Sisters Cynthia and Criselyn Jaro proved that speed runs in their blood when they posted a spectacular one-two finish at the 21K women’s division run Sunday at the 37th National MILO Marathon in Davao City. Last year’s champion Anthony Nerza also proved his mettle during the race and successfully defended his local crown to clinch a repeat victoryIn an eager attempt to take the lead, Nerza hastened his pace at the 58th minute mark and crossed the finish line at a record-setting 1:11:08, relegating Elmer Bartolo (1:14:43) and Machale Jan Echalico (1:15:44) to second and third place, and securing his third ticket to the MILO Marathon finals
In the distaff side, Jaro’s fast reflexes gave her an advantage when she propelled herself to claim the lead at the sound of the starting gun. She posted a finishing time of 1:30:43, ahead of younger sister Criselyn, who finished at 1:32:49, and Davao bet Emely Avergonzado (1:34:49)
As an ongoing commitment to inspire more Filipinos especially the youth to overcome all of life’s obstacles and engage in a wholesome sport like running, MILO provides pairs of running shoes to underprivileged students nationwide through MILO’s Help Give Shoes advocacy. With the invaluable support of MILO Marathon runners and partners, a total of 500 pairs were delivered to beneficiary schools today in Davao, bringing the total shoe count to 30,700. Kapitan Tomas Monteverde Elementary School, Davao City High School, SPED Bangkal, Sta. Ana National High School and Manuel L. Quezon Elementary School were among the advocacy’s beneficiaries
“MILO endeavors to inspire more athletes through education, and what better way to learn than from our own set of champions. We are immensely proud to be one of the running platforms that Cynthia is a part of as she imparts knowledge and skills about the discipline. The National MILO Marathon has already become a learning base for athleticism, and we value the efforts of our runners to share the principles of sportsmanship and develop the local running community,” said Andrew Neri, MILO Sports Executive
