CEBU, Philippines - The Queen City of the South gets green again as over 20,000 runners will flex their athletic muscles in the Cebu leg of the 34th Milo National Marathon starting and ending at the Cebu City Sports Center grounds tomorrow.
Inspite of the multitude of running events that took place in Cebu this year, none so far have overshadowed the Milo footrace in terms of participants and the excitement that both the runners and spectators bring.
The total number of entries, however, is 2, 000 short of the 2007 record posted by Cebu, according to Cebu leg organizer Ricky Ballesteros, as the organizers are limiting the number of participants this time.
Some Cebuano runners have joined other legs of this nationwide battle, while others want to test the waters prior to the Cebu leg.
There are also those who are either avoiding or looking for a tougher challenge for the top spot that they opted to take part in another leg.
Runners who already qualified for the national finals are no longer allowed to join another leg to give others a chance. They, however, can race in the shorter course if they want to.
Cebu ’s road running queen Mary Grace de los Santos, for one, is already out of the picture tomorrow since she already topped the GenSan leg last July. This makes Madelyn Carter a shoo-in to take home the women’s crown.
In the men’s side, it is going to be anybody’s game.
There are two ways to qualify for the national final, which is a full marathon in Manila set December 12, those who beat the qualifying time in the provincial under the premiere class or under a specified age-bracket and time.
Qualifying time in the 21K for male runners is one hour and 15 minutes and 1:35 in the distaff side. Those who qualify will enjoy an all-expense paid trip to Manila courtesy of the sponsoring Nestle Philippines.
Those who will finish the race within the specified age-brackets and time can also join the final battle but they will shoulder all their expenses if they decide to go to Manila.
There are nine age-group classifications for both the men’s and women’s division. These include, along with their qualifying times, 18-24(M-1:30/F-1:40), 35-39 (1:35/1:45), 40-44 (1:40/1:50), 45-49 (1:45/1:55), 50-54 (1:50/2:00), 55-59 (2:00/2:10), 60-64 (2:10/2:20), 65-69 (2:20/2:25) and 70-above (2:30).
Aside from the 21K action, there will also be a 10K, 5K and 3K run.
A cheerdance contest is set to spice up the event. A total of 13 teams have registered for the exciting sidelight, five each in the secondary and tertiary level and three in the elementary category.
In a related development, Nestle Philippines sports executive Pat Goc-ong along with Cebu leg organizer Ricky Ballesteros turned over 400 pair of running shoes to Tejero Elementary School yesterday also at CCSC.
This is part of Milo’s admirable commitment in building champions by providing underprivileged children running shoes that they can wear in school and in sporting events they want to indulge in. –THE FREEMAN