CAMPBELL SHATTERS RECORD AS PULANCO SCORES SIERRA MADRE TRAIL ULTRA 75 2023 VICTORY.
Jeff Campbell from Canada was able to beat last year’s time and emerged as the 2023 male champion of Sierra Madre Trail Ultra 75. He set a new record of 10:01:17, exactly 4 minutes faster than Larry Apolinario’s time of 10:05:17 in 2022.
It was not an easy win for Campbell as he was challenged tremendously by Elmer Retolado and John Ivan Zonio in the early stages of the race.
The veteran Campbell proved to be too much for the local elites as he pulled away past mid race. The young gun Zonio, who suffered from knee injury early on, eventually settled in 2nd place while Retolado bowed out of the race at KM 67 (Mt. Ayaas aid station) where he needed immediate medical attention.
Maynard Encornal, Ariehmat Bardoquillo, and Anthony Calixterio started strong and finished stronger as they slowly climbed up the ranking in the final 20 KM and finished as 3rd, 4th and 5th placers respectively for the men’s division.
In the female category, last year’s 3rd runner up, Ann Jillian Pulanco from the Philippines, consistently led the entire course and won the championship with a commanding gap of almost 1 hour ahead of Danielle Perry of USA.
Philippines’ Melanie Hingpit, Mary Joy Sumanda, and Malaysia’s Fah Lim completed the top 5 for the women’s race.
As brutal as the route is the unforgiving weather. It was scorching the entire day with temperature reaching as high as 36 degrees. The extreme heat posed a great threat to all participants as several runners decided to call it a day and stopped at aid station 4, while many who still pushed through also did not make it within the finish line cut off time of 19 hours.
Out of 109 registered and 100 who toed the starting line, only 58 finished SIERRA MADRE TRAIL ULTRA 75 2023.
Top 5 Male
Champion: Jeff Campbell 10:01:17
2nd Placer: John Ivan Zonio 11:23:45
3rd Placer: Maynard Encornal 11:39:23
4th Placer: Ariehmar Bardoquillo 12:22:08
5th Placer: Anthony Calixterio 12:52:55
Top 5 Female
Champion: Ann Jillian Pulanco 15:28:30
2nd Placer: Danielle Perry 16:23:38
3rd Placer: Melanie Hingpit 16:53:26
4th Placer: May Joy Sumanda 17:04:27
5th Placer: Fah Lim 17:05:46
Age Category Winners
MALE:
18-29: Sean Aying (Philippines)
30-40: Ronnel Yongot (Philippines)
41-50: Deric Lau (Singapore)
51 above: Santi Phongsraphang (Thailand)
FEMALE:
18-29: Irish Glorioso (Philippines)
30-40: Charmaine Arrazola (Philippines)
See the official results here:
International Trail Running Association (ITRA)
Deutsche Ultramarathon-Vereinigung e.V. (DUV)
Biggest Delegation Award goes to Mindanao Trail Running Association (MINTRA)
PHOTOS
To all participants, always check this post for updates about your photos. Also, please like the facebook page of our photographers.
