SOURCE: abs-cbnnews.com
MANILA, Philippines — A total of 4,000 children will receive new running shoes this Christmas, courtesy of the 34th National MILO Marathon (NMM).
The event's finals were held Sunday, with Filipinos Eduardo Buenavista and Flordeliza Donos ruling the men’s and women’s categories, respectively.
Buenavista won his third crown, clocking 2 hours, 24 minutes, and 18 seconds, racing past Kenyans Willy Tanui (2:29:00) and William Kipyedo (2:30:19). He had previously won the 2002 and 2008 titles.
Meanwhile, criminology graduate Donos also kept the Philippine flag flying high, finishing at 3:05:07.
She crossed the finish line ahead of Kenyan Susan Jemutai (3:05:52) and Filipino Mary Joy Tabal (3:08:38).
The race started at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, with the number of participants reaching 15,000.
The NMM had 17 regional races across the country for the past 6 months.
Part of the proceeds from the 17 legs have already been used to donate 3,600 pairs of shoes to school children from Manila, Dagupan, Baguio, General Santos, Davao, Cebu, Tagbilaran, Dumaguete, Ilo-Ilo, San Pablo, Naga, Batangas, Puerto Princesa, Tarlac, Olongapo, Butuan, and Cagayan de Oro.
"The root of this advocacy lies in our belief that we’re not just giving these children running shoes. We’re giving them something that they can wear to school, for sports and other activities. It’s definitely a step to help them reach their true potential and be the best that they can be," race organizers said on the event's official website — With reports from The Philippine Star
Cebu City’s acclaimed ‘Queen of the Road,’ Mary Grace delos Santos lorded over the 21 K races at the MILO Marathon held at General Santos’ National Oval Plaza last July 24, 2010.
Delos Santos is gearing up to bag the 2010 National MILO Marathon championship after placing second last year to Christabel Martes. During last Sunday’s races, the Zamboanga-based runner finished at 1:21:15 and bested her personal record of 1:24:00.
Delos Santos enjoyed a wide lead against rivals, Mona Liza Ambasa and Cynthia Jaro who finished at 1:30:10 and 1:36:39 respectively. At fourth place was Jeaneth de Asis who clocked in 1:58:20 followed by Liezl Diaz who finished at 2:06:44.
On the men’s side, 2009 Milo Marathon Davao Regional leg champion Joselito Dugos bagged first place with a finish of 1:13:07, cutting 2 minutes off his record last year of 1:15:42. Closely following a mere 47 seconds later at second place was Elmer Bartolo who clocked in 1:13:53. Gerald Sabal fell in at third place with a finish of 1:14:50.
Rounding off the top 5 in the male 21 K division was Isidro Vildosola who finished at 1:22:10 at fourth place, followed by Gerty Calderon who finished at 1:24:28.
Delos Santos, Dugos and Sabal will be joined by 9 others to compete against the nation’s marathon greats in the National MILO Marathon in Manila.
The General Santos leg of the 34th National MILO Marathon enjoined 6,400 runners across different race categories to support the racing event’s advocacy of providing running shoes to public school children. In line with the cause, 150 pairs of running shoes were donated to students of Dadiangas West Central Elementary School, drumming up the number of shoes donated to a total of 1,180 pairs.
The 34th National MILO Marathon furthers its Mindanao regional leg with races in Davao scheduled on August 29.
The National MILO Marathon is made possible by event sponsors, Bayview Hotel, Gatorade, Nestle Pure Life, Brooks, Department of Tourism and WWWExpress.
For more information on the National MILO Marathon and how to be part of its advocacy, visit the exciting new MILO website via http://www.milo.com.ph/ . For exciting highlights and photos of the event, be a fan of MILO Philippines on Facebook!
About the National MILO Marathon
The National MILO Marathon is an annual marathon event sponsored by MILO open to amateur and professional runners. From its humble beginnings in 1974 as a single marathon race in Metro Manila attended by 767 participants, the National MILO Marathon has grown to be the biggest, longest, grandest national running event in the country attracting more than hundreds of thousands of runners across the country.
Now celebrating its 34th year, the much-awaited running event will be conducting consecutive races in 17 cities across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and will be opening its doors to 200,000 participants.
