Tag Archives: Cebu City Sports Center

Cebu City Hall to set aside up to P40M to repair sports center track oval

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The Cebu City Government will set aside P35 million to P40 million in the next scheduled supplemental budget to pay for the replacement of the rubberized track oval at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña previously pledged to set aside funds for the repair of the tracks once City Hall starts earning from its South Road Properties (SRP) project. With the recent down payment by SM Prime Holdings Inc. of P677 million for the SRP lot it purchased, Osmeña says the City now has funds for the repair.

Cebu City Sports Center track ovalCEBU CITY SPORTS CENTER TRACK OVAL. The Cebu City Government is set to replace the 8-lane 400-meter rubberized track oval of the Cebu City Sports Center. The facility will be closed during the repairs, which could take from 2 to 3 months. Click on photo to enlarge image. (PHOTO BY MAX LIMPAG)

Cebu City Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem said City Hall will immediately bid the contract out once funds are allocated.

CCSC manager Ricky Ballesteros said repair would take from 2 to 3 months. Ballesteros said the CCSC will be closed while the track is being repaired.

With the closure of the CCSC oval, Jakosalem said he will ask Osmeña to allow runners at the SRP. This is great news for Cebu runners—not only will we be getting a new track oval in a few months time, we’d get the chance to run at the SRP, which is a great route to run on, based on Cebu City Marathon experience.

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‘I’m gonna die but I have to win the race first’

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On the halfway point of her 21-kilometer race during the Mindanao eliminations of the Milo Marathon on Nov. 8, 2008, Mary Grace delos Santos blacked out.

The Zamboanga City native lay sprawled and bloodied on one of the roads of Cagayan de Oro City after a motorcycle, sent flying by a rampaging truck, hit her.

“I don’t know how long I lay there,” delos Santos said, her expression still pained while recalling the point of impact a year later on the tracks of the Cebu City Sports Center, “I blacked out.”

Mary Grace delos Santos at the finish line in Cagayan de Oro CityIRON WOMAN. Mary Grace delos Santos, her face bloodied after getting hit by a motorcycle in a road accident, finishes first in the women’s 21K race in the Mindanao eliminations of the Milo Marathon in 2008. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. ( PHOTO FROM SUN.STAR CAGAYAN DE ORO)

She also does not know whether she was between the wheels of the truck or beside them when the vehicle continued to run after the accident.

What she recalls, however, is her fierce determination to finish the race that she was already leading. She got on her feet and started checking her body gingerly for injuries before breaking into a run.

“People were telling me to pull out of the race,” delos Santos said in Bisaya, “but I wanted to continue. I wanted to finish the race. I was determined to finish the race.”

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After setting personal record, Yong Larrazabal sets sights on Boston

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After breaking four hours for a marathon, Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III is now plotting his race schedule next year with the ultimate goal of attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Larrazabal just finished the Macau Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon in 3 hours, 49 minutes and 48 seconds. In an interview with reporters last night, Larrazabal said he set out for the Macau marathon last Sunday with the goal of finishing the race in 3:55.

Donna Cruz-Larrazabal and Yong LarrazabalMARATHON COUPLE. Donna Cruz-Larrazabal and Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III recount to reporters their experience in the Macau Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon. (Photo by Max Limpag)

Donna Cruz-Larrazabal, meanwhile, finished her first marathon in style, breaking five hours by coming in at 4:49:47.

Donna, however, said she nearly gave up and was in tears in the last few kilometers. She injured her left foot and it started hurting at the 22-kilometer point. She said she was walking in parts of the race but persevered, telling herself that she should finish before the five-hour cutoff time because “ayaw ko’ng mapahiya.”

Donna later told reporters that had she known that the route would pass the 2.2km Ponte de Sai Van bridge not once but four times, she wouldn’t have signed up for the full marathon.

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Rening Ylaya: At 73, going 42

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The names of places come out in a staccato, wheezing whisper barely heard through the disco music booming from large speakers at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) track oval.

“Marawi-Iligan, Cagay-an, Davao, Cagay-an, Manila, Cebu…,” Ireneo “Rening” Ylaya recites like a mantra—in a strained asthmatic’s voice—the places where he ran marathons. He says the names in the order that he ran them, going back to “Marawi-Iligan” when he skips a place and slapping his forehead while apologizing for forgetting. “Tiguwang na lagi (I’m getting old),” he said with a sheepish smile.

Cagayan de Oro? I asked Rening on what was probably the 6th lap of our interview while jogging around the CCSC track oval, where he is a fixture.

rening1 RENING YLAYA. The Cebu City Sports Center fixture keeps telling people, “if an old man like me can do it, how much more young people like you.” (Photo by Marlen Limpag) CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

“Cagay-an de Oro. Didn’t I tell you? It’s the best marathon route I’ve run and I did it in 4:26 (four hours and 26 minutes), my fastest marathon time,” Ylaya said in Bisaya, barely breaking a sweat while I slowed down to catch my breath.

A stocky jogger then passed us, catching Ylaya’s attention. “A couple of years back,” he told me in Bisaya, pointing at the jogger with his chin, “I wouldn’t have let that pass. I would have run him down. Not the top runners, I couldn’t keep up with them, but the regular joggers. I would have never allowed him to overtake.”

He then went ahead a few steps to tap the shoulder of a female brisk walker and tell her, “Lane 5, lane 5. Walkers use lane 5, 6, 7.”

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When running in the CCSC, protect your belongings, use the courtesy booth

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It’s a common sight at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC). Anywhere you look, you’d see bags placed on the ground or hanging from railings surrounding the track oval. This is risky. Many joggers have lost phones, wallets, money and other valuables they left in bags placed in the CCSC ground.

Last Oct. 14, two women jogging at the CCSC lost phones, a wallet containing P5,000, $300, and ATM cards and a backpack  containing $10 Singaporean dollars and P3,100 cash, The Freeman reported. The two were able to recover the items because the CCSC guard stopped the suspected thief, Embie Santiago Arciaga.

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