MANILA, Philippines – The 41st season of the National Milo Marathon officially opens on July 16 in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan, with around 200,000 runners expected to participate in 16 races in five different distance categories.

This year's Milo Marathon will feature 3 km, 5 km, 10 km, 21 km, and 42 km distance categories, and will be centered on the theme "Magsama-sama, Tumakbo, Matuto."

"It is our commitment to extend the race experience to even more Filipinos across the nation," Milo Philippines Sports Executive Robbie de Vera declared Thursday during the season's official launch at I'M Hotel in Makati.

"We have 16 legs, compared to 14 last year. This is comprised of 15 qualifying races, and the national Finals race in Cebu City," he revealed.

The Milo Marathon also heads to three new areas this season, starting with the very first race in Urdaneta City on July 16. For the first time, the marathon will also head to Laoag on July 23, and to Roxas City on October 1.

The season concludes on December 3, with Cebu City hosting the National Finals for the very first time.

"We're very excited for this season," De Vera said. "[Participants] can expect that the execution of the Milo Marathon will be world-class. We are aligned with AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races), so they can expect water stations at appropriate places, accurate timing for the upper distance categories."

"They can expect free-flowing Milo and an activity area near the finish line. Those are some of the things that they look forward to," he added.

This season, Milo is also debuting the Age Group Category in the National Finals for the 21 km and 42 km distance races, wherein participants track and compare and their performance with other runners in their age group.

This new feature hopes to motivate runners to reach their personal goals and attract more contenders to higher categories.

"We aim to encourage even more runners, so they can check how well they are doing compared to their peers," De Vera further explained.

The series will start in Urdaneta on July 16, with some 10,000 runners expected to participate.

Following the pilot race, the National Milo Marathon continues in Laoag on July 23, Metro Manila on July 30, Angeles City on August 6, Tarlac on August 13, Naga City on August 27, Lucena on September 3, Lipa on September 10, Tagbilaran on September 24, Roxas on October 1, Iloilo on October 8, General Santos on October 15, Davao on October 22, Butuan on November 12, and Cagayan de Oro on November 19.

The National Finals, which features the top qualifiers in each leg, will be held on December 3 in Cebu City.

This is the second time that the Milo Marathon's culminating event will be held in the Visayas, following the successful staging of the finale in Iloilo last year. It is also the third time that the finals will be held outside of Metro Manila.

"The Cebuanos are very excited, and I'm very happy that the local government of Cebu has been supporting us," said Ricky Ballesteros, the organizer of the National Finals. "We are very excited to welcome you all to Cebu."

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