Former champions Jho-an Banayag and Mary Grace Delos Santos are among the elite runners vying for finals slot in the 38th National Milo Marathon 42K elimination at Mall of Asia grounds in Pasay on Sunday.
Organizers are looking to surpass the 42,214 entries last year in the 3K, 5K, 10K, 21K and 42K categories.
The 42K winners, aside from pocketing P50,000 and trophies, will book berths to the Dec. 7 National finals where slots to the 2015 Tokyo Marathon will also be dangled.
The Tokyo Marathon is one of the six major marathons in the world, joining Berlin, Boston, Chicago, New York and London in the illustrious list.
Male runners who will finish within the cutoff time of one hour and 15 minutes and female runners who will register at least 1:35:00 will get all-expense paid trips to the national finals, also slated at MOA grounds.
Those who make the cutoff time of their respective age brackets can qualify but will have to shoulder all expenses.
A total of 150 have qualified so far after the first four legs held in Baguio, Dagupan, Tarlac and Angeles in Pampanga.
The 42K run will start at 3 a.m., the 21K at 4:30 a.m., 10K at 5 a.m., 3K at 5:30 a.m. and 5K at 5:35 a.m. The start and finish lines are located at Seaside Boulevard.
The qualifying races—all half marathon events—will also be held in Naga (Aug. 24), Lucena (Aug. 31), Puerto Princesa (Sept. 7), Lipa (Sept. 14), Iloilo (Sept. 21), Bacolod (Sept. 28), Tagbilaran (Oct. 5), Cebu (Oct. 12), Butuan (Oct. 19), Cagayan De Oro (Nov. 9), General Santos City (Nov. 16) and Davao (Nov. 23).
Milo also aims to provide 16,000 underprivileged youth with new running shoes this year. It will bring to 50,000 the total number of pairs given out under the Help Give Shoes advocacy. Romina S. Austria