All set for Manila Milo marathon

Rain or shine, everything is set this Sunday morning for the Metro Manila edition of the 25th National Milo Marathon at the PICC grounds.

Featuring a full 42K marathon as the qualifying race to the national finals in December, the event is expected to attract more than 5,000 entries including those in the 3K kiddie run and 5K and 10 K fun runs.

Defending men’s division national champion Allan Ballester together with five-time Milo Marathon champion Roy Vence, currently in training for the SEA Games, have both been seeded into the finals, the same with women’s champion last year Christabel Martes, who will participate in the 10K event as part of her training program for the Avon Global Championship in Budapest, Hungary in October.

Expected to crowd out each other in the distaff side are Hazel Madamba and veteran Mila Robiso Paje while it is a wide open field among the male runners in the absence of Ballester and Vence.

At stake in the 42K race are P30,000, P20,000 and P10,000 each for the top three male and female finishers.

It will not be all serious competition on Sunday as entertainment personalities Onemig Bondoc, Shaina Magdayao, Ann Curtis, Jake Roxas, Lana Azarin and Goyong have all confirmed their participation in the 5K run where the bulk of the participants, mostly students, will come from.