MANILA, Philippines - The country’s top runners – Eduardo Buenavista and Mercedita Manipol-Fetalvero – dominated the 21K Condura Run for the Whale Sharks of Donsol at the Global City yesterday.
Buenavista, a two-time Olympian, was challenged early in the race by Cresenciano Sabal and Allen Quisay but pulled away for good when they reached the halfway mark of the 21K race.
He finished the race in one hour, 10 minutes, 19 seconds.
Quisay came in second in 1:10:52 while Sabal settled for third in 1:10:57.
Fetalvero showed superior speed and stamina as she won the women’s 21K race by more than five minutes over former University of the East standout Maricel Maquilan in the event fired off by Ed Nepomuceno, head of operations of the SkyWay.
Fetalvero, who also topped the Condura Race for Tubbataha last year, clocked 1:19:32. Maquilan came in at the 1:24:49 mark. Ailene Tolentino clocked 1:31:28 for third.
Buenavista and Fetalvero recently shared top honors in the 2009 Takbo Para sa Kalikasan and the 2008 Milo Marathon.
The recipient of the annual benefit run, organized by Concepcion Durables Inc. and held in partnership with SkyWay, Vitwater, Nike, Canon, Jollibee, Cebu Pacific and Bonifacio Development Corporation this year, are the whale sharks of Donsol in Sorsogon. A total of 6,243 runners registered for the 21K, 10K, 5K and 3K events. Condura has alloted P50 from the runner’s entry fee to help fund the protection and preservation of the whale sharks or butanding.
Also for the first time in Philippine foot race history, part of the SkyWay was included in the 21K race course.
The top three finishers in the 10K Challenge Run were Elmer Sabal (32:38), Alquin Bolivar (32:38) and Rene Desuyo (32:50) in the men’s and Anna Vargas (42:49), Kaye Lopez (47:37) and Reva Magno (50:42) in the women’s.
The winners in the 5K Discovery Run were Christopher Ulboc (15:27), Ben Alejandrino (15:34) and Jonas Bacnagan (16:24) in the men’s and Bernadette Mag-aso (19:19), Adjennie delos Santos (19:28) and Hazel Madamba (21:05) in the distaff side.
The top finishers in the 3K Fun Run were Patrick Gongob (9:08), Raul Lamprea (9:11) and Ramie Lacson in the men’s and Nhea Ann Barcena (11:12), Merlyn Lumagbas (12:49) and Nimmi Chainan (14:05) in the women’s.