Belmonte posts 5th straight Milo leg win

TACLOBAN CITY , Philippines   -- Dionesio Belmonte of Ormoc City captured his fifth straight leg championship last Sunday in the 33rd National Milo Marathon here at the Leyte Sports Complex.

Belmonte, who recently resigned from work to concentrate on his training for last Sunday’s event, finished the men’s 21K race in one hour 15 minutes and 16 seconds to qualify in the national finals slated on Oct. 11 in Metro Manila. He finished 14th place overall in the grand finals last year and vows to do better in October.

“I really worked hard because I want to gain the qualifying time,” said the 24-year-old Belmonte, a member of the Ormoc Marathon Runners Organization.

Aside from the free round-trip all-expenses ticket to the grand finale where P75,000 awaits the national champion, Belmonte brought home the top purse of P10,000 and a trophy for topping the Tacloban City leg of the country’s biggest and longest-running foot race held in partnership with Bayview Park Hotel-Manila and the Department of Tourism.

Second place Allan Latoja of Catbalogan, Samar and Elviro Patindol of Baybay, Leyte finished second and third, respectively.