For the first time in Cebu City, the City Government will be closing half of the road for a run. Cebu City Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem announced in a press briefing yesterday that half of the road of the Cebu City Marathon route will be closed from the firing of the gun at 4 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. The entire stretch of the South Road Properties (SRP), however, will be closed starting at midnight. (For an interactive map of the marathon route, please check our previous article)

Jakosalem and officials of Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC), which is organizing the Cebu City Marathon 2010, said they decided to close the road to ensure the safety of runners.

RUNNERS’ SAFETY. Organizers Meyrick Jacalan and John Pages of the Cebu Executive Runners Club and Cebu City Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem discuss the closure of the entire SRP route and half of the Cebu City roads that are part of the marathon route on Jan. 10, 2010. Organizers said they pushed for the closure of part of the road to ensure safety of runners. (Photo by Max Limpag)

John Pages of CERC said that although there are runs every Sunday in Cebu, roads aren’t closed and runners have to contend with at times impatient drivers angered by the traffic jam. (On a side note, I actually punched the side of a jeepney that cut me off in Mandaue City during the Rock and Run, not to be recommended, believe me.)

In other developments announced in yesterday’s press conference at the City Sports Club:

• Ayala Center Cebu has confirmed that a pre-race pasta party will be held on Jan. 8 at The Terraces. Ayala Center Cebu division head Joy Polloso said there will be free food for the first 500 runners.Polloso also said they are working with Ayala Center Cebu merchants, especially those in Active Zone, to offer registered runners discounts during the marathon expo, which will be held the week before the marathon.
• Timex will be giving free watches to the top three finishers of each division, said coach Rio de la Cruz, a Timex endorser and race director of FinishLine, which will be deploying the ChampionChip that will be used to time 21K and 42 runners of the Cebu City Marathon.
• De la Cruz said the use of RFID transponder chips will allow organizers to publish race results a few hours after the event. Pages said the results will then be uploaded to the Cebu City Marathon website.
• Globe Telecom’s Jerry Yntig also pledged to provide phones to the winners of the different categories.
• Holiday Gym and Spa will be deploying masseurs to give free massages to 21K and 42K runners after the race.
• Perl Jacalan, also of CERC, said race packs will be distributed on Jan. 6-8. She said only out-of-town runners will be allowed to claim their race packs on Jan. 9.

COACH RIO. Rio de la Cruz holds a sample of the RFID chip that will be used to time runners of the 21K and 42K races in the Cebu City Marathon. De la Cruz said the finishing times and ranking of runners will be available hours after the marathon is finished. (Photo by Max Limpag)

Jakosalem assured runners that their safety is on top of the concerns of authorities. He said they will be deploying a large number of traffic enforcers. Pages said active CERC members have been assigned to oversee a 1.5-kilometer stretch and recruit people to help man it. He said they were told to come up with ways to motivate runners like playing music or getting a band.

Organizer Meyric Jacalan, of CERC, also said that he hopes that in the coming years, the Cebu City Marathon will become an institution and people will come out to watch and participate, in the same way that residents of cities abroad do during their own marathons.

Jakosalem said that Cebu City is planning to organize more runs, depending on the success of the Jan. 10 event. In a brief talk after the press conference, he said Oct. 10, 2010 or 10-10-10 falls on a Sunday and might be a good date to host another marathon.