Ballester peerless in marathon

HANOI, Vietnam (Via Globe Telecom) — Allan Ballester, running at a measured pace in the morning cold on a flat, straight course, picked up where his more illustrious compatriot Roy Vence left in the halfway mark and won the marathon with plenty to spare at the close of athletic competitions in the 22nd Southeast Asian Games here yesterday.

Ballester made a big surge and gained ground on the 11-man field at the turn at the Lang Hoalac national highway, then left his only rival, Vietnamese Nguyen Chi Dong, in the 37-km mark to win unopposed.

He completed the 42.125-km which ended at the track and field oval of the National Sports Center in two hours, 21 minutes, and three seconds, beating Nguyen (2:21.51) by 48 seconds.

The 37-year-old Vence, the 2001 SEAG winner, quickly towed the pack in the first half of the race but lost steam and finished fifth in 2:29.03.

"Nakaabang lang ako nang si Roy ang nag-pace. Noong nagkawatak-watak na sa halfway mark, tumira na ko," said Ballester, who finished second to Vence in 2001.

The bronze medal went to Thai Boonchoo Jandaca (2:23.35).

Flordeliza Cachero, who replaced the injured Cristabel Martes months ago, finished fourth in 2:59:30 behind Indonesian Erni Ulatingshi (2:52.28), Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Hoa (2:53:53) and Indonesian Fri Marince Subnafeu (2:56.40).

A Vietnamese coach did everything to help his runner win, including giving instructions and giving his protégé drinks on the road from a motorcycle.

Ben Silva-netto, the race supervisor from the Philippines, often warned the coach that his runner would be penalized or disqualified for receiving outside assistance.

Mario Castro, the long distance coach, said the Vietnamese probably could not understand the instruction in English and continued to assist his runner throughout the race. He was not penalized.

Ballester tried to break away from the Vietnamese in the last five kilometers and finally succeeded on the final surge, winning the race by at least 400 meters.