Corporal Jho-an Banayag-Villarma was the declared Champion in the Women’s Category of the 21km event after finishing the race with a time of 1 hour, 31 minutes and 53 seconds besting over a thousand other participants in her category.
Banayag-Villarma, who hails from Compostela Valley, was a Bronze medalist in the 42km event during the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand where she set the national record with a time of 2 hours, 44 minutes and 41 seconds that remains unbroken up to this day. She later captured the Gold medal when she participated in the 42km event during the 2009 SEA Games in Laos. She has consistently topped several other International Marathon events since 2006.
Meanwhile, PFC Richard Salaňo finished third place in the Men’s Category also in the 21km event with a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes and 36 seconds just 0.33 second behind the second placer from Vietnam. Over 700 other runners participated in the Men’s Category of the 21km event.
The Danang International Marathon is the first professional Marathon in Vietnam certified by IAAF – AIMS (International Association of Athletics Federations and Association of International Marathons and Distance Races).
Our soldier athletes have continuously shown that hardwork, dedication, and commitment will propel every soldier to success. These are the traits that are worth emulating by all soldiers whatever their field of specialization and wherever they are assigned. This also serves as inspiration to our soldiers fighting the different threat groups in the country particularly our troops fighting extremist terrorists in Marawi City.#
