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A comeback for Milo marathon and me

March 19, 2023 People's Tonight 320 views

Lito CincoTHE last time the Milo National Marathon was held was year end of 2019, a few months before the covid pandemic that paralyzed sports.

But this Sunday, March 26, the event, which happens to be the country’s longest-running marathon, stages a comeback at the Mall of Asia grounds and though the finalized.

And I too will make my own comeback and will be there at the event to cover it, truth is, the Milo Marathon is something I have been religiously covering since I started doing sportswriting for Sports World in 1977.

This was the time the marathon, which had its first race in 1974 with 747 hardy runners participating and won by Numeriano Titong, still started at 12 noon in Cubao with the late Jun Castro as the race organizer.

The early 80s was the first running boom in the country, two marathon clinics were being held every weekend by two competing organizers, Elpi Dorotheo from the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, and Jun.

They really competed against one another, particularly, in holding international marathons Elpi with his Manila International Marathon and Jun with his Pilipinas Third World Marathon.

Plus a lot of shorter distance races too.

Even the Association of Road Race Organizers (ARRO) could not contain the quarrel between the two.

My ninong then Col. Pete Juachon had his own Alay sa Pangulo Marathon.

But still, Milo Marathon was THE local marathon event.

I searched the net for the list of past champions after Titong, the likes of Victor Idava, Irving Gallardo, corn-eating Exequiel Baisac, Eriberto Diaz, Leonardo Illut, Rey Antoque, and the great Jimmy de la Torre who was shot in a moviehouse much later.

Throw in two-time champion Justo Tabunda Jr. who went public how he was being treated or mistreated by Jun when he was brought to Boston to run in the Boston Marathon.That time, the Milo champion earned a ticket to compete in the classic marathon.

Then the other legends Wilfredo and Allan Ballester, six-time time champion Roy Vence, Herman Suizo, Cresenciano Sabal, and Eduardo Buenavista.

In the distaff side that only started in 1990, Thelma Montebon was the first champion. Then the likes of Arsenia Sagaray, Cristabel Martes, and Mary Joy Tabal were the dominant ones.

And memories of past coverages kept on running through in my mind, including winning a few of the media writing contests regularly held, the most memorable when I won first place and my then Manila Standard editor Bert Cuevas also received the same amount of cash prize I got

This was the time he was going through tough health conditions.

There have been casualties, too, one involved in a car accident, the other one a heart attack case as he collapsed at the finish line. But this was a long time ago.

Then when I had just retired from full time corporate work in 1998, newly- designated race organizer Rudy Biscocho, who I met in the Road Runners Club of the Philippines (RRCP), asked me to join his team and cover all the Milo Marathon races as a pool reporter.

That meant the chance to go around the country for free, and even get paid for it, why would I turn down that opportunity.

I almost forgot to mention, I was still into running then, and there were special races for media members covering the event, and I remember having a podium finish one time.

This was the time Milo Marathon had gone beyond the 42K race, introducing shorter distance races open to students and the public, and each regional leg was vying as to which one can deliver the biggest number outside the Metro Manila leg.

For this Sunday’s race, featuribg 3K, 5K, 10K, and 21K distances, plus the full marathon.

I was surprised at the cost of entry fees now, lowest at P299, highest at P1299, and organizers are expecting 15,000 runners.

First time I think the full marathon will start at 2 a.. I will be there at MOA for sure but not that early. See you people.

LOOSE CHANGE: PVL semis just started, F2 vs Creamline, PetroGazz against PLDT, and hard to predict but to hazard a guess, Creamline and Petrogazz, I will not mind if I am wrong….Belated birthday greeting to sportsman Alex Wang whose Millenium Basketball League might be revived this year….Lastly, advanced birthday greeting to myself, will turn 48 years old if this year is only 2003. By Lito Cinco

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