On the run in the beautiful island
News
Aboitiz Race to Reduce Challenge 2010 times now out
Aug 23rd
The Aboitiz Race to Reduce Challenge finish times have now been released. The event is unique in the Philippines because it is the first time that race organizers printed in a newspaper all the names of runners and their finish times.
The use of timing chips allowed organizers to quickly compile the results of 10K and 21K runners and publish it in Sun.Star Cebu. In the 5K and 3K categories, only the names are published.
What do the different columns mean?
1.) Finish time is the total time it took you to cross the finish line since gunstart. If you are at the back, your finish time will be some seconds longer than your chip time or official time.
2.) Chip time is your official time. It is the time it took you to complete the race from the time you stepped on the mat to the time you crossed the finish line.
3.) 5KM and 10KM columns. These are the times it took you to reach these turning points.
If you have comments or corrections, leave them as comments to this post and we will contact the organizers in your behalf.
Bontol, Igaña top University Run doctors’ category
Aug 18th
Doctors Raymund Reel Bontol and Humility Igaña topped last Sunday’s medical category in the well-attended 5th University Run at the Cebu Doctors’ University at the North Reclamation Area. Bontol, who is part of the Cebu-based Team Reborn competing in Sunday’s CamSur Ironman 70.3, and Igaña are both members of the Ungo Runners, a group of running enthusiasts that run every Friday night.
DOC MITTY. Humility Igaña won last Sunday’s medical women’s category in the 5th University Run. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. (PHOTO BY RAMIE IGAÑA)Bontol set a new personal record in topping the 10K Medical Men’s category, finishing the race in 42:38. At 2nd place was Dr. Harem Dieparine with a time of 45:30 while Dr. Mark Anthony Longinas finished 3rd with a time of 49:43. Rounding up the top 10 are: 4th Jo Banjo (50:47); 5th Renald Ramiro (58:24); 6th Ryan Jubal (1:02:33); 7th Andrei Yu (1:02:22); 8th Questor Nodalo (1:05:04); 9th Philip Larrazabal (1:06:21); and 10th Paul Go (1:11:17).
Igaña, meanwhile, topped the field of women doctors by finishing her 10K race in 1:01:31. Roslyn Yu was 2nd with a time of 1:02:23; Loy Tan was 3rd with a time of 1:06:20, Catherine Ti was 4th with a time of 1:07:27, while Ma. Victoria Larrazabal was 5th with a time of 1:13:10.
The Men’s 10K was dominated, as expected, by Kenyan Simon Losiaboi who breezed through the route in 32:16. He was followed by Arnold Unabia at 2nd place who finished in 33:13 and Alvirg Busa at 3rd who finished in 33:56.
In the Women’s 10K, Madelyn Carter topped the race by finishing the distance in 39:45. Jojielyn Pepito was 2nd with a time of 40:33 while Aiza Suaybaguio was 3rd with a time of 42:01. Rounding up the top 10 are 4th Lohriz Echavez (43:01); 5th Rosas Emily (49:39); 6th Melinda Ponce (50:48); 7th Angel Olis (50:56); 8th Donna Cruz (50:07); 9th Jane Ong (51:26) and 10th Florence Mata (51:29).
Registration for 1st Cebu UItramarathon 50K to open during Aug. 20 ungo run
Aug 6th
Frontrunner publisher and ultra-marathoner Jonel Mendoza will open the registration for the 1st Cebu Ultramarathon 50K on Nov. 27 before his talk during the Ungo Friday Night Run on Aug. 20. The ultramarathon is limited only to 100 runners.
Mendoza will be in Cebu on Aug. 20 to promote the 50-kilometer run from Mt. Manunggal in Balamban town to the Capitol in Cebu City.
At 11 a.m., he will be interviewed live over radio station y101. Y101 president Jack Jakosalem said they will be accepting questions from listeners during the interview. Those outside Cebu can listen to the interview at the Y101 website.
TEASER IMAGE. The teaser image of the first ultramarathon in Cebu.
Building an interactive map for safe running in Cebu
Jul 30th
As part of our focus on safety in CebuRunning.com, we are building an interactive map that will contain safety information that concerns runners. Although I will maintain the map, I intend to seek the help of members of Cebu’s vibrant running community in keeping it updated with crucial information.
The map, with the permanent address www.ceburunning.com/runsafe, will contain such data as areas where runners are robbed or attacked. It will also indicate which parts of Cebu runners should avoid for being unsafe, especially at night.
To view the data, click on the icons on the map.
Only Pinoy to swim across Gibraltar Straits to speak in Friday night run
Jul 29th
THE only Filipino to do a transcontinental swim by swimming crossing the Gibraltar Straits will speak about building endurance in Friday night’s weekly run from the Sun.Star Cebu office on P. del Rosario St. to the Asiatown IT Park.
Sebastian Lacson, Aboitiz Equity Ventures chief reputations officer, swam from Tarifa, Spain to Punta Marroqui, Morocco on Oct. 6, 1996 in 5 hours and 19 minutes. Gibraltar Straits separates Europe from Africa and connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea.
BASTI LACSON. The Aboitz Equity Ventures chief reputations officer after crossing the Gibraltar Straits in 1996.Lacson is a former captain of the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
When he was studying for a master’s degree in Barcelona, he joined a full marathon and finished it in 3 hours and 56 minutes.
“Towards the end of my master’s someone mentioned a swim across the Strait of Gibraltar. I set my sights on that, swam like a maniac for six months, and finally felt I was ready for the swim. I swam from Tarifa, Spain to Punta Marroqui, Morocco in October 6, 1996 in 5:19 minutes. This was a real ordeal, conquering physical and mental stress at the same time,” he said.
