For those five and a half hours, Pasay belongs to the runners.
Before the city fully wakes, Pasay surrenders its streets to something older than traffic — the act of running together. From 1:30 in the morning until 7 a.m. on March 1, 2026, major arteries across Pasay City will close to make way for the National Milo Marathon, one of the country's most enduring mass-participation traditions. The temporary yielding of urban infrastructure to human movement is a quiet reminder that cities are built, ultimately, for people — not vehicles.
- A sweeping network of Pasay's most critical roads — including Roxas Boulevard, Buendia Extension, Seaside Avenue, and the SM MOA corridor — will be completely inaccessible for five and a half hours starting at 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
- The zipper lane system, a key pressure valve for Metro Manila traffic, will also be suspended at multiple points, compounding the disruption for early-morning motorists.
- Thousands of runners from across the country, competing across age groups and categories, are the reason for the scale of the closure — the race demands the roads, and the city has agreed.
- Traffic authorities are urging drivers to seek alternative routes now, warning that parallel roads will absorb the overflow and congestion will be heavier than the pre-dawn hour might suggest.
- By 7 a.m., the streets will reopen and normal patterns will resume — but for those hours, the city's commercial and transport spine belongs entirely to the runners.
Pasay City will fall quiet on its roads before dawn this Sunday. From 1:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. on March 1, the Pasay Traffic and Management Office will shut down a broad network of major streets to accommodate the 2026 National Milo Marathon — one of the country's most established mass-participation running events.
The closures touch the city's most vital corridors: SM MOA Block 16/20, Seaside Avenue, Diokno Avenue, Buendia Extension, Jalandoni Street northbound, Sotto Street, Roxas Boulevard extending toward Manila, and Atang dela Rama Street. Zipper lanes at several of these locations will also be suspended, removing a key outlet for traffic flow during the window.
The marathon, organized annually by MILO, draws thousands of runners across various age groups and categories — a scale that demands early, extensive road management. The sheer number of participants moving through city streets is precisely why the closures must be this wide and begin this early.
For Sunday morning motorists, the advice is clear: plan ahead. Though 1:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. may seem like off-peak hours, the simultaneous closure of so many parallel routes will push congestion onto whatever roads remain open. Drivers are encouraged to find detours in advance or simply wait until after 7 a.m., when the streets reopen and the city returns to its ordinary rhythm — having briefly, and willingly, given itself over to the runners.
Pasay City will go quiet on the roads before dawn Sunday. Starting at 1:30 in the morning and running until 7 a.m. on March 1, the Pasay Traffic and Management Office is shutting down a network of major arteries to make room for the 2026 National Milo Marathon. The closure is comprehensive and touches the city's most vital circulation routes.
The affected streets read like a map of Pasay's commercial and transportation spine. SM MOA Block 16/20 will be closed, along with Seaside Avenue and Diokno Avenue—including the zipper lane impounding area there. Buendia Extension, which normally handles significant traffic flow, will be blocked, as will its zipper lane. Jalandoni Street northbound, Sotto Street with its zipper lane on the PICC-Star City side, Roxas Boulevard extending down to Manila southbound, and Atang dela Rama Street with its zipper lane on the PICC side will all be inaccessible during the window.
The marathon itself, organized by MILO, is an annual event that draws thousands of participants. Runners from across the country register in various age groups and categories, making it one of the city's recurring mass-participation events. The scale of the race—thousands of competitors moving through city streets—is why the road closures need to be this extensive and why they need to start this early.
For people who drive in Pasay on Sunday morning, the message is straightforward: plan differently. The traffic authority is advising motorists to use alternative routes and to brace for heavy congestion on the roads that remain open around the closure zone. A 5.5-hour window in the early morning might seem like an off-peak time, but the concentration of runners and support vehicles, combined with the sheer number of streets being blocked simultaneously, will create bottlenecks on parallel routes that people might normally use as workarounds.
The city has given notice. Drivers who need to move through or around Pasay on Sunday morning have time to adjust their plans, find detours, or simply delay their trips until after 7 a.m. The marathon will proceed as scheduled, the roads will reopen, and traffic will resume its normal patterns. But for those five and a half hours, Pasay belongs to the runners.
Citas Notables
Motorists are advised to take alternative routes and expect heavy traffic in surrounding roads during the closure period.— Pasay Traffic and Management Office
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why close so many roads at once? Couldn't they just block one or two main streets?
A marathon with thousands of runners needs space to move safely. You can't thread that many people through a single corridor—they'd bottleneck, create safety hazards. The closures protect both the runners and the people trying to drive around them.
1:30 a.m. seems very early. Why not wait until, say, 5 a.m.?
Marathons are long events. Runners need time to gather, warm up, start in waves. The early closure gives organizers room to set up and lets the first runners begin before the city fully wakes up. It's actually considerate—finish before rush hour hits.
What about people who have to work that morning? Hospital staff, delivery drivers?
That's the real tension. The advisory tells people to use alternatives, but some routes simply won't exist. Essential services probably coordinate with the city ahead of time, or they time their movements outside the closure window.
How many people are we talking about—runners, I mean?
The source says thousands across various age groups. It doesn't give an exact number, but MILO marathons typically draw substantial crowds. Enough that closing major roads is the only practical way to manage them.
Will the surrounding roads actually be passable, or is it just a courtesy warning?
They'll be passable, but congested. Everyone who can't use the closed streets will funnel onto the open ones. It's not gridlock, but it's not smooth either. That's why they're warning people now.