MANDAUE CITY — Jhonn Marc Dizon topped the Mandaue leg of the 50th National Milo Marathon on Sunday, Sept. 6, as more than 10,000 runners took part in the golden anniversary race of the country’s biggest and longest-running foot race.
Janry Pelones placed second behind Dizon in the men’s 21K qualifying race while Jerome Casinillo bagged third place.
Michelle Zamora, on the other hand, topped the women’s 21K run while former Milo Marathon national champion and Olympian Mary Joy Tabal-Jimenez finished second.
Competition was also held in the 10K, 5K and 3K for kids.
MILO Sports head Carlo Sampan said the annual running event remains focused on encouraging more people, particularly children, to participate in sports.
“Other races might be more elite, but really for us, it’s all about sports and having more kids in the starting line,” Sampan said during a press event on Saturday.
Sampan said the activities continue beyond the race, with free sports clinics and the “My Milo Stories” program also offered to participants.
This year’s qualifiers will compete in the Milo National Marathon finals in December in Clark, Pampanga.
The top male and female finishers in the 42K national finals will also earn the opportunity to represent the Philippines at the Sydney Marathon in Australia next year.
Mandaue leg race director Joel Juarez said he was proud to serve as the local partner for the marathon’s 50th anniversary and recalled his own history with the race.
“I ran my first Milo Marathon in 2005 and I’m proud to say that I had a very good time with sub-four. Milo has always been a part of my life with the two marathons that I ran,” Juarez said.
Meanwhile, the 37-year-old Tabal-Jimenez returned to the Milo Marathon Cebu this year to compete in the 21K, years after the race became a major part of her running career.
Tabal-Jimenez won her first National Milo Marathon title in 2013 and went on to become the first and only woman to win six consecutive National Milo Marathon titles from 2013 to 2018.
Her victories at the Milo Marathon opened opportunities for international competition, including the Paris Marathon in 2014, Los Angeles Marathon in 2015 and Boston Marathon in 2016.
In 2016, she became the first Filipina marathoner to qualify for and compete in the Olympics. She placed 124th in the women’s marathon at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
Her fifth Milo Marathon title in 2017 was one of the most emotional races of her career. Her father, Rolando, died 22 hours before the marathon, but she still competed and crossed the finish line to fulfill a promise to him.
Tabal-Jimenez now heads the Mandaue City Sports Commission.
