Camsur Marathon : Kenyan wins title

Source : Cedelf P. Tupas Philippine Daily Inquirer


PILI, Camarines Sur—Nathan Naibei took a 25-hour flight just to get to the Philippines a few days ago, then sat in a bus for another nine hours from Manila to this sports tourism hub in the Bicol region.


He made the long trip worth it Sunday.

With a fluid stride, the 24-year-old Naibei completed a wire-to-wire win in the men’s 42K event of the 2011 Summit Water Camarines Sur Marathon that lured a record field at the Camarines Watersports Complex.

A businessman in his hometown of Eladoret in western Kenya, Naibei clocked two hours, 25 minutes and 14 seconds to claim the top prize of P125,000 in only his first full marathon in the Philippines.

“I didn’t know what to expect, so I just maintained my pace,” said Naibei, a father of two, who broke away from the lead pack at the 29 km mark of the flat course.

“The course was very smooth. It was dark in the early part of the race but there were a lot of people cheering for us.”

Eric Panique, representing Antipolo, Rizal, picked up the same prize for emerging as the fastest local finisher with a time of 2:28:03—second best overall.

It marked the first time that the organizers, led by Camarines Sur Gov. L-Ray Villafuerte, gave the same prize to the elite category champion and the best local runner in both the men’s and women’s divisions of the 42K race which was flagged off at 4 a.m.

Slowly but surely establishing himself as one of the country’s elite runners, Panique is hoping his performance can still earn him a slot in the Southeast Asian Games.

“I hope I get noticed with my performance,” said the 25-year-old Panique, who took running seriously six years ago starting with 21K trail runs in his hometown of Himamaylan, Negros Occidental.

Panique bested the likes of Mendel Lopez (2:34:11) and three-time Milo Marathon king Cresenciano Sabal (2:35:03) in the race where runners who clocked 3:15.00 and faster qualified for the prestigious Boston Marathon.

Kenyan Rose Jepkembol Chesire the elite women’s race in 2:50:26 followed by home province bets Ailene Tolentino in 3:12:39 and Cynthia Jaro in 3:20:17.

sponsored

They also pocketed P125,000, P90,000 and P50,000, respectively, for their feats.

Another national team aspirant, Mary Grace delos Santos, submitted the second-best time of 2:59:53 that was enough for her to wrest the top prize for local bets.

Coming in second was Monalisa Ambasa (3:15:17), while third was Miscelle Gilbuena (3:31:27).

Villafuerte announced that a record field of about 21,000 runners took part in the five races.

Mikael Kahsay of Ethiopia reigned supreme in the men’s 21K event in 1:10:57 followed by Kenya’s Benjamin Kipkazi (1:11:34) and Kering Eluid (1:11:49), while Genet Agtew, also of Ethiopia, topped the women’s race in 1:22:22.

Local girl Mary Joy Tabal settled for second in 1:24:31 followed by Kenya’s Rhoda Chelrikui in 1:25:10.
Other results: 21K (Local Men)—Brian Lupio (1:15:54), Gerald Sabal (1:16:02), Alquin Bolivar (1:16:14); 21K (Local Women)—Flordeliz Donos (1:26:57), Luisa Raterta (1:30:12), Maricel Maquilan (1:36:02).