The recent weekend saw the Blue and Lady Tracksters bustling with activity as the third day of the PATAFA weekly relays and the Big Blue Katipunan Run II took place last November 21 and 22, respectively.
Despite on-going renovations of the oval’s football field, the PATAFA relays were held in its traditional venue, the Rizal Memorial Oval. It was good competition all around for the Blue and Lady Tracksters, displaying poise in the events they participated in.
Coming short of a first place finish—having slight difficulties in their baton passing—the Lady Tracksters finished second in the 4x100m relay. Meanwhile, several Blue Tracksters utilized the 400m run as a time trial to test their current level of conditioning. Soy Soriano and team captain JP Azcueta both clocked in an impressive sub-51 seconds in the 400m, while the others averaged about 54 to 57 seconds.
Racewalkers Jeremy Esguerra and Rex Reyes also did well in the two-kilometer walk. Esguerra managed a praiseworthy third place finish against an almost complete UAAP line-up, while Reyes is getting back into shape from an injury.
“Overall, it was a good opportunity to check out the competition and where they are at as of the moment,” Lady Trackster Jam Valenton shares, “It’s strong competition, nothing extraordinary, but cannot be underestimated.”
Big Blue Run
The Big Blue Katipunan Run II took place last Sunday where over a thousand avid runners participated. The route was set around the Ateneo campus and stretched all the way to the Blue Ridge subdivision gate, going over the Katipunan flyover. The Blue and Lady Tracksters along with their set of volunteers were part of the organizing committee that set-up the racecourse.
A handful of Tracksters also joined in the race and finished strong. Blue Trackster BJ Abesamis was able to set a new personal best finishing sixth in the men’s 10-kilometer run with a time of 00:38:42:401.
Meanwhile Jaffy Reyes and Lady Trackster Melissa Yu finished eighth and sixth in the men’s and women’s juniors 5-kilometer division. Reyes clocked in 00:20:36:933 while Yu finished in 00:23:41:695.
Among the highlights of the day was Ateneo Track and Field Program Head Mick Perez’s participation in the 10-kilometer run. He finished the race in 01:00:34:838.
It was a successful race and a fun-filled morning for all the runners.
Complete results can be accessed through this link:
http://www.takbo.ph/race-results/big-blue-katipunan-run-ii-race-results
