Eric Panique and Adjene Rose Delos Santos conquered the 21K qualifying run of the Iloilo leg of the 38th National Milo Marathon yesterday, towing 43 others to the National Finals set in December.
Panique, who topped the 42K Manila qualifier last year, clinched the victory in one hour, 14 minutes and 6 seconds, beating Roger Denolo (1:19:15) and Roger Molinos (1:19:19) in what organizers say is Iloilo’s biggest race so far with 15,000 runners.
Delos Santos crossed the finish in 1:48:46, beating Jioda Gagnao by a mere second. Lorena Blanco finished third (1:53:16).
Panique and Delos Santos bagged P10,000 each while all top finishers booked tickets to the Dec. 7 National Finals at Mall of Asia grounds in Pasay.
The National champions will take home P300,000 and all-expense paid trips to the 2015 Tokyo Marathon.
The 28-year-old Panique, a member of the National team and a native of Negros Occidental, credited his everyday training to coach Mario Castro.
“Perseverance is the key to winning,” said Panique in Filipino. “The high humidity levels made the race more challenging but I persevered.”
Panique said he experienced difficulty in breathing and chest pains a few times during the race “but I pushed myself to the limits.”
Delos Santos, a 28-year-old native of Quezon province, said she paced herself well.
“I kept track of how many kilometers I’ve already covered and if I was keeping up with my intended pace,” said Delos Santos.
“I also felt some pain and experienced dehydration, maybe due to lack of sleep.”
Milo Sports’ Andrew Neri led the distribution of free pairs of running shoes under Milo’s Help Gives Shoes advocacy. Bacolod will host the next qualifying race on Sept. 28.