125 runners to compete in June 4’s all men’s ultramarathon in Consolacion — organizer

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A total of 125 hardcore long distance runners will test their mettle on the third All Men’s Ultra Marathon (AMUM) on Sunday, June 4, at the SM City Consolacion, north Cebu. 

The ultramarathon features a 50-kilometer distance, which traverses the national highway in north Cebu. It will have its turning point in Carmen town. 

According to one of the organizers, Excel Canque of Mega Tech PH, the AMUM has been happening for the past three years.

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AWUM gives back to AMUM

This long-distance running event is to give back to the male runners who supported the women who competed in the highly-popular All Women’s Ultra Marathon (AWUM). 

“Kaning all men’s ultra marathon nato, mura ni siya og pambawi sad sa kadtong mga runners nga nisupport sa AWUM. Kay sa AWUM, ang mga lalaki man ang ni man sa water stations, support stations ug gikan ni sila ug lain-lain nga running clubs. Karon sila na pud ang modagan,” said Canque. 

(This men’s ultra marathon, this is like giving back to the runners who supported AWUM. Because in AWUM, the men were the ones who manned the water stations, support stations, and they came from different running clubs. Now, it is their turn to run.)

Canque added that they weren’t able to draw a bigger number of participants in this edition of the AMUM since there are plenty of running events scheduled this month in Cebu. 

Still, they gathered 125 runners who will endure 50 km of non-stop running. 

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Anti-cheating

Despite its popularity and prestige, ultramarathons here in Cebu were not saved from runners who allegedly cheated on their total run time.

There have been multiple incidents from other ultramarathons here in Cebu that organizers disqualified certain runners for their questionable run times that were too fast for their average and best times. 

The organizers later found out that these runners allegedly cheated by riding a vehicle to finish the run easily.

However, Canque said that their timing system had anti-cheating features that would detect runners who did not complete at a certain distance of the run. 

“With timing chips and our timing system, naa ta gibutang nga turnaround point diin makita nato ang mga runners nga wala nakatuyok didto. Mailhan na sa among system nga wala sila motuyok didto. Mao na amo silang iautomatic disqualification,” said Canque.

(With timing chips and our timing system, we have put a turnaround point where we can can see the runners turning there. The system will know that they did not pass through that point. They are the ones that we will automatically disqualify.)

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Support/water stations

Besides that, there are 10 support/water stations manned by volunteer running groups who will also help in monitoring the runners during the race. 

Canque said that this would be the first ultramarathon in Cebu that would embrace the innovation by using a timing system. 

All finishers will receive finishers’ gifts from the organizers as well as medals, while those who attended the training camp received training gear. 

Veteran race director, Joel Baring, will be the ones to handle the technicalities of the third AMUM.

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