Sevilleno eyes crown in Milo marathon finals

CEBU'S road running queen Christy Sevilleno and Rogelio Reli will lead the Cebuano team in the finals of the 29th Milo Marathon National today at the Quirino Grandstand.

Joining Sevilleno in the distaff side is Leiszl Lumindas-Getaruelas as Merlita Arias, the third Cebuano qualifier, is still in Malaysia.

Arias will be facing a ban in the Milo event if she will not be able to return the prize money she pocketed during the Cebu leg.

In the men's side, together with Reli are Joseph Penales and Roland Montebon.

Aside from the five Cebu leg qualifiers, another Cebuano, Bowen Montecillo will also be on the premier 42.195-kilometer footrace.

Montecillo, who is now based in Manila, managed to snatch a ticket to the finals after winning the Tarlac leg, one of the new additional legs in the Milo Marathon.

Also, another Cebu-based athlete Mary Rose Arman of University of Southern Philippines Foundation is making her debut in the race as she topped in the Butuan leg.

The Cebuano top runners will be competing for the crown against the qualifiers from 12 other regional races including General Santos, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Lipa, Naga, Davao, Manila, Laoag, Olongapo, Butuan City, Iloilo and North Luzon.

The first runner up finisher last year, Sevilleno is one of the bets eyed to top the race but the Bantayan Island native is conservative in her outlook in the race today as she is "not really prepared" because of a lot of school works.

According to Sevilleno, Lumindas is better prepared than her.

"I am devoting most of my time right now practicing dances as part of my PE classes because I am a PE major," Sevilleno said.

But for Reli and Montecillo, they are seriously preparing for the competition.

A cash prize of P75,000 awaits the champion for both the men and women's division.

The second placers will get P50,000 and P30,000 is up for the third placers.

Aside from the 42-k action, organizers are also including a 10K, 5K and 3K distance to spice up the finals.