Joseph Macaladlad and Criselyn Jaro bucked bad weather to rule the 38th Milo Marathon 21K qualifier in Lipa City yesterday.
The 24-year-old Macaladlad, a Lyceum of Batangas Criminology student, finished in 1 hour, 17 minutes and 14 seconds, besting Greg Vincent Osorio (1:19:25) and Jay Laya (1:19:43).
Jaro topped the distaff side in 1:29:16. Mirasol Abad came in second in 1:33:47 while Jaro’s sister, Cellie Rose, was third in 1:34:36.
Both winners pocketed P10,000 each and slots to the Dec. 7 National Finals where P300,000 and all-expense paid trips to the 2015 Tokyo Marathon await the Filipino winners.
Over 8,000 runners joined the race despite continual rains and the slippery route.
Macaladlad, a native of Mindoro but now resides in Batangas, makes the most out of his passion for running by joining races to pay for his tuition.
“I am able to use my winnings for my college expenses,” said Macaladlad.
Davao native Jaro said their elder sister, Cynthia, is also a runner.
“Our school was about 11 kilometers away from our house and we would run to school to avoid being late,” shared Jaro.