Dagupan, Roxas stage Milo Marathon elims

MANILA, Philippines - Dagupan and Roxas take their turn to host the 33rd National Milo Marathon elimination tomorrow as the eight-month, three-island elimination races enter the homestretch.

Dagupan has attracted 4,000 runners and Roxas has lured 5,000 participants.

The races will be flagged off simultaneously at 5:30 a.m. by local officials of the two cities assisted by organizers of the country’s longest running footrace headed by Milo sports events chief Pat Goc-Ong and National Milo Marathon organizer Rudy Biscocho.

Competitors in the main 21k event will try to meet the qualifying time and gain berths in the finals. The qualifying time is 1:15:00 for men and 1:35:00 for women.

Three other races – 3k, 5k and 10k – complete the four-age divisions footrace organized by Milo in partnership with the Department of Tourism and Bay View Park Hotel Manila.

Provincial qualifiers will converge in Manila for the finals slated on Oct. 11 with the men and women champions to win P75,000 each plus trophies. Eduardo Buenavista and Marcedita Manipol won the men and women titles, respectively, last year.

Buenavista and Manipol are expected to encounter stiff challenge in their title retention bids following the introduction of the time barrier this year to raise the level of competition and make the finals more challenging and interesting.

The Milo marathon is the final preparation of Buenavista and Manipol for the Southeast Asian Games in Laos in December.

Eighteen races have been completed so far, leaving eight more legs before winding up the 26-leg nationwide elimination that started last February in Subic Freeport Zone and Dipolog City.

The eight remaining races are Dagupan and Roxas (Aug. 16), Legazpi and Iloilo (Aug. 23), Naga and Bacolod (Aug. 30), and San Pablo and Dumaguete (Sept. 6).