by Moses Billacura
The Davao City leg of the 34th National Milo Marathon on August 29 will have 2009 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Jho-An Banayag on the field of more than 10,000 participants, a number of participants eyed by race organizer Kenneth Sai.
Banayag, a regular campaigner in Davao, was a surprise winner in the SEA Games in Laos unlike Eduardo Buenavista, a fellow Mindanaoan, who was expected to win the men’s marathon event.
She finally won her first SEA Games gold medal by clocking two hours, 46 minutes and 34 seconds and bested Thailand’s Sunisa Sailomyen and her participation to the Davao City leg will definitely add more color to the longest-running competition that has discovered many talented runners in the country.
Milo, the Olympic Energy Drink of the Filipinos, has been conducting summer sports clinics for many years and tied up with the Basketball Efficiency Scientific Training (BEST) of coach Nic Jorge, the former Basketball Association of the Philippines secretary-general.
Of course, the other lady runners wont be able to beat the SEA Games gold medalist but they will be honoured to run alongside a champion who like them came from very humble beginnings to become a shining example to other athletes.
“Championing Dreams with Every Step” is Milo Marathon’s new battle cry and what’s beautiful this year is that 200 pupils from the Kapt.Tomas Monteverde Sr. Elementary School are beneficiaries of the new shoes donated by the organizers.
Kapt.Monteverde School has been supportive of the Milo Marathon for many years and it would only be fitting that they be rewarded.
Running groups from Marco Polo Hotel, One Network Bank, Philippine National Police, Philippine Army are also entered in the race along with students from Holy Cross of Davao College, University of Mindanao, D.Aguinaldo National High School, Philippine Nikkei Jin Kai International School, a Japanese school that has produced a champion little league baseball team, among others.
This early, we can already see the success of the Milo Marathon. Our congratulations to the organizers led by Milo Sports Executive Pat Goc-Ong and Kenneth.
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The 12th Jollibee Family Fun Run came out a big success too last August 15 at the NCCC Mall Davao.
They have a category called “kargathon” where the parent carries the son or daughter on his back in the entire race.
Bruce Van Zente and son Nathaniel topped the event and beat the tandem of Jay and Katie Cabigon. Percival and Percy Dave Arfapo landed at third place.
In the father and child category, Reynaldo and Keicher Abrigon crossed the finish line first, followed by Roberto and Roy Cain at second and Eugenio and Joselyn Guanzon at third while in the mother and child category, Jenny and Paolo Espinosa took the top honors while Nellie and Karl Bryan Tan followed at second and Honey Salingay Sai and daughter Patricia managed to take third place.
Vicky and Jimmy Javier ruled the wife and husband race while Maria Perlita and Alfonso Common trailed at second and Anne and Don Espiritu bagged the third spot.
To all winners, congratulations and to the Jollibee Foods Corp. executives, may you continue to bankroll this kind of activity for the next 12 years.
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Happy birthday handsome golfers Cho Leonor and Glen Yap, sir Bong Laureano of A.L.Navarro National High School, Zorina Bernasol of the HRMO-City Hall, ate Amy Cuevas Manalo and loving auntie Grace B., fondly called by my grand old man as Inday.
