Battling through pain in his hips in the early goings, debutant Ritchie Estampador of Negros Occidental told himself there was no turning back.

So, instead of slowing down and getting left behind, Estampador even pushed himself to the limit, a decision that proved vital as the 23-year-old took top honors in the 21-kilometer Pasay leg of the Milo Marathon on Sunday morning at the Mall of Asia grounds.

“When I passed the ten-kilometer mark, I felt that I could do it and that’s why I gave my all even though I was already experiencing pain in my hips in the first five kilometers,” Estampador, a middle-distance runner for Mapua University, said after clocking one hour, 10 minutes and 18 seconds.

The pain was still halfway through the race but Estampador said his body “started to recover.”

And that’s what made him decide that he would not leave anything to chance.

Estampador was already cooling off and in relax mode when the runnerup — Roy Laudit — arrived with a time of 1:15.09.

Mark Anthony Oximar, the third-placer, submitted a time of 1:17.23.

Aside from the P10,000 cash prize, what stood out for Estampador was his formal qualification to the Milo National Finals on 7 December in Iloilo City.

In the women’s side, Maricar Camacho of Cavite crossed the finish line with a time of 1:32.16 to pocket the cash prize of P10,000 and secure a slot in Iloilo.

Camacho wound up second during last year’s run and her 2025 feat was made possible by what she described as favorable weather conditions.

“It wasn’t hot as last year so it was a good run,” Camacho, 37, said.

It was after she passed the 13-kilometer mark that Camacho began having thoughts of being awarded top honors.

“I broke away from the crowd after the 13th kilometer because I was timing the next runner behind me. I slowed down after I realized nobody can overtake me.”

She was right on the money.

Her closest pursuer — race veteran Jho-an Villarama (1:43.21) — arrived more than 11 minutes after she crossed the finish line. Third place went to Charlyn Ayende, who submitted a time of 1:49.20.

Around 15,000 runners took part with Jericho Danao (10:50) and Alessandra Quiambao (12:21) ruling the 3K and Alfrence Braza (15:54) and Joneza Sustituedo (21:01) dominating the 5K.

James Orduña (32:07) and Joida Gagnao (39:27) won the 10K in the event which saw runners glide through portions of the historic Roxas Boulevard.