Alquin Bolivar and Mirasol Abad, both members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), combated strong winds and the slippery terrain to win the 21K division of the 37th National MILO Marathon Sunday in Dagupan City. Both runners are set to lead 26 other qualifiers to the finale in December, where they will compete with the country’s best runners for the championship title and for a trip to the 2014 Paris Marathon courtesy of MILO. A total of 8,043 runners joined the day’s race.28-year old Bolivar, who hails from Cagayan de Oro, said that he took the lead at gun start, but struggled with his pace at the 12th kilometer mark because of the challenging weather. He eventually pulled away and locked a distance at the last few kilometers, crossing the finish line at 1:13:47. Behind Bolivar were national athlete Robeno Javier at 1:13:53 and Crifrankreadel Indapan at 1:16:02.
In the distaff side, 28-year old Abad outlasted female competitors and crossed the finish line at 1:30:49, way ahead of Mercy Taypoc (1:32:52) and Lany Cardona (1:35:20), all while battling a mild cold. Abad, who is a member of the Philippine Duathlon Team, is considered one of the top duathletes in the country. She adds today’s victory to her collection of titles in other national races.
“My training includes a combination of biking and running for 3 hours to extend my endurance and improve my speed,” she said. “I also plan to join the Philippine National Duathlon Championships later this year to prepare for the MILO Marathon National Finals.”
“MILO salutes the passion and dedication that the men and women of our nation’s armed forces render to defend our countrymen. We at the National MILO Marathon are very proud to have engaged an admirable set of people who continue to lead their fellow athletes to imbibe the core values of a champion. We hope to draw more local heroes to join the discipline and inspire runners to take their love for country and true athleticism to the competitive track,” said Andrew Neri, MILO Sports Executive.
With the support of the Department of Education and the National MILO Marathon runners, MILO has given a total of 32,200 shoes to public school students nationwide through MILO’s Help Give Shoes advocacy. Through this ongoing commitment to develop sports in the country, MILO delivered 500 pairs of running shoes to beneficiary schools today in Dagupan City, namely East Central Integrated School, Dagupan City National High School, Bonuan Boguig National High School, North Central Elementary School, and Bued National High School.
