Milo 10-K course short – Keon

MANILA, Philippines – Former Project: Gintong Alay head Michael Keon has questioned organizers of the recent national Milo Marathon for holding the 10-kilometer run of the event over a course short in distance last Dec. 6 in Clark Field, Pampanga.

Keon, who vied in the said race distance, was surprised to record a time of 45.18 minutes, about five minutes faster than his personal best of 51.11.

“I crossed the line, went to the ‘chute;’ and my friend turns to this foreigner and said, ‘Boy we ran really fast’. The foreigner then told us, ‘according to my GPS it’s only 8.6 kilometers’,” said Keon.

Keon said he later approached race organizer Rio Dela Cruz who initially denied any inaccuracy that might have happened during the race, claiming it was even certified by the Association of International Marathon (AIM).

But Keon added he later got a call from Dela Cruz who apparently discovered something was amiss during the race.

“He rings me later, telling me ‘I think there’s something wrong. I’m going to make a formal apology and complain with AIM’,” said Keon.

“He actually said to me, before the race began it was raining and the marshals misdirected the runners, one way 600, one way 600, so that’s 1.2km.”

Keon said a simple public or on-line explanation and apology from Dela Cruz would have settled the issue but the organizers opted to keep silent.

“Rio is a very well-known person. Number one person in organizing races in the country. But you cannot have an event of that magnitude which is questionable,” said Keon  “He helps propagate running which is good. But I feel he needs to own up to the fact that there was something wrong with the race. The race was short by a big amount.”

The winning time of the event in question was 28.30 while the longtime Philippine record for it is  29.30.

“That would be the fastest 10K ever ran in the Philippines, virtually bordering on world class,” said Keon, who initially expressed surprise over his 25.30 clocking halfway through the race.

“This is fast,” he said, referring to his time ran in uphill-downhill course.

“If Rio can get away with it, this could be a metaphor for Phl sports – that people are not adhering to standards,” said Keon.