Negrenses rule Milo Marathon qualifier

Negros Occidental runners Jeson Agravante and Rommel Hulleza finished 1-2 in the 21K elimination leg of the 34th Milo Marathon in Dumaguete on Sunday, nailing all-expense-paid trips while towing 20 others to the December national finals in Manila.

The 22-year-old Agravante of Silay City beat the standard men’s qualifying time of one hour and 15 minutes with his 1:13:25 clocking, while Himamaylan’s Hulleza barely made it in 1:15:39.

Mereeis Ramirez topped the women’s race in 1:39:23.

She beat the age-group qualifying time to advance to the Dec. 12 finals but, like the 19 other qualifiers, would have to spend for her airfare and accommodation.

Iresh Belleza (1:40:58) and Alyssa Lagahit (1:42:10) joined Ramirez, 30, on the podium.

Joel Alcorin wound up third in the men’s race in 1:16:40.

Agravante said he pushed himself to win because he was indisposed a week before the race and could not train fully.

“I was actually confident that I will win again this year,” said Agravante, last year’s Iloilo leg winner who will see action in his third straight Milo finals.

Ramirez finished third in her first Milo Marathon race in 2007.

Milo Sports officials led by Pat Goc-Ong distributed 140 pairs of running shoes to Camanjac NHS students, raising the total pairs of shoes donated to 2,160.

Power outage hit the province but 6,269 runners still joined the race, including Vice Mayor Allan Cordova.