CEBU, Philippines - Another historic moment is about to unfold in Cebu sports.
A record field of 21, 697 runners will be taking part in the Cebu leg of the 36th Milo National Marathon set this Sunday starting at the Cebu Normal University (CNU) grounds and ending at the Cebu City Sports Center.
Those who will able to join the race can consider themselves 'lucky' as the local organizers politely turned down thousands of other registrants as they have already surpassed the limit given to them by Nestle Philippines
The bulk of participants reaching a total of 18,859 will see action in the 5K category. The premiere 21K half-marahon has attracted 480 entries, while the 3K bracket drew 1, 141 runners. A total of 1, 217 fitness buffs will hit the road under the 10K division.
In the 21K action, there are two ways to qualify for the 42.195-kilometer national finals set in Manila this December.
First and foremost, a runner needs to finish within one hour and 15 minutes in the men’s division and 1:35 in the distaff side. The other way is that a runner must reach the finish line within the specified time in their respective age-brackets.
Aside from the qualifying time, the runners will also have to deal with the cut-off time set by the organizing RunRio for the different divisions.
The official cut-off time is two hours and 30 minutes for the 21K, 1:30 for the 10K and one hour for both the 5K and 3K.
Despite its long-standing good record, the organizers never ceased from finding ways to improve the event by seeking accreditation and recognition with the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) and the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF).
With this, only foreign runners with special working permits from the Bureau of Immigration are allowed to join the provincial legs.
For foreigners to be allowed to race, they must provide a proof of finish in any AIMS/IAAF accredited race dating back from at least a year before race day.
“For local races, only foreign runners with working visas will get to enjoy the prizes if they win but they can still use the result of their races in the provincial leg to qualify in the national finals if they like,” said Nestle Philippines Sports Executive Andrew Neri.
This is being done to ensure that each region will be properly represented and all Pinoy runners be given a fair chance.
“Mas nindot man gyud nga ang mo-present sa atong region taga ato gyud kaysa foreigner nga basta muadto lang sa Manila wala ra nila, para ra sa ilang kaugalingon,” said Nestle Philippines consultant Pat Goc-ong.
The Cebu leg will still use a timing chip similar to that of the New York Marathon.
The results of this timing chip will benefit not only the elite runners, but also the regular runners who are dealing with different advocacies, according to RunRio’s General Manager Angelo Yaneza.
To spice up the race, a cheerdance competition has been lined up for the elementary, secondary and tertiary divisions.
In a related development, a new batch of less privileged Cebuano kids benefited from 'Help Give Shoes", a community outreach program by Milo.
Among the beneficiaries of the charity project for these year are the Camp Lapu-Lapu Elementary School, Liloan National High School, Cabancalan National High School, Mabolo Elementary School and City Central School. (FREEMAN)