In a race he was heavily-favored to win, the 27-year-old Buenavista lost no time in dominating the big field that had tried in vain to steal the thunder from the diminutive runner from South Cotabato as he broke away from the pack in the first three kilometers then cruised to the victory before a delighted crowd at the finish line.
He checked in at 1:19.25, four minutes faster than the 1:23.31 clocking he posted in winning the event last year with the 2002 Milo Marathon champion scooting away another whopping P25,000 prize on top of gift packs from the sponsoring New Balance, Pepsi X and Power Bar.
That’s the same prize package Martes brought home as the 25-year-old Benguet native outclassed her rivals in the distaff side, winning in 1:32.17, five minutes better than her last year’s clocking and 13 minutes ahead of eventual second placer Liza Yambao, who had a 1:45.27.
"Hindi naman masyadong nahirapan kasi medyo kundisyon tayo. Yung lang nag-alalay ako kasi baka sumakit yung injury ko. Pero nung after 3km hindi naman sumakit, bumira na ako," said Buenavista, who actually had to shrug off a foot injury he sustained in a recent half-marathon stint in Korea.
As Buenavista peeled off a huge pack that answered the starting gun at the break of dawn, nobody was able to keep pace with him, or no one dared to chase him, perhaps aware of the power and strength of the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in 5,000m (Malaysia) and 10,000 (Hanoi) in such kind of event.
Cresencio Sabal did try but reeled back just the same, settling for second in 1:23.25 while New Zealand half-marathon veteran Rio dela Cruz clocked 1:25.45 to finish third in what has become one of the country’s premier running events.
Close to 4,000 runners, from a bubbly 8-year-old aspirant to the 80-year-old veteran campaigner, took part in the event which has grown in prestige and stature the last four years with Darrel Wisbey, general manager of Planet Sports, Inc., exclusive distributor of New Balance sports apparel, vowing to come up with a bigger, better edition next year.
Wisbey, along with Anton Gonzalez, president of Planet Sports, Inc., Ronnie Colmenar, marketing manager of Planet Sports, and Bing Buenaventura, brand manager of New Balance, awarded the prizes to Buenaventura, Martes and the other winners in various divisions of the event organized by img. Others who graced the event were Cynthia Carrion, executive director of PCVC, actor Ricky Davao and taekwondo star Japoy Lizardo.
Buenavista said he’s concentrating on the 5,000m and 10,000m events for the Manila SEA Games although he will represent the country in marathon in next year’s Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
"Wala naman gaano mabigat na kalaban kaya nung makalampas ako sa 500m alalay lang ang ginawa ko para hindi kapusin," said Martes, who started as a sprinter in 1992 but shifted to long distance running in 1999.
Martes, also a former SEA Games champion, is bracing for a performance trial in July in a bid to make it to the national team competing in this year’s SEAG here.
Stella Diaz finished third with 1:48.55.
Rene Herrera (32:05) and Melinda Manahan (41:11) topped the 10K runs and each won P5,000 along with New Balance gift packs, Pepsi X and Power Bar, while Advance New Tech Industrial Corp. ruled the inaugural corporate 10K run and took home P30,000 worth of gift prizes.
Other winners were Dino Gilladaga (3K fun run), Joseph Mancera (5K Open-male) and Laila Majestrado (5K Open-female) while University of Santo Tomas-B bested Mapua and La Salle to win the 4K intercollegiate run worth P16,000 in cash.