The 23-year-old Bolivar, a native of Carmen, Cagayan de Oro, rallied in the last 100 meters of the 10K race to overtake Daud Mama, one of the pre-race favorites, and win his third Milo Marathon regional crown in 28:56.
"Tutok lang sa una, hinintay kong makakuha ng tiyempo, humirit ako sa last 100 meters at nabigla yata si Mama. Habol ko lang naman talaga maka-top 3 dito," said Bolivar who also won this event in 1997 and 1998. He earned P5,000 and a slot in the Adidas-backed national finals in Manila on December.
For his part, Mama, a silver medallist in the 3000m steeplechase of the recent Kuala Lumpur SEA Games conceded defeat to Bolivar, "pabalik pa lang ako sa training, alam ko kapag humirit siya, hindi ko kayang sabayan," said the Lanao del Sur native.
In the women’s division, Ailyn Tolentino also had a similar sprint finish in the last 100 meters to win on her very first attempt in a Milo race.
"Expected ko manalo," said the 13-year-old Ailyn who forfeited her slot in the finals for being underaged. She negotiated the 10K distance in 39:06 and received P5,000.
Pagadian native Cecile Topia, 15, a 2nd year student at the Tawagan Sur High School duplicated her second place finish last year, with a time of 39:10 worth P3,000.