LAOAG. — An up-and-coming marathoner and newcomer to the race, a last-minute entry and a promising young hometown bet hogged the spotlight Saturday in the 3rd Laoag City Sand Dunes Challenge at Barangay La Paz here.
A bronze medalist in the 2024 Milo Marathon men’s finals, Edward Flores and Spectrum Club team manager LanyDaoag topped the men’s division and women’s 10K divisions, respectively, while Laoag’s Merry Miles Sunga made her mark in the girls’ 5K run of the event.
Although completing for the first time, the lean and lanky Flores clocked 43 minutes and 13 seconds over the challenging course of hilly sand dunes overlooking the West Philippine Sea, edging Roy Laudit (43:15) while Richard Butay (44:57) was third.
Kenyan Jackson Chirchir, who won the first Sand Dunes Challenge in 2023 but was nursing a leg injury, limped home in fifth place (52:40).
Pangasinan-based Daoag, who just wanted to look after the Spectrum Club runners, was forced to fill in for an indisposed entry and was rewarded with a top finish, checking in at 1:03.45 to improve on her third-place performance in the previous edition.
Maylene Aguilar was a far second (1:24.39) and Ruth Molina third (1:42.31) in the races organized by Laoag City Mayor and former Project: Gintong Alay executive director Michael Keon to boost the city’s sports tourism and meant as a highlight of the annual Pamulinawen Festival.
Flores and Daoag received P15,000 each for their effort on a cold and cloudy morning that saw over 600 runners in the event, spiced up by free 4×4-wheel rides and sand boarding for all of the participants after they had completed their runs.
“Medyomabigattumakbodahillumulubog ‘yungpaasabuhanginperomaganda ring experience kasiibangklasekareraangtinakbuhanko,” said Flores, who will be gunning to crack the national marathon team for the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December.
The 28-year-old General Santos City native will compete on Aug. 10 in the Manila Marathon, a qualifying event for the Thailand Games sanctioned by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association.
Keon was delighted no end to see Sunga, also making her event debut, breezing through the finish line in her age group, clocking 27:58, a time faster than the 28.29 set by illustrious Laoag high school teammate Christine Joy Taliente in topping the women’s 5K run (28.29).
“Sunga was really good,” noted the Laoag mayor, who is grooming the girl as a top medal prospect in the girls’ 800 and 1,500-meter evens in the forthcoming Region 1 PalarongPambansa qualifiers in La Union next month where Laoag will aim to defend regional overall honors.
“That young girl (Sunga) should be someone to watch in those events if handled and coached properly,” noted Australian coach Anthony Benson, the former Project: Gintong Alay track and field mentor and was tapped by Keon to help boost the performance of the Laoag athletic team.
Asked what she would do with the P10,000 she won, Sunga, 12, a Grade 6 Student at the F. Reyes Elementary School, replied: “Ibibilikopo ng bisikleta para mas madalingumikot.”
