Weekly simultaneous races in 26 cities to highlight
33rd National MILO® Marathon

Kaya Mo ‘Yan.  These words of encouragement will surely inspire participants to this year’s National MILO® Marathon, as the country’s longest and most prestigious running event will hold weekly simultaneous races in 26 key cities nationwide, a first in marathon history.

This was revealed by MILO® officials when they launched the 33rd edition of the National MILO® Marathon at the Manila Bay Ballroom of the Bayview Park Hotel Manila.  The highly-successful affair was graced by Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) commissioner Eric Loretizo and sports, games and recreation officer 2 Abby Rivera as well as Nestlé executives led by SVP and business executive manager for beverages Dennis Austriaco, AVP and MILO® sports events executive Pat Goc-ong, MILO® sports executive Andrew Neri and MILO® sampling champion Yvette Papasin. 

*The 33rd National MILO® Marathon
National Finals will be held on October 11, 2009

Expressing their support for the event were National MILO® Marathon race organizer Rudy Biscocho, Cricelda Marte and Dafrosa Zagala of the Department of Education, Bayview Park Hotel Manila general manager Eugene Yap and sales and marketing supervisor Precy Mendoza, 2008 National MILO® Marathon queen Mercedita Manipol-Fetalvero and Publicis Manila business unit director Charmaine Campañer and activations director Cathy Arguelles.

Over the years, the National MILO® Marathon has produced scores of champions that have brought honor to the country, at the same time spreading awareness about living a healthy lifestyle.  Discussing the weekly simultaneous races in 26 cities, Goc-ong says, “It’s another challenge that we’re definitely looking forward to and we know that this will further add excitement to the event, which gets bigger with each staging.”

The 33rd National MILO® Marathon begins on February 8 with races in Subic and Dipolog.  Succeeding races will then be held on February 15 in Batangas and Iligan and on February 22 in General Santos and Palawan.  After a 4-month break, marathon action will resume in Manila and Cebu on July 5, Davao and Tarlac on July 12, Butuan and Santiago on July 19, Cagayan de Oro and Laoag on July 26, Tacloban and San Fernando on August 2, Tagbilaran and Baguio on August 9, Roxas and Dagupan on August 16, Iloilo and Legazpi on August 23, Bacolod and Naga on August 30 and Dumaguete and San Pablo on September 6. 

The National Finals will be in Manila on October 11, where the men’s and women’s division champs will take home P75,000 each as well as the honor of being crowned Marathon King and Queen.  Runners-up in each division will get trophies and P50,000 each. 

Cash prizes also await the top 10 finishers of the 21K, 10K, 5K and 3K categories as well as the Biggest School Delegation, Cheer Dance and Inter-school running competitions.

The 33rd National MILO® Marathon will showcase the following events: 3K kiddie run, 5K fun run, 10K run, 21K half marathon and 42.195K open Metro Manila elimination race and a 42.195K final race.  Complementing these are the other fun events like the biggest school delegation contest, the inter-school running team competition and the cheer dance competition from grade school, high school and college participants. 

Since it started in 1974, the National MILO® Marathon has grown both in the number of participants and prestige.  The first MILO® Marathon was held on May 26, 1974 with some 767 runners taking part in the event.  Through the years, it has enjoyed much success, consistently attracting scores of participants.  Last year’s event featured more than 200,000 runners with a similar turnout expected this year.

As the National MILO® Marathon gears up for what looks to be yet another successful quest to touch lives and build champions; runners, families and the youth can certainly look forward to an eventful and rewarding experience that only the National MILO® Marathon can deliver.

The 33rd National MILO® Marathon is supported by Bayview Park Hotel Manila.