(from left-right) Bryan Adams Morastil, host/ primary homes inc.-sales officer and trainer; Maria Carmina Joyce Alferez, chief of clinics of Hospital at Maayo; Mary Christene Oncenes, Run for Health organizing committee; and Jann Gonzales, HR team of the Hospital at Maayo. | CDN Digital photo / Glendale Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Over 1,200 runners turned up in the inaugural “Run For Health” of The Hospital at Maayo on Sunday, November 19, 2023.
Dr. Maria Carmina Joyce C. Alferez, the Chief of Clinics at the Hospital at Maayo, was elated with their running event’s successful turnout despite the presence of another running event also happening in Cebu on Sunday.
Alferez said that the proceeds of the running event that was held at the Parkmall in Mandaue City, will be used to help The Hospital at Maayo’s charity patients.
“We did this because Maayo isn’t just a hospital. We always gauge our success especially if our patients are well, our tagline Live Well, Stay Well, this event pushed our motto. It’s timely because the runners did this for their wellness, while helping our charity patients. Dili lang ikaw naka hatag ug wellness sa imong self, but you also helped patients,” Alferez told CDN Digital.
“So far, it was a very successful and we’re happy because all runners appreciated our charity fun run. It’s our charity fun run and this will surely help our charity patients.”
Alferez also revealed that they are very thankful to the Cebu running community after they exceeded their maximum number of expected runners.
“Naa mi kadungan nga run, pero we’re very happy because we maxed out in our registration. We even extended our registration, and we apologize kay daghan mi nabalibaran nga runners. We’re very happy that the Mandaue City LGU gave us full support. They deployed the Mandaue City PNP, BFP, and medical personnel which makes this run successful,” added Alferez.
According to Bryan Adams Morastil, the event host and Primary Homes Inc. sales officer and trainer, they are very open to have another of this running event next year.
Besides being a charitable running event, the “Run For Health” of The Hospital at Maayo also featured a competitive side which saw some of Cebu’s best long-distance runners vying for supremacy.
In the 21-kilometer half marathon, Prince Joey Lee and April Rose Cortes emerged champions in the male and female categories, respectively.
Lee clocked in one hour, 19 minutes, and 19 seconds, beating Kenyan Joseph Mururi who finished the race in 1:20.10, while Joseph Emia rounded off the top three in the male 21k race in 1:24.10.
In the 21k distaff side, Cortes breasted the finish tape in 2:11.57, followed by Zharmyn Berioso in 2:20.44, while Lorhiz Lopez settled for third in 2:20.52.
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