Organizers finalize plan for Pasig marathon

MANILA, Philippines - Organizers of the ABS-CBN Foundation’s “Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig” (KBPIP) held a synergy plan meeting with sponsors as well as private and government partners for the staging of the event slated Oct. 10 in several areas of Metro Manila.

Representatives from The Philippine STAR, Air21, CTSI Logistics, Bench, Toshiba, ROX, Planet Sports, New Balance, Nike and Runner among others were present in one of a series of meetings done to ensure the success of the one-day running festival.

The foot race, divided into 3K, 5K and 10K categories, is being done to generate public awareness on the importance of cleaning up the Pasig River. It is going for 120,000 registered runners to eclipse the current Guinness Book of World Records of 110,000 held by the 1988 “Bay to Breakers” race in San Francisco, United States.

So far, the Run for Pasig drew commitments from at least 105,000 participants coming from colleges and universities, government agencies, private companies and corporations as well as from the growing running community.

This year’s run will have three different starting points – SM Mall of Asia for 3K, CCP Complex for 5K, and Ayala Triangle for 10K. Instead of a finisher’s shirt, participants will get a bracelet made by KBPIP settlers from recycled materials.

The record feat means more awareness, which could hopefully attract more people into helping the cause, not only to clean up the river but also to prevent the public from dumping more waste into it.

ABS-CBN Foundation managing director Gina Lopez discussed the details of the Run for Pasig River marathon.