CEBU, Philippines - As the country's best and longest existing footrace breaches another milestone with its 40th edition, the organizers of the National Milo Marathon-Cebu leg are raising the bar even higher as they aim to discover more running stars that will follow in the footsteps of Mary Joy Tabal, who recently etched her name in stone as the first Filipina athlete to compete in an Olympic marathon event.
Long before Tabal, the Milo Marathon has already minted an Olympian from Cebu in Roy Vence, a native of Bogo (now a city). The six-time Milo Marathon champion represented the Philippines in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, placing in 100th overall in the men's division with the time of 2:37:10.
The goal of shaping up the next Cebuano Olympian will surely be in Milo’s radar anew as over 15,000 runners will once again hit the road and and transform every nook and cranny of the city's major thoroughfares into a scenic greenery for the annual race bankrolled by Nestle Philippines early Sunday morning starting at the Cebu Normal University grounds and ending at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The biggest chunk of participants came from the 5K with 12, 970 followed by the 5K with 970, the 12-under 3K with 860, the 21K with 683 and the 10K with 535. Only the top qualifiers in the 21K battle though will qualify for the national finals set this December in Iloilo City for the first time.
“This edition is so memorable because not only that we are in our 40th year, there are so many things also that have been achieved by Milo Marathon and that includes producing the first ever Filipina marathon Olympian in Mary Joy,” said Cebu leg organizer Ricky Ballesteros in a press conference yesterday at the Cebu Grand Hotel.
“Aside from striving to make this event bigger and better every year, we now also have a goal and that is to discover more Mary Joys that will carry the Philippine flag in the Olympics,” he added.
Tabal, the country's reigning marathon queen with a grandslam badge from Milo Marathon, offers some words of wisdom to those who aspire to be like her someday.
"I encourage everybody especially the young ones to join this event because Milo Marathon became my venue in achieving the success of my career. I want the young athletes to experience what Milo has done to my life and that is making my dreams come true," said Tabal, who will fielding in 50 of her young runners from Guba that are products of her grassroots program in partnership with the Cebu City Sports Commission.
For his part, Milo Sports marketing manager Andrew Neri said the Cebu leg has been instrumental for the sweeping success the oldest running event in the country has had attained through the years.
“We are really excited and at the same time nervous when it's the Cebu leg because this is our biggest regional leg,” he said. “This leg produced Mary Joy Tabal and with that, Milo has lived to the saying that ‘great things start from small beginnings’ which Joy showed in his career.”
In the race proper, one has to register the time of 1:15 in the male and 1:35 in the female caregory for one to qualify for the national finals. The age-group runners can also make it to the grand finale if they can hit their respective qualifying times.
Only the 21K Open qualifiers though will enjoy an all-expense paid trip to Iloilo for the national finals. Foreigners may join, but they cannot win nor qualify for the final race.
On top of the cash bounty and the bragging rights as the country's fastest long distance runner, the 2016 Milo Marathon King and Queen will represent the country in an international marathon this year.
“There is no specific date and marathon yet but the winners will surely have an all-expense paid trip to compete abroad,” said Neri. “We are still choosing and it includes Tokyo, London, South Korea or Ontario, Canada Marathon.”
More than the fun and prizes, each of the runner also gets the chance of helping less fortunate students through the “Help Give Shoes”, a long running advocacy of Milo.
“We are giving 600 pairs of running shoes to less fortunate students from chosen public schools here in Cebu,” said Ballesteros on the event's noble outreach project that has been going on for nearly a decade already.
Spicing up tomorrow's big race is the cheerdance contest. Special awards will also be given away such as the biggest delegation and the largest contingent among the inter-company and inter-school entries. (FREEMAN)