From left, Nimrod Quiñonez, Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, Agnes Puno of Planet Sports, Cebu City Councilor Gerry Guardo, John Pages of CERC, Kenneth Casquejo of Kinetic Running, Meyrick Jacalan of CERC, Ramil Abing of the Cebu Provincial Sports Commission, Joel Juarez of Coco Running, and New Balance brand ambassador Noel Tillor gather during a presscon for the Cebu Marathon 2018.
(CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO)
Organizers of the Cebu Marathon 2018 decided to use the Cebu South Coastal Road at the South Road Properties (SRP) anew as the route for the race scheduled on January 14, 2018.
The Cebu Executives Runners Club (CERC), organizers of the footrace, said during the official launching yesterday at the Cebu City Marriott Hotel that it will be utilizing the SRP route after receiving a lot of negative feedback from the participants of the previous edition of the race held last January.
“The SRP and the tunnel is a trademark of the Cebu Marathon for the past years so we want to bring it back,” said race director Kenneth Casquejo, who is also the current president of CERC.
Last January, during the 10th anniversary of Cebu Marathon, CERC used the northern side of Cebu as its official route. The route took runners to Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City, and through iconic Marcelo Fernan Bridge.
CERC official Meyric Jacalan said they decided to pass through Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City last year to highlight the group’s 10th anniversary. But aside from the complaints, he said passing through Marcelo Fernan Bridge requires a quite expensive fee to get permission, which is why they decided to use the SRP route again.
The starting/end point of the race will again be at the Cebu Business Park.
Lechon at water stations
Aside from the change of route, organizers also vowed to bring back some of the race’s signature highlights.
Among these is the serving of lechon at the water stations along the route. Sinulog beat runners will also be present along the route as well as the cheerers and other modes of entertainment.
John Pages, also an official of CERC, added that they will make sure that loot bags will be loaded with more items, considering that sports brands 2XU and New Balance entered as new sponsors.
“There are many running events in Cebu but our run is carrying the name of our island so it’s a big responsibility for us in CERC to ensure a well organized running event,” said Pages.
Also present during the official launching were Cebu City Councilors Gerry Guardo and Joel Garganera and Cebu Provincial Sports Commission (CPSC) executive director Ramil Abing.
The Cebu City government and the Cebu provincial government pledged full support for the race.
There are already 3,000 runners who have enlisted for the 42k and 21k distances since registration started last July. Registration for the 10k and 5k started yesterday both online and onsite.
Organizers are expecting a 5,000 runners, which is a thousand more compared to last January.
Registration fee for the 42k is P1,800, P1,400 for the 21k, P950 for the 10k and P750 for the 5k. To register, one can visit Race.ph or the New Balance shop at the new wing of the Ayala Center Cebu.