Filipino runners from UAE.
Filipino runners join ‘emotional’ Valencia Marathon in Spain
FILIPINO runners from Italy, Spain, United States and United Arab Emirates did their best in the 4th edition of the Valencia Marathon recently.
Although most of them failed to hit their target time and even to set personal best times, the Filipinos finished strong before the cut-off of five hours and 30 minutess while entering along a beautiful walkway over water in the City of Arts and Sciences.
In a report by Europe-based correspondent Alona Cochon, most of the Filipinos had all the fun in meeting new friends and finishing strong in the prestigious event which attracted 35,000-plus participants that took to the asphalt to compete in the 42.195 kilometer race.
One of the Filipino participants, John Allen Mendez, finished with a time of 3:39.
With five marathons under his belt, Mendez hopes to inspire the youth to always strive for a better tomorrow.
Later, the Filipino contingent joined in paying tribute to the DANA victims and those affected by the damage last October 29.
“The anthem of the Comunitat Valenciana was played and an exciting minute of silence was observed. This tribute has been repeated in each of the nine starting shots that have been fired and have been carried out by representatives of civil society and the security forces that continue to work in the areas,” said Cochon in her report.
And as the city centre rose to fresh temperatures and bright sunlight of 24-26 degrees on Sunday, 28-year-old half-marathon champion Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won.
Sawe crossed the finish in a blistering two hours, two minutes, and five seconds. (2:02:05), which also becomes the best mark of the year, beating Tokyo (2:02:16).
He finished 33 seconds ahead of the next best finisher, Deresa Geleta of Ethiopia, with compatriot Daniel Mateiko rounding out the podium in 2:04:24.
Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu dominated the women’s race in a time of 2:16:49.
The first Spaniard was Ibrahim Chakir with a time of 2:07:32.
Herold Carreon of Dubai shouted: “Hasta Luego, Valencia!” Report by Alona Cochon
