Sports for a cause

After all the action, fun and excitement of the UP Centennial celebration, we return to reality and start writing real sports columns again.

Well I had wanted to move on to something I can’t relate to UP, but I received an email last week from Dr. Peter Mancao, who was one of the outstanding alumni awardees in last Saturday’s dinner at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.

Doc Peter, who is not only a topnotch heart surgeon but also a big running enthusiast, asked if I could spare some space for the announcement of the 3rd Cebu Doctors University Run for Sight.

The race will be held on August 17 with the start/finish line at the CDU campus in the Mandaue Reclamation Area.

This is open to all running enthusiasts according to Dr. Yong Larrazabal, who is the overall chairman of the event.

There will be 3K, 5K, and 10K races.  Registration forms for the run are now available at the SAPPRO of CDU in Mandaue City.

If you want to help save gas, start running and maybe you can even join this event, which is not only for fun, but also for a good cause.

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Since we’re in the topic of good causes, the “Y101 Skins for Heart” is set this Saturday at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club.

This event is a golf competition featuring Gerard Cantada, Gerald Rosales, Marlon Dizon and coach Roger Retuerto.

As far as I can recall, this will be the first time that we have a skins game in Cebu and for sure, the first time that it is being done for charity.

Martha Tuason, the CEO of Y101 FM has been very busy the past two weeks putting the event together with her better half Joseph Stevens.

There were times when things weren’t going right in the preparations, but since this is for the benefit of the victims on typhoon Frank, there have always been solutions found to the problems faced.

Golfers and even those who know nothing about the game are most welcome to be at the gallery.  Just a word of advice to those who are non-golfers, but would want to watch – when you get hit by a ball it really hurts, so stay clear when somebody shouts fore and looks toward your direction.

By the way, those who’d like to give something more for charity can drop their donations at the radio station or at Alta Vista this Saturday. 

Junior golfers are invited to watch the event and then there is a clinic scheduled later in the afternoon at the AVGCC driving range.

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I consider arnis or eskrima or kali as one of the major exports of Cebu.  We have instructors all over the world teaching this indigenous Filipino art of stick fighting.

Today, we will see many of them converge in Cebu for the world championships set at the Ayala Center Cebu.

I’m sure we’d be proud to watch the competition knowing that these foreigners who are competing in the event are practicing a martial art that is not only very Filipino, but also very Cebuano.

I’ll definitely be there to meet up with the many friends I’ve made from the world eskrima community having covered several of these world championships in my 19 years as a sportswriter.