Interesting MILO Marathon Trivia
  • Chess promoter, Jose V. Castro sought a way to realize his vision of ushering in a local marathon patterned after the world’s most prestigious running competition, the Boston Marathon. But it proved to be harder than he imagined. He peddled his proposal to various potential supporters without much success. Until one lucky day, he landed a contract with MILO. MILO bought his idea and together, they put their resources to support the first full marathon in the country.
  • A total 767 runners answered the starting gun of the very first MILO Marathon on May 26, 1974. Only 200 out the 767 crossed the finish line.
  • Numeriano Titong, a 28-year old golf caddy became the first MILO Marathon champion. He clocked a slow 3:04:10, not bad for a first championship.
  • Victor Idava was the first MILO Marathon king to join the famous Boston Marathon. In the 1976 Boston Marathon, he checked in 304th out of 2,183 entries. That same year, he established another mark in local running by setting the Philippine marathon record of 2:38:23 and placing 76th in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada.
  • In 1977, the MILO Marathon went national staging regional eliminations held in Baguio, Legaspi, Cebu, Davao and Metro Manila. The top regional finishers moved to the national finals.
  • In 1981, Jimmy dela Torre, an 18-year old student from Pototan, Iloilo, became the youngest MILO Marathon champion.
  • Justo Tabunda, Jr made history by becoming the first runner to win the MILO Marathon twice, in 1978 and 1980. He also earned a trip to the Boston and Honolulu Marathons.
  • The year 1979 marked the start of modernization in MILO Marathon. The standard Chronomix timer-printer was used to determine the time of finishers. This enabled race organizers to keep track of more than 4,000 runners.
  • Wilfredo Ballester, grabbed the spotlight from Jimmy de la Torre in the 12th MILO Marathon in 1985. Then, after four years, he bagged the championship again in 1990. And once more emerged as the champion in the 15th MILO Marathon in 1991, making him the first runner to win the MILO Marathon three times in a row.
  • In the years 1987 to 1989 the MILO Marathon was not staged for the time being. Nestlé saw a need to reorganize. Following four years of organizational improvements, MILO Marathon was back again in 1990. The new and improved MILO Marathon was officially dubbed the ‘14th Edition’.
  • In 1992, Rey Antoque, a 35-year old policeman from Zamboanga shattered Wilfredo Ballester’s three-time winning streak.
  • Roy Vence, an athlete from Cebu, became a sensation when he scored back-to-back championships during the 17th and 18th MILO Marathons. In the 19th leg, he had to give way to the national interest as he went into full preparation for the 1995 Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He made a comeback and won the men’s championship in the 20th MILO Marathon. He proved to be unbeatable in the 22nd and the 23rd editions. He brought home the most MILO Marathon trophies in the men’s division. A total of six MILO championships.
  • The women’s division of the MILO Marathon started in 1992, with Arsenia Sagaray becoming the first female MILO Marathon champion. Sagaray went on to win the most MILO Marathon trophies among women runners, with five championships.
  • Cristabel Martes, a 21-year old athlete from Baguio, became the youngest women’s champion in 1999 during the 23rd MILO Marathon. She also won 3 MILO trophies from 1999 up to 2001.
  • In 1994, as the sport of running became more and more popular, MILO Marathon included short distance fun runs like the 3-kilometer and 5-kilometer events for kids and fun runners.
  • In the year 1998, the Biggest School Delegation competition was introduced and in 2000 additional side events such as the interschool running team and cheerdance competitions were included to add up to fun and excitement of the National MILO Marathon.
  • In 2005 MILO Marathon made more improvements by going digital and using Biometrics Finger Print Identification System. It allowed organizers to accurately identify the winners, consequently eliminating cheaters who steal the identity of other runners.
  • In 2006, the National MILO Marathon was held in 30 cities, to celebrate its 30th successful year.  
  • Jho-an Banayag holds the women’s fastest running time when she clocked in 2:48:16 during the 30th National MILO Marathon.
  • In 2007, Eduardo Buenavista clocked in 2:18:53 during the Metro Manila eliminations breaking the fastest running record of 2:21:33 set by Cresenciano Sabal in 2005.
  • Just how long are the routes in a marathon?  Let’s say Luneta would be your starting point, running a 3k race would take you till the Philippine International Convention Center; while a 5k race will lead you before the EDSA flyover.  A 10k race takes you till the boundary of Las Piñas or Parañaque, while a 21k race means you’ll run from Luneta till Kawit or Imus in Cavite.  Finally for a 42k race, you will run from Luneta till Dasmariñas, Cavite.  
  • On August 3, 2008, the National MILO Marathon made another amazing feat in the history of running by staging the first four-city simultaneous race in Tarlac, Cebu, Davao and Metro Manila. A total of 68,845 runners ran with history with 12,001 in Tarlac City; 12,016 in Davao City; 20,558 in Metro Manila and 24,270 runners in Cebu City, making the Queen City of the South the most attended elimination race in the history of MILO Marathon.

In May 26, 1974 , MILO and race organizer Jose Castro staged the very first MILO Marathon with 767 total runners.

Numeriano Titong won the 1st MILO Marathon in 1974 and ran again in the 29th MILO Marathon in 1995

At 18-years old, the youngest MILO Marathon champion Jimmy dela Torre won the 8th MILO Marathon in 1981.

Victor Idava won the 2nd MILO Marathon championship back in 1975 and was the first to be sent abroad to join the Boston Marathon.

Arsenia Sagaray & Roy Vence winning the 17th MILO Marathon back in 1993, both hold the most numbers of MILO championship trophies with Sagaray winning 5 and Vence 6.

Eduardo Buenavista established the fastest MILO Marathon running record at 02:18:33 during last year’s Metro Manila eliminations.