Veteran runners rule 'Tatakbo Ka Ba?' fun run

Everybody made a run for it but in the end, veteran runners dominated the featured races in Sunday’s “Eleksyon 2010 na, Tatakbo ka Ba?" event organized by GMA Network at The Bonifacio Global City.

Jujet de Asis, who had already campaigned in the longer distances in previous races, including the full 42 K marathon, stamped his class in the men’s 5K competition, while Alley Quisay, another experienced runner, dominated the field in his pet event, the 10 K. Sharing the limelight with de Asis and Quisay were Aileen Tolentino and Nhea Ann Barcena, who ruled the 10K and 5K events, respectively, in the distaff side. The 28-year-old de Asis, a bet from Philippine Army and Team Bald Runners, who had previously competed in the Greatest Race on Earth in Singapore in 2007, said he found the route challenging, especially at the turnback. "Noong papunta (charging out of the starting line) maganda, pero nang pabalik na (towards the finish line), naging challenging dahil na rin sa dame ng tao na paalis pa lang ng starting line. Napilitan kami dumaan sa hindi sementadong lugar papunta ng finish line, pero okay naman," said de Asis, who covered the route in 15 minutes and 12 seconds. Settling for second and third were Patrick Gongob with 16:02 and Nielbert Nabuab with 16:20. For his part, de Asis' fellow Army bet Quisay had to unleash a strong finishing kick to beat Darwin Lim and Rene Desuyo for the crown. Quisay, a 29-year-old runner from Bolinao, Pangasinan, said he made his breakaway only in the final 100 meters after sharing the pace with his two rivals. "Talagang pinilit ko manalo dahil parang practice na rin ito para sa mga susunod kong sasalihan," said Quisay, who's coming off a victory in the 21K event of last month's Run for Home: The Globe-Ayala Land City Run for Habitat for Humanity footrace, and looked forward to more competitions. Quisay clocked 32:09, beating Lim's 32:20 and Desuyo's 32:42.
Cagayan de Oro's Toletino, another recent winner in the Run for Home: The Globe-Ayala Land City Run for Habitat for Humanity footrace, negotiated the 10 K route in 36:06, nosing out Jannette Lumidao (37:39) and Amabelle Lao (38:40) for the tiara. Barcena, a many-time winner in the MILO marathon races, showed her top form in the 5K when she clocked a winning 19 minutes flat. Barcela defeated Michelle de Vera (20:29) and Merlyn Lumagpas for the title. Special awards went to the Firefly Lightning Joggers team, which fielded in the biggest delegation with 125 runners and five-year-old Rafael Solimen, who got the youngest runner plum. "Eleksyon 2010, Tatakbo Ka Ba?' was a run-for-a-cause that aimed to bring together concerned citizens, political candidates, GMA's Eleksyon partners, celebrities and VIPs so they could show their support for clean, honest elections and good governance. Perceived presidential and vice presidential hopefuls showed their support to the endeavor by having their "ceremonial walk" and pledge of clean elections while celebrities and media personalities, including Senator and fitness buff Pia Cayetano, actor Ricky Davao, and broadcasters Winnie Monsod and Raffy Tima, among others, gamely took part in the races. Boxing champion Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire, Jr. led the pre-race opening prayer and fired the starting gun to flag off the 5,000 runners. - GMANews.TV