Phl bets king, queen of the road in Singapore

MANILA, Philippines - Eduardo Buenavista and Mary Grace delos Santos dominate the 16.8 km of the “closed” category for male and female in the Adidas King of the Road in Singapore on a route that started and ended at the Gardens by the Bay.

Buenavista clocked 53 minutes, 12 seconds in topping the male side while Delos Santos timed 1:01:52 to rule the distaff side of the competition, which was held also in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

 Hot on their heels were Thai runners Sanchai Namkhet  (55:07) for the male category and Natthaya Thanaronnawat (1:04:18) for the female category.

“I’m very happy with the Adidas KOTR. It’s nice to see the global leader in running bringing together passionate runners from all over the region. The 16.8km distance is distinctive from other running events, and I certainly would like to do it again,” said Beunavista.

“I’m really proud to win again in Singapore’s championship race after coming first in the Manila’s leg. I have even achieved my personal best for today’s run. The Adidas KOTR races have served a great use in training for my next event, a full marathon in Manila in December. I would welcome coming back next year and competing at Adidas KOTR again,” said  Delos Santos.

Sponsored by Adidas, winners from the various KOTR legs (Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia) around the region travelled to Singapore to compete against Southeast Asia’s top runners.

The Adidas KOTR routes passed through some of the most scenic and exciting landmarks each city has to offer, through Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, the Esplanade, Arts Science Museum and the Singapore Flyer.

“Today, the spirit of ‘Adidas is all in’ comes to life through the passion of all participating runners. To watch each runner aim to achieve their personal best across all five countries is truly an inspiration. This was precisely the vision of Adidas KOTR when we initiated the original concept of hosting a regional running competition last year,” said Amit DasGupta, brand director of Adidas Southeast Asia.

“The adidas KOTR aims to bring runners together from across the region as part of adidas’ commitment to the sport. We’re proud to provide a unique platform that brings together running enthusiasts from across the region, and this year we are pleased to be amongst the first to host a running competition out of the beautiful Gardens by the Bay. adidas is grateful to all participants for making the adidas KOTR 2012 a truly successful running event for the second straight year,” added Amit.