The city of Angeles is excited to welcome all
finalists and participants to the National Finals of the 39th
National MILO Marathon on December 6, Sunday. The country’s biggest and most
prestigious footrace will see children, students, aspiring runners and
professional athletes of all ages on its running routes in Clark Field,
Angeles, Pampanga.
With this new venue, runners will be able to get a
chance to enjoy being away from the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila, with
less traffic and pollution.
“The National Finals in Angeles is a fresh and
exciting challenge our participants can look forward to. The MILO Marathon is all about bringing new and
electrifying experiences to our runners. We believe that our runners will
appreciate this change, and we cannot wait to see them in Clark on Sunday!” ~
Last year’s winners Rafael Poliquit and Mary Joy Tabal
will be looking to defend their coveted National MILO Marathon King and Queen
crowns as they go head-to-head with the country’s best. Poliquit is determined
to break the record time of five-time MILO Marathon King Eduardo Buenavista,
his senior officer in the Air Force of the Philippines and also his running
idol. Meanwhile, Tabal is gunning to post a new record time, and is aiming to
defend the MILO Marathon Queen title for three consecutive years.
The fastest Filipino and Filipina in the 42K
centerpiece event will be crowned the MILO Marathon King and Queen, and will
receive a cash prize of a PHP 150,000 each. If the King and Queen also win the
open category, they will also be awarded the corresponding cash prize of PHP
300,000. An invisible time barrier is also set for the race, and if the King
and Queen are able to break this, an additional PHP 50,000 will be awarded. A
whopping total of PHP 500,000 awaits the champions.
In addition to the prize money and trophies, this
year’s King and Queen will be sent by MILO to the USA on all-expense paid
trips, for a chance to run in the prestigious 2016 Boston Marathon, the world's oldest annual marathon. One of the six
World Marathon Majors, the Boston Marathon ranks as one of the world's
best-known road racing events. It is considered as the Mecca of all races,
where the best of the best runners compete.
To further
inspire the 42K homegrown runners to push their limits and help champions move
forward, local runners who finish amongst the top winners of the open category
will also win the prize for the local category corresponding to their
respective ranks. Bonus prizes will also be given to the first runner who breaks the
2:15:00 invisible time barrier (Php 100,000), the first male runner who breaks
the 2:18:53 men’s course record of 5-time MILO Marathon King Eduardo Buenavista
(Php 50,000), and the first female runner who breaks the 2:48:00 women’s course
record of back-to-back MILO Marathon Queen Mary Joy Tabal (Php 50,000).
Milo Sports Executive Andrew Neri also added,
“We
want to provide our Filipino runners the motivation and additional level of
competition, and support them in their journey as champions. We
at MILO believe that everyone has different reasons for running, but all
runners keep moving forward as they tread the way to becoming a champion."
Young racers will also join in the fun in the 3K and
5K divisions. Well-known personalities have also booked their slots in the
grand finale, including Kim Atienza, Yayo Aguila, Ara Mina and JC Parker. The
nation’s best sprinters will be up against each other to win the biggest title.
By virtue of winning the MILO Marathon King and Queen titles last year,
Philippine Air Force member Rafael Poliquit and SEA Games silver medalist Mary
Joy Tabal are automatically qualified to join the National Finals. NMM regional
winners and qualifiers will also be on their toes, especially elite runners
Eduardo Buenavista, Cellie Rose Jaro, Ireneo Raquin, Mary Grace Delos Santos,
Julius Sermona, Lany Cardona and Crestabel Martes to compete the full marathon
race. Last year’s top foreign runners James Tallam, Josphat Kiptanui and Joel
Kiplimo Kemboi are also expected to go full throttle in the open category on
Sunday.
The gun start for participants of the 42K run is at
3:00AM, the 21K run at 4:30AM, 10K run at 5:00AM, 3K run at 5:30AM and 5K run
at 5:35AM. The starting line and finish line will be in SM Clark.
39th National MILO
Marathon Angeles Race Route Map
No comments:
Post a Comment