Fit and Run.Info

After covering the Run United Cebu 2011, the final leg of the provincial running series, I had a blast shooting Beep Beep running inside the Marco Polo Hotel in Cebu. Well, this is just for fun but perhaps, can be sketches for future projects. Would’ve been much better if we were able to shoot inside Cafe Marco with diners.

Running at the lounge

Running at the grand staircase

Few minutes before the gunstart for 21K.

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It sure was a big event as Run Rio held its first race in Cebu for Unilab’s Run United 2011 provincial series, the final leg which was well attended by local runners, some even coming from Manila and Cebu’s surrounding provinces.

Together with 7  other blogger runners, I was invited by Unilab to cover the event but instead of running, I still have my runner’s knee, I took photos of runner participants.

This race gallery has 624 images and mainly from 10K and 21K with just less than ten under 5K and the 500m dash for kids. You can just grab your copy but please, respect the photographer by not cutting off the signature below the image. If you want a photo without the signature or for printing purposes, you can always send me photo request via the contact form.

Just a few more days to go and it will be Run United Cebu race day! I think, for jaded Cebuano runners, Run United Cebu will come off as a different kind of race, its a Run Rio for a start, and with exciting freebies, technology (first to use iPAD automated registration) and experience that the organizer (with Runcheck) will have in store for participants.

Get ready as FitandRun will cover this event.

Press release:

Run United Cebu Caps Off a Busy Year for Unilab Active Health

Run United Cebu next weekend, which is expected to attract 5,000 participants, is a fitting finale to what has been quite a busy year for Unilab Active Health. The run race in the ‘Queen City of the South’ is the fifth and final leg of the Run United Provincial Series, which had successful runs in Davao, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro and Baguio.

“We could not have chosen a better venue for our culminating event this year. We hear that response for Run United Cebu is quite good and that the number of registrants is nearing our target number of participants,” said Alex Panlilio, Head of Unilab Active Health.

Registration sites for Run United Cebu are Toby’s in SM City Cebu, Runnr in Ayala Center Cebu, and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) office at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) or online through www.runrio.com. To avoid errors, Run United uses the first ever iPad automated registration in the country.

“Our target number of participants for Run United Cebu is higher than in races in other provinces because Cebu ranks second to Manila in terms of number of runners. So we expect the highest turnout, among our provincial races, next weekend,” said Rio dela Cruz, Head of RunRio Inc., the organizer of Run United series.

There will be five race categories at Run United Cebu, which includes 500m dash for kids, 3k, 5K, 10K, and 21K. It will be held on December 18 at the Cebu IT Park. There will be no cut-off time for the 21k category.

Registration fee is P500 for the 21K, P400 for the 10K, P350 for the 5K, and P200 for the 500-meter dash, which will have two age categories—kids 5 to 8 years old and 9 to 12 years old.

“We want every member of the family to participate, so we have a race category for kids as well. We were the first to feature a 500m dash. We want to start them young and to keep the kids active, away from too much computer games and television,” said dela Cruz.

Run United participants will get a limited edition race singlet, bib-tag timing chip and a finisher’s sports bag. Runners as well as their families and friends can get more freebies and product samples at the Unilab Active Health Village for the Active Kids, Active Adults and Active Seniors. Fun games and photo booth stations are also available at the venue.

The Run United series and the other events of Unilab Active Health— Bike United and Tri United, are in line with Unilab’s advocacy to promote a healthy and active lifestyle among Filipino families.“More and more Filipinos are really getting into the active bandwagon. We will remain committed towards providing them with high-quality events to keep them active and healthy,”added Panlilio.

Indeed, Unilab Active Health has lined up bigger and better things next year. Dela Cruz and Panlilio recently announced the inclusion of a 42K or full marathon in the Run United race categories.

Thus, Run United Philippine Marathon will be the culminating event of the Run United Series in Metro Manila every year. Thus, the sequence of events would be as follows: Run United 1 in March; Run United 2 in June; Run United 3 in September; and Run United Philippine Marathon in October. The exact dates are yet to be finalized and announced together with the full 2012 Unilab Active Health Calendar.

Next weekend, 18 December will be the final leg of the Run United 2011 Provincial series and it will culminate in Cebu. There were also provincial races held previously in Davao, Iloilo, Bacolod and Baguio.

The Cebu leg is the first in the province and, hopefully, not the last with local organizer Runcheck attending the preparations. The race consists of five categories with the 21K finishers earning a beautiful medal, left.

With race day looming, late registrants have only until the 15th of the month to do so. For more information about the race, including maps, singlet and finishers’s shirt design as well as other bits, head on to Run Rio.

FitandRun will be covering this event.

Anthony Mariano will run his first marathon to help Filipino schoolchildren read

Anthony Mariano of Sambat Trust will run his first 42K at the Honolulu Marathon this 11 December 2011, this Sunday. He will be running for Sambat Trust and with your donation, you can help him raise funds to help schoolchildren read books. Below is about the runner and his reason for this charity run.

Please help him raise ￡1250.00 and more. Your help will go a long way in his advocacy. I have worked for Sambat Trust as a photographer and have been witness to what the organization has been been doing to poor Filipino students especially in Batangas. Read on.

I have been running for about two years, but only short distances, usually about 5km, twice/three times a week. I got started because I wanted to get fit and support Sambat Trust at the same time. Yes, my first marathon.

I Entered the O2 half marthon in London in September to prepare for the full marathon in Honolulu this month and been cramming last minute trainings as I only have time on Sundays to do long distances: Sunday, November 6th did 16km, 13th did 20km, 20th did 24km and 27th, 30km. I stuck to short distances for the last two weeks before the big day.

I know this is not ideal training but I have to schedule it around my work. Sambat Trust is supporting the development of children’s literacy and education in the Philippines by establishing school libraries, granting scholarships and training teachers.

Read through Anthony’s post on why he’s running and get inspired.

I have done my share by donating ￡10. Let’s not just go for the target but exceed it more. Every ￡ counts. Do your share by clicking at the JustGiving donation page.