De los Reyes, Yambao snare crowns from absent kings, queens

Given a chance to shine, an Army man and a student-athlete seized the moment, taking advantage of the big guns’ absence and topping their respective divisions in the Manila leg of the 29th National Milo Marathon on a rainy Sunday morning at the Luneta Grandstand.

The early drizzle rendered Roxas Boulevard slippery but it didn’t stop Reynaldo delos Reyes and Liza Yambao from running away with the men’s and women’s crowns, respectively, in the 42.195-kilometer event which drew a big 14,371-man field that answered the starting gun at the break of dawn.

Delos Reyes, an Army first class, clocked in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 39 seconds to rule the men’s competition while Yambao, a member of Santo Tomas’ track team, churned out a 3:14.17 clocking to top the women’s side of the event sponsored by Milo.

Not only did the victories give them berths in the National Finals of this annual event backed by Bayview Park Hotel, Adidas, Cebu Pacific, Smart Kid, Department of Tourism, Addict Mobile and Powerbar slated Oct. 9 but they also netted them P30,000 each.

"Masaya ako dahil nanalo din ako dito sa Milo Marathon," said delos Reyes, the 27-year-old San Dionisio, Iloilo native. "Malaking tulong din na wala sina Roy Vence at Allan Ballester, hindi ko pa kasi sila tinatalo sa tanang buhay ko."

Truly, hardly was there a challenge for delos Reyes, who frolicked in the absence of Vence and Ballester, who both skipped the event to concentrate on the 23rd SEA Games slated Nov.27-Dec. 5 here.

So did the 23-year-old Yambao, who led all the way and stormed home in 3:14.17, simply outclassing the women’s field that included perennial campaigner Liza Delfin and Mila Paje, who finished second and third with times of 3:19.29 and 3:25.52, respectively.

The country’s top women marathoners Christabel Martes and Melinda Manahan didn’t see action.

"Hindi ako masyadong nagka-problema dahil wala ’yung mga taga-national team," said Yambao, who finished second behind Manahan in her favorite 10-km race in the Manila Marathon two weeks ago.

While Yambao led from start to finish, delos Reyes actually had to go through some anxious moments against eventual second placer Rolando Piamonte before stepping on the gas and pulling away for good in the final eight kilometers.

Piamonte came in more than three minutes behind in 2:32.45 while Mamerto Corpuz, Jr. had a 2:33.21 clocking to settle for the P20,000 and P10,000 purse, respectively.

Rounding up the top 10 in the men’s group were Rogelio Sarmiento (2:35.06), Gerald Sabal (2:40.57), Ramie Lacson (2:41.51), Rovel Canillo (2:42:04), Vicente Carillo (2:42.11), Jujet de Asis (2:43.46), and Ronald Despi (2:44.29) while Geraldine Sealza (3:30.03), Enate Sayrol (3:40.17), Daisy Castillon (3:41.04) and Marychiel Minas (3:43.49) completing the women’s money list.

Ballester, for his part, also participated but only in the 10K where he rammed into a more determined Alley Quisay and had to settle for a disappointing second place finish.

Quisay, a 24-year-old member of the national pool, registered 32.33 minutes while Ballester had 33.16. Ben Alejandro was third with a 34.02.

"Medyo natakot din ako dahil marathon champion siya pero sinabi ko na lang sa sarili ko na hindi niya event talaga ito," said Quisay, who hopes to run in the 5,000-meter run along Southeast Asian Games gold medallist Eduardo Buenavista in the SEAG this November.

Gloria Diaz topped the women’s 10-k race with a 41.58. She bested Librada Tamson (43.13) and Mary Grace Cruz (44.05).

The 5-k race went to Rio dela Cruz in the male category and Nhe-an Barcena on the distaff side with times of 17.04 and 20.15 seconds, respectively. Jerome Baredo (17.05) and Jordan Oberez (17.07) made it to top three and so were Bernadette Mag-aso (20.23) and Julie Rose Forbes (21.13).

Race director Rudy Biscocho said the race was a success since it surpassed the total number participants (some 13,000) from the Manila elimination last year.

"We’re happy with the turnout, but it could have been more had it not rained," said Biscocho.