They brought back to the country’s summer capital their respective Milo marathon glass trophies and P10,000 cash purse.
Bengtay paced himself early in the 21K foot race and stepped on the gas with two kilometers remaining to claim his first leg title in this annual marathon held in partnership with Bayview Park Hotel-Manila, Adidas, Cebu Pacific, Department of Tourism and Powerbar.
"Sumakit kasi ang talampakan ko kanina kaya nag-pacing lang," said the 25-year-old Bengtay who completed the course in one hour, 16 minutes and 31 seconds. "Pinilit ko na lang sa last two (kilometers)."
Taking the early lead was a pack of young runners from Lyceum Dagupan led by Kiven Areglado and Julio Cabangon but were outsmarted by the veteran runner from Baguio.
Areglado settled for second place with a clocking of 1:17:07 while Cabangon finished third at 1:19:23.
Rabino Javier, however, finished third in the race but was disqualified because he already ran in the Tarlac City race last month. Rules say that a runner can run in any of the 29 elimination races all over the country but can only be a top 10 finisher only once in the 5K and 21K events. Fernandez placed fifth in Tarlac City.
The distaff side was ruled by Reglos, another first time leg winner here. Reglos, a native of Pangil, Laguna, was introduced to long-distance running only last summer at the PMA training camp. There she realized her endurance during the early morning run. Because of this she joined the marathon corps squad and decided to join the Milo marathon.
"Nag-excel kasi ako sa summer camp kaya nasali ako sa marathon," said the 19-year-old Reglos who clocked 1:38:16. "Paghahandaan ko ngayon ang 42K."
Placing second was another runner from Baguio, Librada Samson (1:39:22) while Leslie Herrero, a member of the canoe/kayak training pool from Taytay, Rizal, settled for third place at 1:44:50.
The 5K fun run was ruled by Velasco Langpawen and Sandi Menchie while the 3k Kiddies age-group was dominated by Donald Carolino and Aileen Buccat in the 6-9 age category and Marco Riolada and Jeza Francisco in the 10-12 group.
Next week, the country’ longest-running marathon goes to Tacloban City with more than 5,000 runners expected. — With Cesar Ramirez