Maningkil, Cardona win Dagupan leg of 2012 MILO Marathon

Wilson Maningkil and Lany

DAGUPAN City, July 8, 2012: Wilson Maningkil topped the men’s division while Lany Cardona ruled the women’s category Sunday in the 21-k second leg of the 36th National Milo Marathon held in Dagupan City, organizers said through a press release.

Maningkil dominated the course with a time of 1:15:28, leading the second batch of qualifiers in the men’s division. “I’ve been training two hours everyday. Our real aspiration for training so hard is to defeat the Kenyans,” he said.


Not to be outdone was Cardona, who hurdled the flat cemented course with ease despite a minor injury. She crossed the finish line in 1:38:58 to pocket the P10,000 elimination prize.

They will join the 28 runners led by Hernani Sore and Cristabel Martes, both of whom passed the first qualifying race held in Baguio City last Sunday, and the 11 qualifiers from the Dagupan leg, participated by 9,700 runners, in the National Finals on December 9 at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) grounds in Pasay City.

Finishing second behind Maningkil was Ferdinand Corpuz who clocked in 1:17:16 followed by Jeric Buhian with 1:22:21, Ronnie Rosete with 1:23:01 and Rogel Anajao with 1:24:32.

In the distaff side, Angie Botardo of VMUF finished second behind Cardona with a time of 1:49:10 followed by Jessa Mae Cortez with 1:54:28, Jhocell Asis with 2:03:59 and Maidy Soriano with 2:30:25.

The Dagupan leg raised enough fund to provide 100 pair of shoes for students of Umingan National High School, whose athletic coach Virgilio Padilla piloted an annual campaign called Lumang Sapatos, Ibigay sa Athlete. “This year, our athletes received 100 pairs of brand new shoes. We are very grateful that MILO forms part in fulfilling the students’ dreams,” Padilla said. 

Andrew Neri, Milo Sports Executive, said that some 10,000 children nationwide from selected schools will also benefit from MILO’s “Help Give Shoes” advocacy program, which is now on its third year of staging.

Organizers are expecting a total of 200,000 runners through the 18 elimination legs in 17 cities to participate in the nationwide search for the best runners in the country today.

The winner in the local category of the 36th Milo Marathon National Finals will receive P150,000 for the men and women’s division, respectively, while a sum of P300,000 will be given to the winners in the Open category.

A bonus prize of P50,000 will also be accorded to the runner who can break the 2:15:00 invisible barrier and P20,000 for the male runner who can break the 2:18:53 course record set by Eduardo Buenavista in 2004.

Another P20,000 is also offered to  the female runner who can break the 2:48:16 record of Jho-Ann Banayag in 2008. National race technical director Rio de la Cruz said that for a foreign runner to qualify in the National Finals, he or she must provide proof of finish in any sanctioned or accredited races by the Association of International Marathons (AIMS) for at least one year before the race day.

After the Dagupan Leg, the qualifying race will shift to Tarlac on July 15, Angeles City on July 22, Metro Manila on July 29, Naga on Aug. 19, San Pablo, Laguna on Sept. 2, Lipa, Batangas on Sept. 16, Puerto Princesa, Palawan on Sept. 23, Tagbilaran on Sept. 30, Cebu on Oct. 7, Bacolod on Oct. 14, Iloilo on Oct. 28, Gen. Santos on Nov. 4, Davao on Nov. 11, Butuan on Nov. 18 and Cagayan de Oro City on No. 25. The 36th Milo Marathon National Finals is slated on December 9 at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasig City.