Phl track bets find new home in Vermosa

Philippine long jump queen Marestella Torres Sunang spends three to four hours a day in traffic as she drives back and forth from her home in Bacoor, Cavite to her training venue at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

“It doesn’t help my training. I spend hours sitting. It’s not good for me,” said the three-time Olympian, who at 37, remains the country’s top bet in women’s long jump.

“And Philsports is too crowded for us because it’s open to the public. It’s not conducive to training national athletes. There’s (human) traffic in the oval,” she said.

Thanks to Ayala Corporation, those days are gone.

These days, the 2009 Asian Championships gold medalist and holder of the SEA Games record at 6.71 meters needs 10 minutes to get to the training venue.

Ayala Corporation has linked up with the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association and has provided Patafa athletes a new home to train – the Vermosa Sports Hub in Imus, Cavite.

The 800-hectare property of Ayala Corporation houses a brand-new track oval, the first nine-lane oval in the country and one that meets IAAF standards.

It’s an all-weather track of balsam surface, the same surface that will be used in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia in August.

JUN MENDOZA Athletes (from left) Riezel Guarte and Mervin Guarte; Manila Water GM of Healthy Family Purified Water; Vermosa Ayala Land Inc. Estate head Jay Teodoro; Ayala Land Inc. managing director John Philip Orbeta; PATAFA president Philip Ella Juico; athletes...