Poliquit, Tabal lead Milo marathon national finalists

DEFENDING champions Rafael Poliquit and Mary Joy Tabal will face the challenge of 1,144 qualifiers from 16 elimination legs when the 39th National Milo Marathon holds its final race Sunday in Angeles City, Pampanga.

Aside from the P150,000 cash prize, the Milo Marathon king and queen will be awarded slots and all-expense paid trips to next year’s Boston Marathon, one of the six major marathons in the world.

The 26-year-old Poliquit clocked two hours, 32 minutes and 26 seconds last year to beat his running idol and five-time Milo king Eduardo Buenavista (2:34:17) and bag his first Milo national title.

Tabal, also 26, will aim for her third consecutive Milo crown.  She holds the course record of 2:48 which she registered in the 2013 finals.

The 42K gun start is at 3 a.m., 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 in SM Clark.

Tabal and Poliquit were given automatic finals slots due to their victory in last year’s final that was reset a week later because of inclement weather.  Romina S. Austria