Desiderio on top

Impressed, TransCebu Ultra race organizer invites him to North Race

ENGBINO Desiderio, 46, has done it again as he topped the grueling 105-km. race of the TransCebu Ultramarathon 2016 last weekend, which started in the City of Naga and ended in Lahug, Cebu City.

Desiderio of Spectrum Runners’ Club did not only win the overall title, but also impressed the organizer Blue Tradio, who plans to bring the former to Singapore for the North Face 100 in October.

The all-around helper and hardware delivery boy from Liloan dominated the race, completing the 105K in 11 hours, 34 minutes and 1 second. Desiderio dethroned Virgilio Undaloc, who came second and three hours behind with a time of 14:35:56. Kazuhiro Kawamura clocked 14:36:13 to round up the overall top three.

Desiderio, who is winning most of the local ultra marathons, had a 6:37 per kilometer pace. Tradio said he believes in Desiderio’s skills in ultramarathon and bringing him abroad will be one of the ultimate tests.

“We will try his performance in Singapore. I am sure he can perform well. He has a long base prior to the race,” said Tradio.

This will be the first race abroad for Desiderio. He will be joining the 50K category, and Tradio likes his chances.

“If there is controlled aggression, he will have 85 to 90 percent chance to win and maybe set a new record for the 50K category,” he said. “But this will also depend on the international participants for the 2016 edition. But I’m sure the Desiderio has the capacity to compete in international field.”

Annie Penaroya Balaga of Spectrum Runners’ Club said they are going to support their runner on this opportunity.

“The running club will give him the air fare and allowance. The organizer told us he will shoulder the registration fee and the place to stay in Singapore,” she said.

Meanwhile, Carlo Bibini won the TCU55 category in 6:22:00. Janito Capulac and Vincent Durier were the distant runners-up with 8:02:00 and 8:09:49.