This is it! This is the most prestigious marathon race in the country which everybody should prepare!

I received the list of schedule from Mr Andrew Neri of MILO/Nestle, Philippines yesterday and I tried to analyze their race schedule for this year. And the following are my observations:

1. The opening “salvo” for the 34th MILO Marathon will be the conduct of elimination race in Metro Manila on July 4, 2010. And every month, there will be a scheduled elimination race.

2. There will be only one elimination race for the month of August which will be held in Davao City. I wonder why MILO scheduled only one race for this month. I would suspect it is the month of CAMSUR’s Ironman Philippines activities (?).

3. Last year, there were 27 races to include the Finals and the elimination races. This year, MILO/Nestle, Phils reduced the number of races to 18. I suspect that less races means more “improvements” in this year’s Elimination & Final Races.

4. The early announcement of this year’s schedule is very commendable as runners would be able to have enought time to consider their training cycle and focus their preparation for the Metro Manila Marathon Elimination on July 4, 2010. A 5-month preparation or training cycle geared to qualify and have a finish time of sub-4 hours for this race is an ideal length of period to attain such goal.

5. It is not impossible if MILO/Nestle, Phils will double the cash prize for the Champions in the Final Marathon this year. A Cash Prize of P 150,000 for the Men’s and Women’s Champion and a Free Trip to a Prestigious International Marathon Race in the US would be a “quantum leap” in the development of running excellence in the country. I’ve been suggesting this idea before with the people of MILO and bring back the “glory” of MILO Champions when Champions would participate in the Boston Marathon and other international races as part of their prize. (Sa palagay ko ay wala ng mag-TNT sa Amerika ngayon basta bantayan natin ang atleta!!!)

6. Lesser races this year would mean better monitoring of runners during the conduct of races, most especially in Metro Manila. Reports of “cheating” during the Metro Manila Marathon Elimination Race had been an issue among runners as well as bloggers. I hope this bad practice will be finally eradicated in this year’s races. RFID timing devices should be a “must” to such a race with qualifying times.

7. Five (5) months to train for the Marathon Elimination Race in Metro Manila and another five (5) months to prepare for the Final Marathon Race on December 12, 2010 is a good and well-balanced spacing in between two training cycle for the marathon race. Whoever thought of this spacing of races is really a competitive runner! Thanks, Mr Dennis A and the MILO/Nestle marathon team!

Runners, what are you waiting for? It’s time to go back to the drawing board for your training program for the MILO Marathon this coming July 4! Good luck to everybody!