Iligan, Batangas host Milo eliminations

MANILA, Philippines - The 33rd National Milo Marathon resumes its elimination legs with twin races in Iligan City and Batangas City on Feb. 15.

“We expect another festive Sunday when more than 13,000 runners answer the starting gun at the same time,” said Nestle AVP and Milo sports events executive Pat Goc-ong.

The country’s grandest and longest-running foot race opened its 2009 season last Sunday at the Boulevard in Dipolog City and at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority in Zambales.

The centerpiece event will still be the 21K elimination race where the qualifying time is one hour and 15 minutes for the men and 1:35 for the women. Qualifiers will win an all-expense paid trip to the Milo Marathon grand finale slated Oct. 11 in Metro Manila.

To add color to the races this year, the 10K distance is included to the regular 5K and 3K racing events.

The 21K run promptly begins at 5:30 a.m. while the rest of the events kick off in succession starting at 6 a.m.

In Iligan City, Rep. Vicente “Varf” Belmonte, Mayor Lawrence Lluch Cruz, Vice Mayor Henry Dy and Councilor Simplicio Larazabal have been invited to flag off the 7,000 registered runners while in Batangas City, Mayor Eduardo Dimacuha and ABC president Vilma Abaya Dimacuha will fire the opening gun for the more than 6,000 participants. They will also grace the awarding ceremonies.

Also on hand in both venues on Sunday is the inter-school cheer-dance competition.

Hadley Mariano swept his way into the finals and then edged Jonathan Dy in a thrilling title showdown, 7-6, to rule the Class C division of the Makati Pool Players Association (MAPPA) 9-Ball Summit Monday night at the AMF-Puyat Billiards Center in Makati City.

It was an astounding feat for the 15-year-old son of Bugsy Promotions’ heads Perry and Verna Mariano as it was his first appearance at MAPPA.

The victory has earned Mariano, a second-year high school student at La Salle Greenhills P3,000 cash prize, a handsome trophy and an overnight stay for two at Oxford Suites in Makati.

“I’m very happy for this win,” said Mariano, who is looking to follow in the footsteps of his fellow Bugsy boys world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo, former world champion Ronnie Alcano, Roberto Gomez and Gandy Valle.

“I hope I could continue to improve my game, and I’ll work hard to do that,” he added.

Organized by MAPPA, led by its president Jesse (Gonzales) Cambosa, in cooperation with The AnitoKid, the tournament also achieved a historic first for being the first amateur billiards club competition to be broadcast on television and aggregated on the internet through www.anitokid.blogspot.com.

 which has become one of the most popular attractions in the MILO Marathon.

According to MILO national organizer Rudy Biscocho, expected to dominate this Sunday’s Batangas run are last year’s leg winner Alquin Bolivar, Gerald Sabal and six-time MILO Marathon national champion Roy Vence. Maricel Maquilan is expected to prevail in the distaff side.

In Iligan City, veteran runner Roger Sawin Ay of Bukidnon, Jeffrey Sotto and Brian Quiamco are expected to fight it off for the leg championship.

Biscocho is also advising all participants to be at the starting area not later than 5 a.m. for pre-race briefing and check-in. All runners must also wear their respective MILO t-shirts and race numbers given to them upon registration. Those not wearing MILO t-shirts may be barred from joining the race.