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John Bryan Ulanday - The Philippine Star
March 4, 2025 | 12:00am
Thousands of runners answer the starting gun early Sunday morning during the 2025 National Milo Marathon Manila Leg at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds in Pasay City.
Ryan Baldemor
MANILA, Philippines — A roaring introduction statement for Ritchie Estampador at the dawn of his promising track career, and sweet redemption for grizzled Maricar Camacho in her rollercoaster journey.
From different roots, the two runners found themselves sharing glory as winners of the centerpiece 21-km event of the 2025 National Milo Marathon Manila leg at the Mall of Asia Concert Grounds Sunday.
Not even drizzles could dampen the fire and hunger of Estampador and Camacho, later hailed as the king and queen of this Milo half-marathon, outshining almost 20,000 other runners competing in different divisions.
Estampador, a marathon beginner from Mapua who traces his roots in La Castellana in Negros Occidental, stamped his class in the men’s division, clocking one hour, 10 minutes and 18 seconds while Bacoor pride Camacho won the women’s crown, at last, in 1:32:16 following a series of bridesmaid finishes.
Roy Laudit (1:15:09) and Mark Anthony Oximar (1:17:23) finished second and third, respectively, in the men’s category, while the multi-titled Jho-An Villarma (1:43:21) and Charlyn Ayende (1:49:20) completed the women’s podium finishers.
Estampador and Camacho both fashioned out runaway wins, breaking away in the first 10 kilometers from the Baclaran stretch to the Coastal Terminal.
For Camacho, patience, perseverance and hard work paid off.
“Walang pinanganak na malakas. Lahat nakuha sa tiyaga. Ngayon, champion na ako sa 21K,” said Camacho, a former factory worker, finally hitting paydirt in half-marathon after almost 50 tries.
With this, the 37-year-old Camacho is now a two-division marathon champion 10 years after her first run.
She won the 42K Manila leg in 2023 but bowed to Cebu’s Lizane Abella in a runner-up finish in last year’s edition. She then finished third in the 42K national finals in Cagayan de Oro, won by marathon queen Christine Hallasgo.
“Sabi ko kailangan kong bumawi. Masarap sa pakiramdam na nakuha ko na,” said Camacho, a standout from the Takbong Kabitenyo Run Club.
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Estampador hit it big right away, humbling seasoned rivals in his first marathon after a shift from steeplechase, 800m and 1,500 runs.
“Marami pong malakas at beterano sa ganitong distance. Beginner po ako at sabi ko, mag-podium lang okay na ako pero nag-tiwala po ako sarili ko. Binigay ko lang po talaga lahat,” said Estampador, a record-holder in 3000m steeplechase in both the NCAA and Palarong Pambansa.
Both runners won a prize of P10,000 and a set of sports apparels. Camacho will save it for her three-year-old daughter’s education plan while Estampador will use for his schooling as a third-year Education P.E. major student at Mapua.
For Milo, it’s exactly the heart of its vision for more than six decades, putting premium on the journey and success of Filipino champions in sports – especially Filipino champions in life.
“This demonstrates the continuous impact of the National Milo Marathon in inspiring Filipinos to be active and be champions in their own right,” said Milo Sports head Carlo Sampan.
