The 34th Milo Marathon

Fourth of July, Luneta. Although I've been hearing about the Milo Marathon since I was a kid, this was my first time to actually be part of the biggest running event in the country. With a reported 200,000 runners, this is indeed the biggest run I have ever seen. And I thought biggest was just a nice superlative to go with longest and grandest.

I did the 5k which I think now is not a fun Milo Marathon distance. I was at the venue early and I saw the 42k and the 21k start. They were ok. Not that much people yet, runners can still run. But the majority of the participants are at the 3k, 5k, and 10k events - all scheduled at 6am!

As you can imagine, it wasn't very fun when we were about to start. A lot of pushing and cursing and other -ing's going on. The send-off band was also late - they too were caught in the middle of the sea of people, nay, the ocean of green shirts.

Anyway, we were able to start and off we went. I wanted to do a sub-00:30 or at least better than my best 5k so far (Condura). But 2 minutes after gun start the bulk of the 5k runners were still jampacked and there was no way to overtake all the walkers. Well, I accepted early on that this is no PR for me so I just went on and enjoyed what I can in the run and made the most out of my 100 pesos... :P

I felt more tired here than in Condura but my Milo time was actually 2 minutes slower... Heck, I even felt better when I finished my first 21k. I was even a bit nauseous at the start (at around 2k).

But if this is not my day, I guess it's my girlfriend's. This is Tey's 2nd 5k and she was able to bring her time from 39 to 36! Really cool... I was pleasantly surprised - that was just over 2 minutes behind me! So much improvement in a short time! And if that is not enough, she once again saw her new "friend" - Jeffrey Hidalgo. Here's Jeffrey waving at Tey.



Overall, with a population of 200,000, I think it is only right to commend the organizers for a good enough job of keeping this run fun and safe for most people. Come on, 200,000, man! That's a lot of people to care for so I give them credit for that. Editor's notes: It appears there were only 27,000 runners during the Manila leg. Perhaps 200,000 (as heard from the emcees) was the total nationwide.

While I don't quite agree that they allowed 200,000 runners in that route, I think we should be happy for the kids who will benefit from this event - 1 million pesos worth of shoes!

There's no PR for me and I honestly felt sick but knowing that part of registration may inspire new runners in the next generation, well I guess that's pretty much worth it.

But for next year, if I do join the 35th Milo Marathon, it will be 21k or 42k for me. :P

Here are some nice pics from the event.

Me and Tey


Tey and the tall dudes


Tey with Zorro


...with last year's champion - Cresenciano Sabal


...with Tey


...with Coach Noel (Deemen Runner) - almost back in his form again... :))


Tey and her office friend Millicent


My postcard moment... :P


And - what else? - The Superposition... :P










My LSS for the night : Growing up with olympic energy, Growing up with Milo! Milo everyday! :P