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.

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 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.

Jakosalem also said the run will use RFID chips to time runners. “I think timing chips are the way to go,” said Jakosalem, chairman of the Cebu City Council’s committee on games, amusements and professional sports.

He said they still have not decided what distances to hold races on but if the Cebu City Marathon on Jan. 10, 2010 is successful, Tri-City Run will have a full 42K route. The Tri-City Marathon got its name from the fact that its route passed the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu. The route of previous stagings of the run covered 25K.

Jakosalem said the Tri-City Run will be held on the weekend of the Cebu City Charter Day on February 24.

During the press conference to announce the closure of roads that are part of the Cebu City Marathon route, Jakosalem told reporters the Cebu City Government was interested in organizing more races.

Jakosalem said the Cebu City Government will work with the Cebu Executive Runners Club to organize the race. He said they will also consult runners on aspects of the race, including the distances.

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.