Participants crowd the Cebu City Sports Center for the National Milo Marathon Cebu leg. | CDN Photo Christian Maningo
Despite an accident involving one participant, organizers of the 42nd National Milo Marathon (NMM) Cebu qualifying leg believe the race was still a success.
“Overall, the race was a very successful event from start to finish. It was just too unfortunate that there was an accident that happened. But the race capped off successfully,” said Ricky Ballesteros, lead organizer of the Cebu qualifier.
The race drew 19,250 runners. Unfortunately, one of them, 22-year-old Ezel Conde, who figured in an accident when she got sideswiped by a Toyota Vios driven by 19-year-old Abel Tanjay.
Conde, a participant in the 10-kilometer race, was nearing the finish line at the Cebu City Sports Center when she got hit by Tanjay’s car at the corner of P. Del Rosario Street and Jakosalem Street.
Conde, as of this writing, was confined at the University of Cebu (UC) Med Hospital to undergo several medical examinations. Tanjay promised to shoulder the hospital expenses of the victim.
Despite the accident, the running event earned praises from Milo Sports Executive Lester Castillo.
“I would like to congratulate Ricky on drawing 19,250 runners. We were originally targeting 18,000,” said Castillo.
The Cebu leg was the seventh of 11 scheduled legs of the series around the country.
The National Finals will be held in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte on December 9. Here, the winners in the 21k distance of all legs will meet.