Braza, Edna crowned Speed Series champs

MANILA, Philippines — National team members Alfrence Braza and Edna Magtubo topped the inaugural race of Speed Series powered by 2XU last Sunday held at the Ayala Triangle in Makati City.

Braza emerged champion in the men’s elite category of the 2km race with a time of five minutes and 48 seconds, while Magtubo did the same in the distaff side with a six-minute plus clocking.

Both are with the Far Eastern University athletics team and part of the Philippine track and field unit.

“Challenging talaga ito kasi hindi mo ma-estimate dahil road yung tatakbuhan mo, not unlike kung sa oval ka,” said Braza, a bronze medal winner in the 1,500-meter run during the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.

Braza and Magno were joined by fellow participant Dhem AJ Monton of Jose Rizal University, Speed Series race official Worship Acosta, and Allan Majadillas, COO of the organizing One Of A Kind Asia in the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday at the Philippine Sports Commission media room.

Monton finished eight seconds behind Braza and won runner up honors.

More than 400 runners participated in the first of the three-leg series divided into races by the city, by the mountain, and by the sea.

As a side event, a 2km relay run was also held during the initial leg where four participants took turns running every 500 meters.

“Yung mga pumunta were cream of the crop athletes and were able to focus more on their performance,” said Majadillas in the Forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, and the country’s 24/7 sports app ArenaPlus.

According to Acosta, the next leg by the mountain will be held in Baguio on July 26.

“Itong leg will still have the 2km race for speed and endurance,” he said, adding a team of 10 runners will be participating in a unique 21 km relay race where they are set to run 2km each.

The third and final leg is set in Boracay by September featuring a 10km relay race by the sea, where five runners per team will be made to run 2km. each.

A cumulative points are earned per leg to determine the overall champions by the end of the series.

Majadillas said organizers are planning to invite runners from neighboring Southeast Asian countries during the race’s second edition by next year. (Pool story)

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