INQUIRER Sports

ABOUT 10,000 RUNNERS ARE taking part in tomorrow?s simultaneous elimination legs of the 33rd National Milo Marathon in San Fernando City, La Union and Tacloban City.

The San Fernando race is the sixth in Luzon since the Subic leg in February, while the Tacloban event is the second in the Visayas since the Cebu leg last July 5.

To qualify for the Oct. 11 national finals in Manila, the 21K men?s top finishers should finish within one hour and 15 minutes while the women?s qualifying mark is set at 1:35.

Only a few provincial runners have qualified following the introduction of the qualifying time.

Champions in both the men?s and women?s categories will pocket P10,000 each plus trophies. The second and third placers get P6,000 and P4,000, respectively.

?We put up the time barriers in this year?s edition primarily to make the event more challenging,? said AVP Milo Sports Events chief Pat Goc-Ong

San Fernando City mayor Pablo C. Ortega will send off the runners in San Fernando while top provincial executives are expected to fire the starting gun for the different events in Tacloban.