Quisay and Lee top Bacolod MILO^® Marathon Elims

BACOLOD CITY : A last minute decision to spend short vacation in the province paid off for Alley Quisay as he topped the Bacolod Elimination Leg of the 35th National MILO^® Marathon here.

30 year old Pangasinan native Quisay poured out all his energy in the crucial stretch to cross the finish line all alone with a time of 1:13:11 to topple strong Negrense competitors in the premier 21-km race.

“At the start, I purposely paced behind the other runners to size up the competition and reserve my strength.   Then after the turning point, I could sense my competitors were already tired so I put all my strength into speeding up and from there I led till the end,” said Quisay, a fourth placer in the National MILO^® Marathon Finals last year.

Local bet Anthony Babiera could only manage 1:14:14 to settle for second while Roger Denolo finished third in 1:14:52 and Joel Alcorn was fourth with a clocking of 1:14:52.  Rommel Hulleza was a distant
fifth with a time of 1:19:34.

The Philippine Army team, that finished third in the 2011 Singapore Army Half Marathon and which Quisay is a part of, is poised to dominate the MILO^® Marathon races. Quisay joins his comrades San Pablo regional leg winner Alquin Bolivar and Tarlac regional leg winner Jujet de Asis while other teammates, Cresenciano, Elmer and Gerald Sabal and Frank Indapan are set to join the other regional race legs.

On the distaff side, Joeyry Lee of Cebu posted 1:40:56 to dominate the premier women’s category and capture her second regional eliminations leg championship despite suffering cramps. 19 year old Lee expressed regrets in joining the National MILO^® Marathon Finals as she missed her mark on her 1:35:00 goal to make the all expense paid trip to Manila.

“School is really my focus right now and I don’t think I can give enough attention and funds to train for the marathon. For now, I’ll just prepare myself for next year” the 3rd year BS-Information Technology Student from University of Southern Philippines shares.

Completing the women’s top 5 is second placer Joyce Serquillos of Bacolod with a time of 1:58:01 and Shalne Fe Antosada at third in 2:08:50. Myles Jordan followed at fourth in 2:09:25 while Ylang-Ylang Jordan finished fifth with a time of 2:13:06.

A total of 19 age group qualifiers will advance to the National MILO^® Marathon finals at the SM Mall of Asia to stand a chance to win Php 300,000.

Local government official Vice Mayor Jude Sayson expressed elation over the high turnout. “We have always pushed for Bacolod as the country’s Sports Center and we are glad that the MILO^® Marathon chose Bacolod as one of its regional eliminations legs. The race was really well received and it can be seen in the enthusiasm of the thousands of runners who joined the race.”

The big field of 8,045 runners were able to donate 500 pairs of shoes to public school students from Bacolod as part of the Milo ‘Help Give Shoes’ advocacy. From Bacolod City,  the 17-leg eliminations will proceed to  Cebu City on Oct 2, then Tagbilaran on Oct 9, Cagayan De Oro (Oct 16), Butuan (Oct 23), General Santos (Oct 30) and the Davao City leg on Nov. 6.