Jovencio Luspian of Mankayan, Benguet became the first Cordilleran to finish the 100-mile or 160,934 kilometers Western States Endurance Run which was held last 23-24 June 2018 in California, USA. He is 37 years old and his race bib was 256 and was fortunate to be chosen from a Lottery Entry Type which was held last 2 December 2017 from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM.
The Western States Endurance Run or WSER is the oldest 100-mile run in the world which started in 1974. A runner has to conquer a myriad of obstacles including hot weather and unknown terrains while aiming to finish within a cut-off time.
Only 369 out of the 400 male and female registrants was able to start the 2018 WSER but only 299 out of the official starters were able to finish the 2018 Western States Endurance Run.
There was another Filipino in the 2018 endurance run and his name is Conrado “Jun” Bermudez who is a 45-year-old male runner already based in the United States. He completed the race with a time of 25:36:03 finishing at the 142nd position.
Jovencio Luspian finished at position 196 with an elapsed time of 28:00:03 from successfully running, climbing, and descending the enduring Western States Trail. He is not new in the field of 100-mile races having already completed two 100-mile runs of the King of the Mountain Series entitled Hardcore 100 Miles.
The top finisher of the race was the 28-year-old American runner Jim Walmsley finishing at an elapsed time of 14:30:04 and the distaff side top placer was also an American runner by the name of Courtney Dauwalter who clocked the finish line at 17:27:00.
All runners of the 2018 WSER traversed the historic Western States Trail that started in Squaw Valley, California and passed through Emigrant Pass and the Granite Chief Wilderness while climbing 18,000 feet and descending almost 23,000 feet before finally arriving at the finish line in Placer High School in Auburn, California.
Sources:
https://www.wser.org/2018-entrants-list/
http://www.ultralive.net/ws100#tracking/finishers
https://www.fashyas.com/PH/Cebu-City/659518130819091/Altra-Running-PH
http://www.baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph/sports.asp?mode=archives/2018/june/6-17-2018/sports4-Benguet-runner-ready.txt
http://baguiomidlandcourier.com.ph/sports.asp?mode=archives/2018/july/7-1-2018/sports2-Luspian-1st-Igorot.txt