SEA Games champ Banayag leads Milo Davao race
DAVAO CITY—Southeast Asian Games champion and two-time National finals winner Jho-Ann Banayag will lead more than 14,000 runners when the 34th Milo Marathon resumes its 21K qualifying race Sunday after a five-week break. The 28-year-old Banayag will be joined by, among others, Davao long-distance runners Brian Lupio, Reynante Villarama, Emily Avergonzado and Roy Leonor. Banayag topped the Milo race in 2005 and 2006 but did not compete in 2007 to concentrate with her preparation for the Thailand SEA Games, where she settled for the bronze medal. The Compostela Valley native finally hit gold in the Laos SEA Games last December. A total of 133 runners, including two-time winner Eduardo Buenavista and Kenyans Abraham Missos and Willy Tanui, have clinched finals slots after the Metro Manila (42K), Dagupan, Baguio and General Santos City legs. The previous race in GenSan last July 25 was attended by 6,400 runners, 12 of whom gained finals berths. Joselito Dugos and Grace delos Santos topped the 21K event with finish times of 1:13:07 and 1:21:15, respectively. Male runners crossing the finish line within the cutoff time of one hour and 15 minutes and female runners beating the 1:35:00 qualifying time will earn all-expense paid trips to the December national finals in Manila. Those qualifying via the age-bracket time will have to shoulder all expenses, except registration fee and running singlets and shorts. Of the 133 qualifiers so far, only 9 will enjoy free trips and allowance. The top three 21K finishers will also pocket P10,000, P6,000 and P4,000, respectively. A portion of the registration fee will be allocated to the event’s free running shoes campaign, which is targeting 4,000 pairs. Students of Kapitan Tomas Monteverde Elementary School here will receive 280 pairs. The next five Milo qualifying races, which also hold 3K, 5K and 10K events, are scheduled in Cebu (Sept. 5), Tagbilaran (Sept. 12), Dumaguete (Sept. 19), Iloilo (Sept. 26) and Naga (Oct. 3).
