Padcal employees, studes shine in Philex marathon

BAGUIO CITY -- Three employees of Padcal Mine and two students in a private high school subsidized by Philex Mining Corp. landed in the top 10 of the First Baguio-Benguet Philex Marathon, which has helped showcase the company’s humanitarian endeavors, in this summer capital on June 2.

“For this project, we looked at the other side of business—the human face of Philex Mining, which has been supporting efforts to promote an active lifestyle and ecotourism,” said Constante Mendoza, Jr., race director and editor in chief of Frontrunner magazine, which partnered with Philex Mining in organizing the marathon.

 Leo Javier, a heavy equipment operator at Philex Mining’s Padcal Mine, the mine site’s legal officer Enrico Arceo and its power-plant mechanic Joel Obra bagged the 6th, 7th, and 9thplaces in the male category of the 42-kilometer, or full-marathon, event; they clocked 3:24:58, 3:33:44 and 3:39:02 respectively.

The 8th place went to South Korea’s Bae Yong-hyuk, who clocked 3:35:38.

In the half-marathon (21-km) event, 15-year-old Jonathan Dulalas and Jordan Tanawe, 13, clinched the 6th and 7th spots respectively, clocking 1:34:24 and 1:34:25. They are both students of St. Louis High School – Philex, with Mr. Dulalas in third year and Mr. Tanawe in second year.

“We’ve been practicing on our own and joining marathons for a year now,” Dulalas, a resident in the outlying community of Padcal, said, referring to his good friend Tanawe, a dependent of a Padcal Mine employee. “We really like the sport.”

Mendoza, who revealed that the organizing committee is now looking to hold the marathon on an annual basis, said the event was designed as an “open-road race,” or running competitively on roads that are open to traffic—unlike in other marathons where the roads are closed for respective events.

“The organizing committee has prepared a route that is appropriate to the racers, given that the area is not polluted, is scenic and yet challenging,” he added.

No other similar marathon event has been held in either Baguio City or Benguet province, said Mendoza, who is a professional runner himself, having joined marathons here and abroad.

Participants assembled at the finish/start line in Scout Barrio, Baguio City, then took on Loakan Road before proceeding to Philex Road—and back. The races kicked off at 4:00 a.m. for the 42-km and at 5:00 a.m. for the 21-km.  

As far as we can remember, Baguio has been regarded as a favored venue for outdoor events, such as marathon and cycling,” Libby Ricafort, vice president at Philex Mining and resident manager of Padcal, said. “It was about time the company came up with its own marathon event. We are happy to have been part of this historic event.”

Mendoza said there were 186 finishers out of the more than 200 who checked in for the two races, whose registrants, including those from the sponsors and the elite runners, totaled 326.

Cicel Reyna, who clocked 2:10:36 to win the 21-km event in the female category, was awed with the lush vegetation she saw while running along Philex Road, although she noted its challenging terrain as well.

“What a beautiful scenery I saw on Philex Road, although I almost fainted over the uphill climb that I had to manage,” said Ms. Reyna, a doctor from Dagupan City who belongs to the Pangasinan Triathlon Team. She added that this was her first time to do a half-marathon.

Eduardo Aratas, Padcal’s manager for Legal Division, said Philex Mining had decided to strike a partnership with Frontrunner for the First Baguio-BenguetPhilex Marathon, as it had the expertise in organizing and handling such event.

“We had been thinking to mount a similar sport event, and realized that it was easier to do it with a partner who was an expert in the field,” he stressed, adding that 10 employees of Padcal Mine participated in the marathon.

Aratas and Ricafort attended the event, with the latter sounding the gong to give the go-signal for the 42-km race and giving out the awards for the half- and full-marathon events during the closing ceremonies.

Kenya’s Albert Omboga and Samuel Taurus grabbed the first and second places in the men’s 42-km event, winning P5,000 and P3,000 respectively, plus medals, trophies, and special prizes from various sponsors like gift certificates, shoes, T-shirts, sun visors, and bottled water, among other things.

Joel Bengtay, of Baguio City, clocked 3:07:51 to place third behind Obra and Taurus, whose respective records were at 2:57:28 and 3:02:12.

In the women’s 42-km, Sandi Menchi Abahan clocked 4:10:18 to lead Cleotilde Labrador, who placed second at 4:16:51, and third-placer Kim Regaspi at 4:56:35.

Elphis Kiptaruz, a Kenyan, clocked 1:15:35 to place first in the men’s 21-km race, leading Jay Lomyog (1:24:15) and JericBuhain (1:26:18).

Girlie Rose Cawa and Juliet Gayao clocked 2:15:42 and 2:18:43 respectively to trail Reyna in the women’s 21-km race.