MANILA, Philippines - Eric Panique and Stephanie Cadosale dominated the 21K in the rain to lead the winners in the Bacolod qualifying leg of the 36th Milo Marathon last Sunday.
Around 10,300 runners braved the tough running condition to vie for top honors in the event with Panique and Cadosale emerging triumphant in their respective divisions.
Panique nipped Maclin Sadia and Rommel Hulleza for the men’s crown while the 18-year-old Cadosale bested Mereeis Ramirez of MDRC-Dumaguete and Iresh Belleza in the women’s side to advance to the national finals in December.
“I believe it’s time for me to break my career record again. I am looking to match or even surpass the pace of other veteran runners in the national finals,” said the 26-year-old Panique. Panique is out to break his current best time of 2:27 in the full marathon category.
His victory in the Great Lapu-Lapu Run two years ago served as his ticket to last year’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Race, where he achieved his fastest time but finished in 16th place.
“The race requires more than just adequate training and mental preparedness. It requires motivation. This is why athletes need to be reminded why and for whom they are running. In my case, I run for family and for good health. This is inspiration enough to keep me going,” said Panique.
In the special school awards category, CHMSC Fortune Towne bagged the biggest delegation plum with a total of 516 participants while the CHMSC-ALIJIS took the fastest delegation award.
Joining Panique and Cadosale in the national finals are last week’s Cebu City winners Junel Languido, who posted one of the best records in the 21K elims and veteran campaigner Mary Joy Tabal. They will join other regional winners in grand finals which features record holder Eduardo Buenavista.
Meanwhile, Iloilo City will host the next elims on Oct. 28 before action shifts to Mindanao beginning with the Gen. Santos qualifiers on Nov. 4. The Davao City elims will be held Nov. 11 to be followed by the Butuan City qualifiers on Nov. 18 and Cagayan de Oro City on Nov. 25. The national finals is set Dec. 9 at the SM Mall of Asia Grounds in Pasay City.