MOM, DAUGHTER CONQUER MOUNTAINS OF CONSOLACION
Mother-daughter tandem Lucille, Pamela Ruiz pull off 1-3 finish in Consolacion MTB Duathlon ESL teacher Jimboy Butad wins his first elite division title after winning the men’s side
The 41-year-old housewife Lucille Ruiz had all the reasons to celebrate her win the the 2nd Consolacion MTB Duathlon yesterday at the SM City Consolacion.
Not only did she win for the second straight time, but she climbed the podium with her daughter, who finished third in the gruelling 5-kilometer run, 20K off-road bike and 3K run race in the mountains of Consolacion.
Ruiz of KeithdeFiebre Cycling Team won the women’s race in 2 hours, 25 minutes and 22 seconds ahead of second placer Hannah Bunn, who clocked 2:46:17. Ruiz’s daughter Pamela finished third with a time of 3:05:17.
Ruiz also shares in her daughter’s achievement as she was the one who convinced the 17-yearold Pamela to take up sports, which is a complete turnaround from her once sedentary lifestyle.
“I convinced my daughter to do outdoor activities since she’s always playing Dota (Defense of the Ancients), an online video game. She started biking with me and I’m happy that she liked it as well,” Ruiz told sports scribes in Cebuano.
The older Ruiz got the lead at the early part of the first run and never looked back from there.
Meanwhile, in the men’s division, ESL teacher Jimboy Butad of Team Hagunoy made his presence felt on his first elite race after clocking 1:39:35 to beat Sulpicio Ombay of Team Kombati and Metchel Pilapil of Pilapz Boys, who clocked 1:40:31 and 1:41:40, respectively.
Butad, 25, said that all his previous races were in the age-group class and it was only for this race when a teammate convinced him to try and compete against the elite duathletes.
“My teammates told me so I gave it a try. I guess it will mark the start for me to join in higher divisions. I’m going to compete in the elite division on my future races,” said the education graduate from La Consolacion College.