Salaño, Magtubo top Manila leg

Richard Salaño and Edna Magtubo emerged victorious in the Manila leg of the PUMA Philippine Half Marathon Series 2026 on Sunday at SM Mall of Asia Complex.

The national team members stamped their class in a loaded field that drew 13,000 participants, capping off the successful running series that had Puma as title sponsor.

Salaño won the flagship 21K race in one hour, eight minutes, and 23 seconds, just nine seconds ahead of his fierce Kenyan rival Gilbert Muge who finished at 1:08:32. Ricky Organiza completed the men's podium in 1:10:04.

Magtubo, meanwhile, was in her dominant form, timing at 1:26:05, well ahead of Purity Serem (1:29:06) and Maricar Camacho (1:33:08) in the women's division.

It's a banner crowd in the culmination of this series organized by RUNRIO which also saw stops in Iloilo, Davao, Cebu, Clark and Cagayan de Oro.

The competition was equally intense in the 10K category, where Jeck Labrador ruled the men’s race in 31:31, narrowly beating Fritz Angelo Operio (31:37) and Junel Gobotia (32:05); while Jessa Mae Roda claimed the women’s title in 36:43, followed by Maria Jonna Lina Abutas (44:17) and Carla Marie Navarro (47:09).