Himamaylan bet Eric Panique won an unprecedented fourth straight crown in the 9th Tri-Mountain Marathon Open Category in Bago City Sunday, beating long-time rival Rene Desuyo by four minutes.

Panique clocked 1 hour and 26:46 minutes in negotiating the 21-kilometer route that started at the Sitio Pataan and passed through scenic spots like Kipot Twin Falls, Buenos Aires Mountain Resort and the 2,900-ft. Rafael Salas Nature Park and Center. The Cadiz City-born Desuyo the last winner before Panique's reign, came in at 1:25:44, ahead of Anthony Babiera Himamaylan City, who made it a 1-3 finish for Himamaylan runners with his 1:26:51 clocking.

Panique won P10,000 for his feat with Desuyo and Babiera awarded P7,000 and P5,000, respectively.

In the 15-Under division, which covered a shorter route, Jun Montalbo of Bago City timed 48 minutes 46 seconds to win the crown, outpacing teammates Cherwin Cañete (50:35) and John Acuña (51:51).

Other Himamaylan runners also fared well with Ruben Empress settling for fifth place by clocking 1.28.20, followed by Ruel Hulleza, a Bacolod native seeing action for Himamaylan, who finished the race in 1.30.02.

Radin Vergara came in eighth, while Ismael Mana-ay ranked 10th. Bonifacio Alcavo and Rommel Hulleza placed 11th and 12th, respectively while Michael Empress clinched the 15th spot, followed by Ryan Hulleza who came in 19th.

Close to 300 runners from all over Negros Occidental and nearby provinces such as Iloilo joined the San Miguel Corporation-backed race, a press release from the Bago City Government said.

Organizing the event are Bago City Sports Office in cooperation with the Bago City PNP and the Bago City Rescue. *PP

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