32nd National MILO® Marathon champions Eduardo Buenavista and Mercedita Manipol-Fetalvero with (l-r) Asia’s sprint queen Lydia de Vega, Nestlé executives: AVP and MILO® consumer marketing manager Stef Toh, chairman and CEO Nandu Nandkishore, SVP and business executive manager for beverages Dennis Austriaco, and AVP and MILO® sports events executive Pat Goc-ong

The recently concluded National Finals of the 32nd National MILO^® Marathon featured engaging stories that defined the event, some of which involved a 69-year-old man who ran his 611th marathon, a dancer who had a change of heart about running, a resurgent champion who reasserted his dominance and a women’s winner who thought of quitting the race.

A total of 20,000 running enthusiasts trooped to the Quirino Grandstand in Manila to take part in the country’s longest and most prestigious running event.  Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim graced the affair and joining him was no less than Asia’s Fastest Woman and Sprint Queen Lydia de Vega who flew in from Singapore to inspire the participants and further boost their overwhelming enthusiasm.

“It’s great that MILO^® continues to hold this major event that helps to discover and develop Filipino runners.  It’s also remarkable that participants to the National MILO^® Marathon are here not just to win but to have fun as well.  Seeing all these families running together is truly special, something we don’t see in any other running event,” says Lydia.  She adds that she’s delighted that the National MILO^® Marathon helps spread the importance of getting into sports and the value of living a healthy life.  

The highly-successful event was also attended by Nestlé Philippines, Inc. (NPI) officials led by chairman and CEO Nandu Nandkishore, SVP and business executive manager for beverages Dennis Austriaco, AVP and MILO^® consumer marketing manager Stef Toh, AVP and MILO^® sports events executive Pat Goc-ong, MILO^® sports executive Andrew Neri and cluster head for beverages Carlos Vergara.  Also joining them were Publicis Manila executive vice president Ronald Barreiro, business unit director Charmaine Campañer and activations director Cathy Arguelles.  150 Nestlé employees who took part in the Arete Challenge also ran the 10K race.

NPI chief financial officer Peter Noszek not only graced the event but also ran the 42K marathon for the first time.  After crossing the finish line with a time of 3:50:41, Peter described the experience as “fulfilling” and a “very good accomplishment.”  Being a very competitive person, Peter says he joined the 42K marathon to beat himself.  “I was also inspired by my wife Agi, who’s also a runner,” says Peter.       

Asia’s sprint queen Lydia de Vega with Nestlé executives: (l-r) AVP and MILO® sports events executive Pat Goc-ong, SVP and business executive manager for beverages Dennis Austriaco and chairman and CEO Nandu Nandkishore.

Key Nestlé executives from Europe, Middle East and Africa also flew in to observe the event led by MILO^® marketing adviser, strategic business unit Michelle Calo-Alvarillo, Middle East business executive manager for beverages Angel Umali, Nestlé Syria MILO^® brand manager Nada Anhoury, Nestlé BU worldwide commercial manager for beverages Jose Luis, Nestlé Orbe, Switzerland Product and Technical Center beverages head Oliver Chmiel, Nestlé South Africa business manager for beverages Russell Lipchin and Equatorial Africa Region business executive manager Guenter Spiess, brand manager for beverages Philippe Chung, Nestlé Central & West Africa business executive manager for beverages Daniel Yapobi and Nestlé Nigeria beverages category manager Walter Okafor.

Making a most welcome participation was 69-year-old Andrew Kotulski, who holds the world record for the most number of marathons run.  His stint at the National MILO^® Marathon was his 611th, and clearly, there’s no stopping Andrew from running.  “People ask me why I run and to me the question really is: ‘Why don’t you run?’  Running is living a good life.  Your health is the best gift that you can give to your family, your parents, your children and to yourself.”

While Andrew has practically lived his entire life running marathons, Nestlé Central Luzon regional field operations executive Roselle Ordoñez is a newbie to running.  At first, she viewed running with much trepidation because she thought the activity caused injuries.  A diehard street dancer, she also viewed running as boring; that is until she decided to give running a try with her friends.  Her efforts were not in vain as Roselle finished second in the 10K category.

“It’s very fulfilling to finish the race and end up second at the same time,” says Roselle who now vows to run regularly and integrate running as part of her training.  If there’s any lesson that she learned, it’s that “You can’t be an occasional runner.  If you decide to run, you have to commit yourself 100 percent.”

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim fires the starting gun.

Committing 100 percent is no problem for men’s champion Eduardo Buenavista, who copped his second National MILO^® Marathon title after 6 years, sending a statement that he’s not done yet as far as winning marathons is concerned.  His sons Eduard Josh and Eduardo, Junior, were both around to support their father.  In fact, 7-year-old Eduard Josh took part in the 3K race and finished fourth, equaling his result in the Baguio qualifiers last October.  It appears the Buenavista’s are not about to give up their claim for the marathon title anytime soon.

In the women’s division, Mercedita Manipol-Fetalvero didn’t think she’d win the title, let alone finish the race.  She only ran the race to help training partner and title favorite Jho-an Banayag improve on her time.  “When I reached the 21K mark, I thought of stopping but then my friends told me that I was a kilometer ahead of the other runners so I continued,” she says.  Little did Mercedita know that she’d blaze the trail to the finish to grab her first ever National MILO^® Marathon title while her friend Jho-an had to quit midway through the race because of a thigh injury. 

As another successful chapter of the National MILO^® Marathon drew to a close, everyone can certainly look forward for more exciting stories to unfold and memories to be created and cherished when the 33rd edition of the National MILO^® Marathon begins on February 8, 2009 with simultaneous races in Subic and Dipolog.

Through the support of its partners, organizers and the hundreds of thousands of participants, the National MILO^® Marathon continues to shine brightly as the country’s undisputed preeminent running event.