For safety reasons, spectators asked not to bother celebrities, athletes on the race track
Spectators of the Regent Aguila Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships are advised not to disrupt the flow of the race by refraining from taking selfies with participants while they are still competing.
Jonathan “Joy” Tumulak, the Provincial Capitol’s focal person on Traffic Management, urged fans not to enter the race track of bikers just to take photos with athletes, especially celebrities, since this could lead to accidents.
“Atong awhagon ang tanan nga magbaton og control sa atong kaugalingon and kooperasyon kay ang importante nga zero accident,” said Tumulak. (We urge everyone to control ourselves and cooperate because what’s important is we will have a zero-accident race.)
There are at least 2,000 athletes expected to participate in the prestigious international triathlon that Cebu is hosting for the seventh straight year.
He said that taking pictures is allowed but should only be done outside the track, where the athletes will not be distracted.
In the case that athletes will get into an accident, Tumulak reminded the public not to take matters into their own hands and leave the situation to medical personnel who are assigned in the area.
Meanwhile, traffic congestion is expected in some streets of Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City as road closure will start at 4 a.m. to 12 p.m on that day.
Tumulak also advised motorists to avoid some roads in 11 barangays of the two cities that will be closed.
For Lapu-Lapu City, main roads of barangays Mactan, Maribago, Soong, Agos, Marigondon, Basak, Gun-ob and Pajo will be closed. Portions of some roads in barangays Looc, Centro and Mantuyong in Mandaue City will also be closed.
The Marcelo Fernan Bridge will remain open to motorists traveling from Mactan Island to mainland Cebu. But the old Mactan-Mandaue Bridge will be closed.
Motorists are advised to plan ahead their travel routes and to leave two hours earlier, Tumulak said.
At least 1,000 traffic enforcers, including barangay tanods and volunteers, will help man the traffic on that day.