Lacson, who was 25 that time, finished the swim with two others, Spaniards Gonzalo Ceballos and Pedro Vernis.
Aboitiz is organizing the first Aboitiz Race to Reduce Challenge 2010 on Aug. 22 at the South Road Properties. Lacson will be talking about the race. He will also discuss building endurance as an athlete and share his experiences in endurance sports.
Here’s the regular ungo run route. The red line indicates the intermediate ungo runners’ route, an 8-kilometer stretch that includes an uphill jaunt to Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. The blue line indicates the beginners’ route, which is about 5 and 1/2 kilometers.
View Friday night run in a larger map
5th University Run offers personalized race bibs for first 500 registrants
Jul 22nd
The first 500 registrants to the Cebu Doctors’ University’s (CDU) flagship race, the University Run, on August 15 will get personalized race bibs, organizers announced in a press conference Tuesday night.
This is the first time that a race in Cebu, even possibly in the country, will allow registrants to specify what is printed in their race bibs.
PERSONALIZED RACE BIB. Organizer Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III with a sample of the personalized race bib that will be assigned to the first 500 registrants of the 5th University Run on August 15. CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE (PHOTO BY MAX LIMPAG)Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III, a marathoner who has been recognized by the Sportswriters Association of Cebu for his contribution to running, said the first 500 people to register for the run can specify what combination of letters and numerals would be printed in their race bibs. Larrazabal said the bib has room for 6 letters or digits.
He said that in races abroad, personalized race bibs are only reserved for elite runners.
If you still haven’t registered, however, you should do it now because there were already about 100 registrants on Tuesday night. Registration fee is P250 but students need only to pay P200. Registration areas are in Larrazabal’s Center for Sight clinic in Cebu Doctors’ Hospital, Nike Athletic Club in the Banilad Town Center and CDU.
The race distances are 3K, 5K and 10K. There are separate categories for students and CDU alumni.
Semantics
Jul 21st
Organizers of the Pilipinas International Marathon (PIM) are standing their ground. Not only are they not going to reschedule their event, which, admittedly, is understandable, they insist that a 25-kilometer race, by Patafa diktat, is a marathon. Pataka (nonsense).
“It is already accepted worldwide, even by the International Association of Marathons; they also accepted that they can use marathon as their ‘lingo’ if it goes beyond 21K and there is a 25K marathon,” International Pharmaceuticals Inc. advertising manager Tito Dela Merced was quoted as saying in a Sun.Star Cebu report on Saturday.
The debate on the use of the term might be getting tiresome but it is necessary. Standards are important for any sport. They are the foundation for records on which we gauge performances. A key component of any set of standards is the correct usage of technical terms.
Energizer Night Race finish times now out
Jul 14th
Race times for all runners who joined the Energizer Night Race last Saturday have been released by organizers. To view your time, check out the spreadsheet below. Click on the appropriate category at the bottom of the screen.
Citom wants to make Cebu City roads safe for runners, cyclists: Jakosalem
Jun 30th
Meyrick Jacalan was emphatic: Cebu City has a huge potential to be a sports tourism hub similar to what CamSur has become.
We have more hotels and we’re accessible because we have more flights coming and we have shipping services, he said. He recounted the complaints by triathletes on the difficulty of bringing their gear to CamSur for competitions.
But first, he said, pausing to take a sip from his cup of coffee that had been cleared of the dollop of whipped cream placed there by mistake, let’s make our city’s streets safe for runners and bikers.
SAFER ROADS. Cebu City Marathon organizers Meyrick Jacalan (left) and John Pages (center) of the Cebu Executive Runners Club with outgoing Cebu City Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem, who has been named Cebu City Traffic Operations Management chairman. Jakosalem said Citom wants to make Cebu City’s roads safer for runners and cyclists. CLICK TO ENLARGEJacalan, one of the core organizers responsible for the hugely successful staging of the Cebu City Marathon, said Cebu City’s streets aren’t friendly to bikers, runners and even pedestrians.
“Motorists should be taught to share the road with bikers and runners. As a start, we can teach drivers to give importance to runners,” he said, “What’s a few minutes of inconvenience on a Sunday morning to the benefits of a community adopting a healthy lifestyle?”
Local government support
Jacalan said the support of the local government unit is crucial to the success of turning Cebu into a sports tourism hub. He said it’s something Cebu City can offer, citing City Hall’s key role in the success of the Cebu City Marathon.
With the way things are developing at the Cebu City Hall, it looks like things are looking up for the local running scene.
Mary Grace delos Santos places 2nd in Kuala Lumpur
Jun 28th
Top Cebu-based runner Mary Grace delos Santos placed second in the half-marathon women’s open in last Sunday’s Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon in Malaysia.
Delos Santos, who has dominated Cebu races ever since she relocated here from Zamboanga, finished her 21K run in 1:26:13, 3 minutes behind the winner, Kenyan Eunice Nyawira Muchiri, who finished with a time of 1:23:20.
MARY GRACE IN KL. Top Cebu-based runner Mary Grace delos Santos at the starting line of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon. (CONTRIBUTED FOTO)Delos Santos finished ahead of Malaysian Noor Amelia Bt. Musa (1:28:58), Kenyan Jepleting Maiyo (1:29:30), Kenyan Irine Jeptoo Kipchumba (1:29:49) and German Janna Hinz (1:32:03).
Delos Santos’ trip to Kuala Lumpur was sponsored by specialty running store Runnr, which has been supporting her. Runnr founder Roberto “Toby” Claudio, Jr. first met delos Santos when he went to the store to show it to Cebu reporters and bloggers during last year’s soft opening.
