Wednesday, January 13, 2010

AILEEN TOLENTINO: BIG HEART (AND LUNGS)

It happened!  It was indeed a drama.

Prior to the race, one of the interesting topics was the rivalry between local favorite Mary Grace delos Santos and Aileen Tolentino of Cagayan de Oro in the 42K Womens category of the Cebu City Marathon.

De los Santos was leading most of the 42km distance until less than 1km from the finish line, when Tolentino, giving her all out, overtook her for good, crossed the finish line, and... collapsed!

The series of photos below was captured by Igi Maximo of TeamMaximo who was waiting for the other team members to arrive at the finish line:


That's why they call the Marathon the ultimate in running.

Weak legs... big heart.

Cebuano hospitality.  Jacs Jacalan of the organizing CERC helping her recover.

What's on her mind?  Not bad for a 42,195 meter work-out and P50,000.00 richer.

Some attributed delos Santos' loss to joining too many local races which resulted in a possible burn-out.  Mary Grace said she was distracted by the chants of the local crowd.  Or was it that maybe Aileen wanted it more this time?

What's your analysis?  You can post your remarks at the Comments Section below.

2 comments:

Jess said...

Whoa! Nice blow by blow account of the race. Cant wait to join next year.

You cant blame Mary Grace for joining the local races. Running is her career now and she needs to earn a living. And she knows nobody can beat her here in Cebu.

There will always be a next time. Congrats to the winners

Madz said...

Heard Tolentino plans to trasfer to Cebu. Good move. The more, the better.