Subayno, Dinaming top Butuan, Santiago legs of Milo elims

MANILA, Philippines - Fernando Subayno bolted away from his two rivals in the last nine kilometers to win the Butuan leg of the 33rd National Milo marathon elimination, which started and ended near St. Joseph Church yesterday.

Competing for the fifth time in the race, the 25-year-old farmer from Sibagat, Agusan del Sur stormed past Angelito Sibayan and Jobert Carolino to win in one hour, 14 minutes, 58 seconds.

Francisco Dinaming won the leg in Santiago, Isabela in 1:16.49, but failed to meet the 1:15.00 qualifying mark in the men’s division. Nevertheless, Dinaming, from Kiangan, Ifugao, won P10,000.

No runner in the women’s side qualified as all the participants failed to meet the 1:36.00 time limit set by the organizers.

“I’m happy because my trip from home province didn’t go to waste,” said Subayno, who won P10,000 plus a trip ticket to the finals in October in Manila.

Sibayan, a criminology graduate from the University of Mindanao, clocked 1:16.08. Carolino, 24, from Tagum, Davao del Norte, was timed 1:17.52.

Sibayan and Carolino also joined Sabayno to the finals where they will match prowess against other provincial qualifiers and reigning champion Eduardo Buenavista for the top prize of P75,000.

“I’ll practice non-stop for three months so I’ll have a fighting chance in the final,” said Subayno, who turns 26 on Aug. 6.

Michell Ann Azarcon, a government employee married to a driver, shared honors with Subayno by ruling the distaff side in 1:36.00. Her winning time, however, failed to meet the 1:35.00 qualifying standard in the women’s division.

The 32-year-old Azarcon, from Surigao City and 15th overall in the 2007-2008 race, won P10,000. Mary Rose Arman came in second in 1:40.41 and Renee Sia checked in third in 2:18.20.

Jestoni Sandinao won the 10K in 36.14, edging his brother, Glendon (37.31). Christine Aclo ruled the distaff side in 51.12.

A total of 6,000 runners answered the starting gun fired by Rep. Jose “Joboy” Aquino II who was assisted by Councilor Benjie Calo and Milo sports events executive Andrew Neri. The race was organized by Ben Dacera and supervised by race director Rudy Biscocho.

Laoag City and Cagayan de Oro will simultaneously host the next events Sunday with support from the Department of Tourism and Manila Bayview Park Hotel.