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 ENLARGE

Jacalan, 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.

Outgoing Cebu City Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem, who served as sports committee chairperson in the City Council, has been named chairman of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).

Jakosalem said Citom recognizes the boom in running in the city and wants to make the streets safe for bikers, runners and pedestrians. He said the Cebu City Marathon, when parts of the streets were closed and traffic enforcers were aggressive in controlling vehicle flow, should be the benchmark of weekly runs.

But for this to happen, he said race organizers should have close coordination with Citom.

“They should give us the route and coordinate with us weeks before the event. What’s happening is that they just give us a few days notice,” he said in a phone interview. Jakosalem said they can assure full deployment of enforcers if race organizers closely coordinate with them.

Bicycle lane

Jakosalem also said the Citom planning office is studying setting up a bicycle lane on one long stretch of road, possibly Osmeña Blvd. He said it is something outgoing mayor Tomas Osmeña approved of. Among the things they are looking into is how to implement it vis-à-vis the need to designate jeepney stops. Jeepneys might cut into the path of cyclists and cause accidents, he said.

He said that if Cebu City pushes through with its planned bus rapid transit system (BRT), it will be easier to designate bicycle and running lanes in the city’s roads.

But if there’s a place where a bicycle lane will likely be designated, it’s the South Road Properties. Jakosalem said there’s an 80 percent chance it will be opened to bikers and runners.

Making the city’s streets safe for runners and pedestrians is a long process, Jakosalem said. In the first 100 days of Mayor Michael Rama’s administration, City Hall will clear sidewalks of obstructions and implement one-side only vending. That will clear part of the road for pedestrians and runners, he said.

But the goal, he said, is to make runners run safe on the road.

Jakosalem said the suggestion to close even just one lane of Osmeña Blvd. for the exclusive use of runners and bikers early morning Sundays is a “very good one” that will be looked into.