Prince crowned king, Cherry blossoms

CEBU, Philippines — Certified Milo babies Prince Joey Lee and Cherry Andrin breezed through 16,000-plus runners to rule the premiere 21-kilometer division of the Milo National Marathon 2024-Mandaue City leg early yesterday morning.

Lee, who joined the Nestle-sponsored race since he was a toddler, ruled the men’s 21K with the best time of one hour, nine minutes and 50 seconds.

Lee’s Spectrum Running Club teammates Jovan Bensig and Darwin Locaylocay took the second and third spots with a 1:13:51 and 1:15:11 clocking, respectively.

In the women’s division, Andrin grabbed her first 21K crown after dominating the shorter distances in the past. She crossed the finish line in 1:27:56, way ahead of Spectrum’s Jamine Cruz who wound up second in 1:34:50. Kay Cundangan placed third with a time of 1:36:40.

Several other Spectrum runners caught part of the spotlight, with Mark Mahinay and Asia Paraase reigning supreme in the 10K  category.

Mahinay topped the men’s battle in 32:31, just 10 seconds ahead of Kenyan Eric Chipsiror, while Andrew Kim Remolino, a member of the Philippine triathlon team, ended up third in 33:21.

Paraase lorded it over in the distaff side in 39 minutes and six seconds. Raven Faith Alcoseba, a national mainstay in triathlon, settled for second in 42:06 followed by Nicole Del Rosario in 46:48.

In the 5K action, the top three winners were Arcelo Oswaldo, Jr. (15:56), Shin Irvin Ragadio (16:17) and Angelo Quiniquito (16:21) in the men’s and Jeanly Mata (18:29), Cathy Lingcong (19:24), and Melanie Pulgo (20:01) in the women’s.

Meanwhile, Kyle Abarquez (11:29) and Ziah Ares (12:55) were the fastest in the 3K.