Vence wins on stars’ no-show

With no worthy challenger in the fold, Roy Vence strolled to victory in the 42-km Milo Marathon National Capital Region eliminations, beating a badly-outclassed field and taking the first step to his projected sixth title romp in the 27th edition of the annual event.

In turning the race into a virtual tune-up for his bid in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam this December, the 37-year-old Vence clocked two hours, 29 minutes and seven seconds, a far cry from his last year’s time of 2:23:27 but well within his target on his preparations for the biennial games.

"Medyo umuulan kaya hindi masyadong maiinit kaya lang may baha sa ibang parte ng Makati kaya nahirapan din ako," said Vence. "Pero parang preparation ko na rin ito sa SEA Games. Kung ganito ang itatakbo ko sa SEA Games, malaki ang pag-asa kong maka-gold."

The absence of fancied Allan Ballester, a two-time winner here, and defending champion Eduardo Buenavista made things easier for Vence, who arrived late and didn’t have the benefit of a warm-up.

Placing second and third were Noel Bautista (2:32:04) and Rowel Canillo (2:34:44), respectively.

Liza Yambao also took advantage of the absence of the top women runners like Cristabel Martes and Flordeliza Cachero to win her first leg title in the.

Yambao clocked 3: 14:52. Lisa Delfin came in second at 3:33:33 while Melinda Manahan placed third at 3:41:43.