the Cebu leg was not only because of the absence of Leizl Lumindas-Getaruelas among other seasoned female road runners.
In the last five kilometers, Carter heard someone saying that she was in the top 10 so she pushed herself to the limit. Her efforts paid off as she overtook several other runners to barge into the eighth spot - her best finish since joining the race three years ago.
Carter clocked in three hours,31 minutes and 30 seconds.
Another Cebuana, Sharon Vega, wound up 12th with the time of 3:39:04 while first-timer Miscelle Gilbuena of Southwestern University, who qualified via the Dumaguete action, landed 15th with a 3:53 clocking.
Mendel Lopez, the last Cebu-based runner to get a finals ticket by joining the Butuan last October, came out 17th with the time of 2:48:01.
This year’s men’s champion is the multi-titled Eduardo Buenavista with the time of 2:23:37. Cresenciano Sabal placed second in 2:26:36, while Allan Basister ended up third in 2:27.45. The fourth to 10th placers were Eric Panique, Rogelio Sarmiento, Alquin Bolivar, Joselito Dugos, Rene Desoyo, Darwin Lim, and Crisfrankreadel Indapan.
In the distaff side, Mercidita Fetalvero won her first 42-k title with the time of 2:58:38, beating Maricel Maquilon, a runner under the care of Cebuano Olympian Roy Vence, who completed the race in 3:06.08. Estella Mamac-Diaz landed third with the time of 3:11:15.
This year’s Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. female champion Monaliza Ambasa came out fourth, while the rest of the top 10 female runners were Ellen Tolentino, Cerila Cortel, Janeth Lopena, Cebuana Madelyn Carter, Geraldine Sealza and Helen Tacling. – Caecent No-ot Magsumbol (FREEMAN NEWS)