Panique, Cadosale nail Milo 42K finals berths

ERIC Panique and Stephanie Cadosale overcame the very wet conditions to dominate the 21K qualifying run of the 36th Milo Marathon in Bacolod on Sunday.

The veteran Panique, Maclin Sadia and Rommel Hulleza finished 1-2-3 in the men’s side while 18-year-old Cadosale was joined in the podium by Meris Ramirez of Dumaguete and Irish Belleza.

However, heavy rain caused problems with the timing device. The official time of all finishers were still unavailable as of press time. Only Panique and Cadosale are assured of joining over 400 qualifiers so far in 42K finals set Dec. 9 at SM Mall of Asia grounds in Pasay.

Panique, 26, said he intends to top his personal best time of two hours and 27 minutes recorded during the 2011 Standard Chartered marathon in Hong Kong, where he wound up in 16th place.

“I am looking to match or even surpass the pace of other veteran runners in the national finals,” said the Iloilo native.

Cadosale, a native of Escalante, Negros Occidental, will be running her first 42K race.

“I may be a newcomer but I am definitely up to the task,” said Cadosale.

About 10,300 runners joined the Bacolod race, including those in the 10K, 5K and 3K distances.

The Visayas qualifiers will end in Iloilo on Sunday while the Mindanao leg starts in Gen. Santos City on Nov. 4, to be followed by races in Davao on Nov. 11, Butuan on Nov. 18 and Cagayan de Oro on Nov. 25. Romina S. Austria