De los Santos, Banayag crash foreign rivals in
35th MILO® Marathon National Finals
AMID strong threat from foreign rivals, Filipina runners led by Mary Grace de los Santos refused to buckle down to pressure and kept the country's pride afloat by posting a 1-2-3 finish Sunday at the 35th National MILO® Marathon Finals at the SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City.
 The 24-year-old De los Santos, a member of the national training pool, was in the company of two-time champion, Jho-Ann Banayag at the start of the race but broke away in the last 13 kilometers along the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Makati to cross the finish line all alone in 2:53:07. De los Santos pocketed the P300,000 top purse in the women’s division.
“I practiced two times a day and trained hard as a part of the national training pool in Baguio City and I’m very happy that I finally won my first National MILO® Marathon championship after 7 years of joining,” said the Zamboanga-Sibugay native De los Santos.
Banayag, who came from a fourth place finish in the recent 26th Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia, was not in her best form, but went on to settle for second with a time of 2:55:08 and earned P150,000.
“We were really aiming to put up a strong local front against competitive foreign runners, that’s why we all tried our very best. Unfortunately, I have not fully recovered from the SEA Games and I didn’t want to force my body so I decided to just maintain enough speed and pacing during the race,” stressed Banayag, the current National MILO® Marathon record holder with a time of 2:48:06 which she set in 2006.
Cebuano Mary Joy Tabal gained P75,000 for placing third in 3:01:44 while last year’s champion Flordeliza Donos only managed 3:06:85 for the fourth spot.
The strong effort by De los Santos and Banayag, who are both under the tutelage of former six-time champion Roy Vence, relegated Kenyan Rhoda Chepkiruit to fifth (3:17:19) and Susan Jemutai to seventh (3:25:35).
However things were different on the men’s side as the Kenyans and Ethiopians, who have been dominating marathons across Asia, succeeded by finishing 1-2-3-4 against the country’s top runners.
2011 SEA Games Bronze and Silver medalist, Eduardo “Vertik” Buenavista ( 2:18:53) and Eric Panique respectively, participated in the race but decided not to finish due to fatigue. “Both Vertik and Eric have just come from the SEA Games and went against tough competition, so it is understandable that they are still recovering. But they still came to show support and avoid disqualification,” explained Metro Manila National MILO® Marathon Finals Race Organizer Rio de la Cruz.
 The absence of strong competition paved the way for 24-year-old James Tallam of El Doret, Kenya to capture the championship in the premier division with a time of 2:28:02, closely followed by compatriot Willy Rotich, who clocked in at 2:28:29. Abraham Missos timed 2:29:27 at third and David Kipkoech Kipsang also of Kenya ended up fourth (2:31:05).
“The weather was good and we were determined to win the race—hence our good performance,” said Tallam, who also won the Metro Manila eliminations last July, which had Panique finishing only second.
It was a strong display of skills and strategy for the Kenyans who grouped together and led from start to finish.
Jeson Agravante of Negros Occidental was the best among the Filipino participants and finished fifth at 2:34:30 followed by Irineo Raquin at sixth (2:34:52). “The Kenyans were fast and strong, but I think if Buenavista and Panique were in good condition, they would have dominated over competition. Filipinos can beat the Kenyans and the Ethiopians if given the right preparation,” said Agravante.
Completing the top 10 cast are Kenyan Benjamin Kipkazi (2:38:39) at seventh, Douglas Mwiti of Ethiopia (2:39:44) at 8th, Eliud Kiprugut Kering also of Kenya (2:40:31) for 9th place and Kenyan Josphat Kiptanui at 10th (2:43:02).
Assistant Vice President for MILO® Sports, Patricio Goc-Ong shared the 35th season was a success. “We are very happy with the turnout of 23,325 runners in the finals last Sunday, totaling to 200,000 runners across the Philippines for the whole season. An even bigger milestone to highlight is the donation of 10,000 more pairs of running shoes to public school children in the “Help Give Shoes” advocacy, which was in line with the 100 year celebration of Nestle in the Philippines.“
The National MILO® Marathon culminated the advocacy with the final 1000 pairs of shoes donated to students of Amado T. Reyes Elementary School, Marikina Elementary School, E. De Los Santos Elementary School, Cuneta Elementary School, Valenzuela National High School, Pasay City West High School, P. Burgos Elementary School, Villamor Airbase Elementary School, Pasay City North High School, and Diosdado Macapagal Elementary School.
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