Sabal, Tolentino eye QCIR crowns

Reining National Milo Marathon champion Cresenciano Sabal and First Queen City International Run (QCIR) titleholder Aileen Tolentino will again be going for the crown when the 2005 edition kicks off 3:30 p.m. today at the Lapu-Lapu City Hall.

Sabal, the champion of the recently concluded 42-kilometer Milo marathon, will be taking a shot at the championship trophy and the cash prize of P50, 000.

He placed third behind Alley Quisay and Crisanto Canillo in the 2003 edition when the race was still competed in the 13.4-kilometer distance.

Tolentino, on the other hand, is also going for the tiara in the distaff side, having won the title in the inaugural staging in 2002.

But she never regained the crown in the next two stagings as she placed third in 2003 and fourth in last year's edition. She was upstaged in the second edition by 2003 Milo Marathon champion Liza Yambao and in 2004 by national team member Mercidita Manipol.

Today, more than 4,000 runners will answer the starting gun to be fired by race director Max Telford.

Dubbed as Asia's First Mardi Gras run, the race will also feature a 5-kilometer wheelchair race.

Attractive cash prizes will be at stake in the race with the elite winners in both the men and women's division to pocket P50, 000.

The second placer will get P25, 000, the third placer with P12, 500, the fourth placer with P7, 500 and the fifth with P5, 000.

There will also be sidelights to add color to the event with cash prizes for the Best in Costume (group category) for P10, 000 the Best in Costume (individual) with P5, 000, the Hubba-Hubba category (for a group of at least five runners with a minimum waistline of 40 inches) with P5,000 and a lechon, the Biggest Delegation with trophy and two whole lechon and the oldest and youngest finisher to receive trophies.