THREE-TIME leg winners Roger Sawin-ay of Bukidnon and Mary
Grace de los Santos of Zamboanga City led the final batch of runners going to
Metro Manila for the 32nd National Milo Marathon grand finale on Nov. 30.
The 34-year-old Sawin-ay topped yesterday’s 21K men’s
qualifying race in Cagayan de Oro City with a clocking of one hour, 17 minutes
and 15 seconds while De los Santos ruled the distaff side with the time of
1:30:53.
It was a hard-earned win for Sawin-ay, a farmer who figured
in an accident last Sept. 27 that caused injuries to his head and back.
He ran a calculated race, patiently trailing Ronillo
Sandinao and Jemarven Cabilan early before pulling away for good with two
kilometers to go.
"Four days ago lang akong nag-decide na idepensa ko ang
titulo ko dito dahil nga na-injured ako nung nabagsakan ako ng kahoy. Medyo
hindi nga maganda ang oras ko ngayon kumpara last year," said Sawin-ay, who
topped the Cagayan de Oro leg last year and the Kidapawan City leg two years
ago. "Paghahandaan ko naman ngayon ang finals dahil 42K ‘yun."
Sawin-ay will be joined to the finals by Sandinao (1:17:33)
and Cabilan (1:17:40) who finished second and third, respectively.
Also getting the all-expense paid trip to the 42K grand
finale were De Los Santos and runners-up Jennielyn Topia (1:40:59) and Roxanna
Maaba (1:42:20).
De Los Santos, who also claimed back-to-back titles in Zamboanga City in
2006 and 2007, fainted after crossing the finish line in front of the
Provincial Capitol and was brought to a nearby hospital. She was released from
the hospital after a few hours later and joined her fellow qualifiers in the
awarding ceremony.
