Bigger, better Cebu City Marathon

CEBU, Philippines - “Feel the beat, get on your feet.”

This will be the main theme when the 3rd Cebu City Marathon unfolds on January 8 at the Cebu IT Park in Brgy. Apas, this city.

As the slogan of the event suggests, the organizers promise an even bigger and merrier race.

“We plan to do it much bigger, merrier,” said Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC) past president Jesse Taborada in the formal launching of the event yesterday at Laguna Garden Café in Ayala Center-Cebu.

From 6,000, Taborada said they are targeting 8,000 entries this time with more out-of-town entries not only from other areas in the country but even foreign runners.

To achieve that goal, online registration through www.cebumarathon.com has already started yesterday and will end on December 15.

A registration booth will be put up at the Active Zone of Ayala beginning November 1.

    Entry fee is pegged at P500 for 5K, P700 for 21K and P1,000 for the 42K for those who will register until November 23. Late registrants will be assessed with P1,200 for the 42K, P900 for the 21K and P600 for the 5K.

Although it’s a bit higher than this year’s fee except in the 5K, the organizers promise that the participants will get their money's worth considering the actual cost from singlet to running chips and goodies plus a raffle ticket.

As for the entertainment part, organizers plan to put up more bands, music or even volunteers to cheer up the runners.

“This calls for the runners not only to race seriously, but also for fun. As the logo suggests, it's fun and colorful signifying a fun race,” said CERC's Meyrick Jacalan.

After the race, runners will get free massage and refreshments.

More than getting their time fast and accurate, runners will also get a text message about their personal time as soon as they cross the finish line if they register their cellphone numbers. This is a new feature of the timing chip added by the organizers.

“We carry the name of island, province, city, so the expectations are high and we intend to keep our standards high,” said Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) president John Pages, who is one of the prime movers of the event.

Prior to the race, a carbo-loading party will be held at Ayala on January 6 CC CC plus a running expo that will run for four days. (FREEMAN)