MILO celebrates its 60th year here in the country, I am 69 now which means I was just 9 years old when this energy drink made its debut.

But then coming from a lower middle class family then, energy drinks, also soft drinks, were special treats when I was a kid and I do not remember seeing MILO on our breakfast table.

Without knowing then that this iconic brand will be a big part of my life as a budding sportswriter starting in 1977.

Road running here was emerging and the MILO Marathon was one major event that I would not miss for anything, the qualifying runs in Metro Manila, sometimes in nearby provinces if I get invited, then the National Finals in Manila.

I witnessed races starting at 12 noon in Cubao , reasoning was that it would be cooler as the runners are nearing the finish line, I met and interviewed marathon legends , the likes of Jimmy de la Torre, Justo Tabunda Jr., Wilfredo Ballester, Roy Vence, and Eduardo Buenavista, and the great Arsenia Sagaray in the distaff side.

I saw the boom in running and worked with Rudy Biscocho when he handled the MILO Marathon, enabling me to cover regional races all over the country, from Tuguegarao to Cagayan de Oro.

I joined MILO’s writing contests and won my share for both the MILO Marathon and the MILO Little Olympics, truth is, memories just come rushing to my mind.

Oh, and I used to run too, so many pounds and black hair ago, even joining some road races including the media runs of MILO Marathon, but that is now part of history for me.

Now why am I reminiscing?

Well, last Sunday , I attended the presscon of MILO to celebrate its 60th year milestone held at Friday’s in Trinoma, followed by a well attended program at the mall’s activity center, and met old friends , former and current athletes associated with MILO, including pretty Bea Lucero Lhuillier, still a head turner , she was at one time the face of MILO in its products, Jamie Lim, Chris Tiu , and the country’s first Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz.

At the activity center, it was good to see the likes of swimmers Akiko Thomson and Ral Rosario, both Olympians, Monica and Veronica, daughters of Nic and Marlyn Jorge, who founded the Basketball Efficiency Scientific Center or BEST, now ran by their kids, then there was Jackby Jaime, who was then in charge of the MILO Marathon, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) was well represented with Commissioners Bong Coo, Ed Hayco, and Wawit Torres.

At the presscon, Nestle Phils. executives took turns in sharing MILO’s current programs anchored on 3 major events, the expanded National MILO Marathon which will have 15 regional legs nationwide to culminate in a national finals, in fact I plan to cover the NCR leg on Sunday , April 28, at the MOA, the annual MILO Summer Sports Clinics, now with 40 sports in its line up, and its barangay–based grassroots sports program.

Veronica Cruz reiterated MILO’s committment to help develop young athletes both on and off the court while Carlo Sampan shared MILO’s expanded program to include para athletes.

I also asked Carlo if the National MILO Marathon will be retaining the format of qualifying races enroute to a finals, which they just restored this year , and good news to runners, the answer was yes.

What he could not say yet was whether or not they would in the future be rewarding their national marathon champions a trip to Boston for the Boston Marathon, considered the grand daddy of all international marathons.

There was a time in the past, early 80’s I think that the winners looked forward to competing in Boston but only if they win MILO’s national finals.

But what I am sure of is that MILO will remain to be a valuable and dependable partner in Philippine sports.

Congratulations on their 60th year, and by the way, I can drink MILO more regularly now, thanks to Nestle Phils. .

And yes, it will be like the good old days for me on April 28 at the Manila leg of the National MILO Marathon.