Stakeholders of the Gaisano Country Mall 25th Anniversary Run pose during a press conference. They are (from left) Maj. Christian C. Uy, Charmine Nograles, Alyssa Jan Gaisano and Missionaries of the Poor’s Bro. Murray Laurent Goodman, Bro. Wilbert Bagol and Bro. Manoj Lakra, and race director Joel Baring.
Mars G. Alison
6k runners to pass through obstacles such as monkey bar, high step over, low crawl, among others
As part of its silver anniversary celebration, the Gaisano Country Mall 25th Anniversary Run will have a new category, the 6K Extra Challenge, which will be added to its usual race distances of 21-kilometers, 15K, 10K and 5K.
This was revealed by Charmine Nograles, Gaisano Country Mall store operations manager, during a press conference for the annual half marathon run yesterday at the Lighthouse Restaurant.
What makes the 6K Extra Challenge unique is that at the halfway turning point of the distance, participants will go inside the Camp Lapu-Lapu Central Command in Barangay Apas and go through an obstacle course before resuming the race.
Participants will go through the monkey bar, the high step over, the low crawl, the classic football run, the jump over obstacle and tire wall, then the classic football run and low crawl again and lastly the maze.
All these activities will be supervised by military personnel, according to Maj. Christian C. Uy, the commander of the 3rd Civil Relations Group.
The 6K Extra Challenge, however, is only open to Filipino runners aged 18 to 45. Uy explained that the reason is because according to camp rules, no foreigner can enter a Philippine military camp. They could apply for it but it will take time.
Registration for the new distance is P800 inclusive of a finisher’s medal and shirt, a singlet, a loot bag, snacks and a raffle ticket.
Winners will also not get a cash prize which will amount to about P100,000 in total but will only be given to the top finishers in the other distances.
All finishers of the 21K will get a medal while only the first 200 finishers of the 15K will get a medal. For the 10K and 6K, top finishers will get plaques.
Another thing that is new for the October 28 slated run which will start and end at the open parking lot of Gaisano Country Mall is a slightly altered route of the 21K.
Beneficiary for this year’s run is the Missionaries of the Poor (MOP) who runs two charitable houses, one for the abandoned children with handicap in Sawang Calero and another one for the elderly in the City of Talisay.
Bro. Murray Laurent Goodman expressed delight upon learning that all proceeds of the run will go to the MOP as he said that they have a whole “supermarket” of needs in running their charitable houses.
Alyssa Jan Gaisano, who is overseeing the event for the first time, said she hopes that this year’s run will be as successful as the ones held in the previous years.
Nograles said that they are targeting about 3,000 runners for this year’s race.