Torregosa drives home point in MTT run
Under driving rain and cloudy skies, the Philippines’ Artjoy Torregosa and Kenyan Kelvin Kiplagat dug deep to rule the men’s and women’s centerpiece 10-kilometer races of the inaugural Asics Meta: Time: Trials (MTT) Philippines, doing it in emotion-filled styles on Sunday.
Willing herself to prove a point, Torregosa, a native of Butuan, stormed past fancied contenders—including national team standout Joida Gagnao—to claim the women’s overall crown with a time of 36 minutes and 23 seconds before breaking down at the finish.
“I really didn’t expect this,” Torregosa said in Filipino, the tears streaming down her cheeks barely recognizable because of the continuous downpour. “There were members of the Philippine national team in the race, and I’m not part of that team.
“My only strategy was to keep up with them,” she added. “But in the last lap, when I asked myself if I still had something left, that’s when I gave it everything I had.”
Torregosa also offered her triumph to her recently departed grandfather, whose wake she missed as she was preparing for the race.
“I really wanted to win this one for him.”
Kiplagat, a first-time PH competitor, defied both unfamiliarity and a crack field to clock 30:32, holding off local aces Richard Salaño (30:41) and Sonny Wagdos (31:22), who had recently won in Thailand.
“It felt kind of funny and exciting at the same time,” said Kiplagat, who hails from the high-altitude town of Eldama Ravine. “This is my first time racing in the Philippines, and the weather was challenging, my body was hurting. But I gave it everything.”
Both champions walked away with P100,000 each, and the reputation that they will never be unfancied in races to come.
