Rotary Club of Cebu holds run, triathlon for kids with CHD

THE Rotary Club of Cebu will hold its first charitable run dubbed as the Run For Gift of Life on May 7 at the Robinson’s Galleria Cebu.

Led by Rotary Club of Cebu’s outgoing President Bernard Von Sia, the race aims to raise funds for children and infants suffering from congenital heart disease (CHD). It is held in partnership with the Let It Echo Foundation.

Aside from the running event, the Rotary Club of Cebu is also organizing its first triathlon dubbed as the first Rotary Corporate Triathlon on June 11 at the Mactan Newtown in Lapu-lapu City which also aims to raise funds for CHD patients.

“The run and triathlon races will be used to strengthen our noble cause of helping children with CHD,” said Sia during yesterday’s press briefing at Casino Español where he was joined by Rotary Club of Cebu officers and the run co-presenter, Cintrine Land.

The non-competitive run will have three distances, the 3k, 8k and 16k with Joel Juarez of Coco Running as race director.

The Rotary Club of Cebu has already helped around 40 children undergo heart surgery for the past decade through its “Gift of Life” program.

The run and triathlon races hope to sponsor around 14 children.

No less than Cebuana Olympian Mary Joy Tabal is promoting the race since she has also partnered with the club last January where 400 new chairs were donated to the Guba Elementary School.

“I will not be here during the run but I will be supporting it by promoting it to my fellow runners because Rotary Club of Cebu has also helped me in my charitable projects before,” said Tabal who will leave for Tuscany, Italy today to prepare for the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) this August in Malaysia.

Around 2,000 runners are expected to join the Rotary run where winners will receive trophies while finishers will get finishers medals.

For more information about the race and how to donate to Rotary Club of Cebu’s Gift of Life Program, visit www.rotarycebu.org.