Milo Marathon organizers, headed by Andrew Neri (sixth from right), gather for a photo op during a press conference for the Cebu leg at the Cebu Grand Hotel.
CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON
CEBU may host another huge sporting event soon.
This after Milo officials are looking at the Queen City of the South as a possible venue for the 39th National Milo Marathon Finals.
Cebu has hosted major sporting events before such as the Ironman 70.3 Philippines and the Southeast Asian Games back in 2005. It is also home of some world renowned internationally recognized events such as the Sinulog festival and is currently a venue for the Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) meetings. Next year, Cebu will host the International Eucharistic Congress and again the Asia Pacific Championships of the Ironman 70.3.
Because of these events, Milo officials believe Cebu has the capability of hosting the longest running national footrace, which is usually held in Manila.
“I’ve asked Rio (Dela Cruz) if he already has a 42-kilometer route here in Cebu and he told me he does,” Milo executive Andrew Neri said during the launching of the Cebu leg of the race on Thursday. “But having the national finals here takes a lot of effort and collaboration between us and the local government unit.”
The idea is possible. In fact, Milo has moved the Dec. 6 National Finals to Angeles, Pampanga this year because of the severe traffic congestion in Manila. Neri said the organizing team will observe first the outcome of the Angeles race before even thinking of holding the race in another venue aside from Manila.
“We have to observe and wait for the participants’ reactions,” Neri said. “We would take the suggestion of Cebu to host the national finals as an invitation. Cebu has everything but it’s a very big decision for us to move the national finals. Let’s see what happens.”
Neri was joined by technical director Rio dela Cruz and regional Milo Marathon organizer Ricky Ballesteros during the launching of the Cebu Leg of the Milo Marathon, which will be held this Sunday.
Around 22,000 runners are expected to join the Cebu leg, which starts in front of the Cebu Normal University and ends at the Cebu City Sports Center.
Runners from Mindanao, Leyte, Dumaguete, Danao City are expected to join the race, whose winners earn tickets to the national race.