Palarong Pambansa gold medalist Trixia Arellano shares reason why she ran barefoot in race

ILOCOS NORTE - Barefoot and unstoppable, young runner Trixia Arellano soared to the podium twice so far in the 2025 Palarong Pambansa in Ilocos Norte. 

The 11-year-old athletics aspirant did it all with her feet taped, sharing she opted to run shoeless in the finals as it was more comfortable than wearing spike shoes.

And it proved to be true as the Iloilo pride nailed a pair of gold medals in the elementary girls' 100m sprint and 200m dash to mark her Palaro debut on a winning note. 

"Para magaan lang po yung pagtakbo ko. Para po 'di mabigat kasi pag nakasapatos, mahina po ako kaya nagpapaa nalang ako," Arellano shared.

"Sunod-sunod po panalo ko kapag nagpapaa ako. Sa heats po, nag-sapatos po ako [pero] 'di po ako nag-1st sa heats. Nung finals na (naka-paa), sunod-sunod na panalo ko."

Arellano opened her campaign in the 200m dash, clocking in 26.40 seconds to clinch the gold medal and shatter a previous meet record in the process. She bested the previous mark of 26.7 by Mau Schrijvers in 2008. 

She then posted 12.84 seconds in the 100m event to capture her second gold medal. 

READ | Palarong Pambansa Guide and Updates

—JKC, GMA Integrated News