The drizzle that suddenly poured on Sunday, February 15, 2015 may have prevented Criselyn Pareñas Jaro from improving her time, but it did not stop her from winning the 20K female category of the 2nd PhilHealth simultaneous run that started and ended at Quezon City Memorial Circle in Quezon City.
“Medyo basa ang aming tinatakbuhan dahil sa biglang pagbuhos ng ulan, pero hindi naman po ako nahirapan dahil determinado po ako noong time na yun kasi hinahabol ko yung Kenyan,” said Jaro. Malayo po agwat namin simula nung start pa, mga 200m po! Then I was determined to win because of my coach,” she added.
Jaro finished with a time of 1 hour, 22 minutes and 30 seconds to bag the P15,000 top prize. Runner-up Susan Jemutai, a Kenyan national was a close second at 1:122:31 to earn P 10,000.00. Behind Jemutai was Janette Lumida who finished at 1:26:48.
The 22-year-old lass from Davao and the fourth of eight children of the Jaro couple is indeed determined to win the race for the sake of her family. “Butcher po papa ko. Then si mama wala pong trabaho. Walo po kaming magkakapatid, kaya nga po kami, sampu ng aking dalawang kapatid ay nagsusumikap at nakipagsapalaran dito sa Manila para po matulungan namin sina mama at mga kapatid ko doon sa Davao.”
Fortunately, Cellie Rose Jaro, Criselyn’s sister, won the 1st prize in the 10K female category.
A total of 9,987 runners registered in the Quezon City leg where the oldest participant is 85-year-old Rogelio Ynzon who ran in the 10K category. (Emelita M. Retuta)