Milo marathon elims up in Iloilo, Legazpi

MANILA, Philippines - The search for the country’s best endurance runners continues on Sunday as the 33rd National Milo Marathon holds simultaneous qualifying races in Iloilo City and Legazpi City.

At least 7,000 runners are expected to participate in Iloilo City while the same number of runners is also targetted for the first of two legs in Bicol Region.

To qualify for the national finals slated on Oct. 11 in Metro Manila, male runners in the provinces must meet the cutoff time of one hour and 15 minutes even as the female runners need to beat the one hour and 35 minutes clocking in the 21K elimination race.

“We decided to put up time barriers as a mode of qualification this year to make the races more challenging and elevate the level of competition,” Nestle AVP Pat Goc-ong said.

The 21K winners in the men’s and women’s divisions on Sunday will likewise pocket the top purse of P10,000. The second and third placers, however, will earn P6,000 and P4,000, respectively.

Aside from the qualifying run, the country’s biggest and longest-running foot race held in partnership with Bayview Park Hotel-Manila and the Department of Tourism also features races in the 10K, 5K and 3K distances.

The top 10 finishers in the three side events will also get trophies, medals and cash prizes.