IN what could be a first in the country’s longest running road race, five-time Milo Marathon king Eduardo Buenavista saw action side by side with his son, Eduardo Jr., in the men’s five-kilometer run of the Manila leg of the Milo race series early yesterday morning.
While neither of them attained a podium finish, father and son were simply thrilled running together early yesterday morning in the race that started and ended at the seaside of Mall of Asia in Pasay that highlighted the 60th jubilee of Milo in the country.
“Ang usapan namin, ako ‘yung pacer pero ako pa ang nahuli,” the veteran runner known as “Vertek” said, beaming, proud of the bonding time he shared with the second of his two sons.
“Siyempre, maganda at memorable na makasama mo ang Tatay mo na naging Milo marathon champion.
Siya ang naging inspirasyon namin ni kuya Josh kaya tumatakbo kami ngayon,” said the younger Buenavista, a UST Grade 12 student whose brother is on the UP varsity track team.
The elder Buenavista said they could have been a threesome but advised his older son, who runs in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter distances, to focus on his preparations for the Philippine Athletics Championships slated May to 12 at the Philsports track oval in Pasig City.
Milo sports chief Carlo Sampan said this was one of the reasons why they created the 5K family category “so that family members could have a nice bonding together and have fun while engaging in a healthy lifestyle through our races.”
Vertek, a two-time Olympian, said the plan was to be the pacer for his son “pero malaunan ako pa ‘yung nahuli kay Junior.”
While the pint-sized veteran was just another face among the runners, who turned out in the thousands and turned the race route into a sea of green, he once stood head and shoulders above the rest of the field in the Milo Marathon.
After clinching his first championship in 2002, Buenavista repeated the trick in 2008, the year he set the Milo Marathon record in the 42.195-km. distance of two hours, 18 and 53 seconds that stall stands this day. He also won in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
After winning his fifth and last title, he earned a full-expenses paid trip from Milo to represent the country in the prestigious Paris Marathon in 2014.
Buenavista noted the Milo Marathon has become a springboard for Filipino men and women marathon runners to compete in international races like himself, Roy Vence, the late Jimmy dela Torre and Rey Antoque, to name a few.
On the distaff side, there is many-time Cebuana Milo Marathon queen Mary Joy Tabal, a 2016 Rio Olympic Games veteran; Arsenia Sagaray, Cristabel Martes and Christine Hallasgo, among others, who also saw action for the Philippine team.
“The Milo Marathon has become a part of the national team selection for marathon by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association,” noted Buenavista, now the national coach for long-distance running.
Buenavista won his first and only Southeast Asian Games men’s marathon gold medal in 2009 Vientiane, Laos while Tabal secured the mint in women’s marathon in the 2017 Malaysia SEA Games.
Father and son said they are looking forward next year to race in the Milo Marathon, possibly with Josh, with Buenavista Sr. vowing to do better and give his sons a run for their money.
“Next year, babawi ako. Alam ko na ang aking gagawin upang manalo,” Vertek quipped with an impish grin.
