Mathieu O Halloran leaps as he reaches the finish line during the 2013 edition of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines. this year, participants can help a school in Talisay City if they go an extra mile after the finish line. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
To make this year’s Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines more meaningful and at the same time challenging, Sunrise Events Inc. (SEI) Project Director Princess Galura said they are coming up with something unique that can help a school in Talisay City.
Galura said that aside from the main event featuring some of the best triathletes in the world, they have an additional challenge for those who are willing to go the extra mile. And this is for a cause.
“Since Cobra’s tagline is ‘Dahil gusto mo pa’, Ironman 70.3 dares you to go beyond the finish line,” she said.
In this challenge, if a triathlete runs an extra mile after the finish line, P1,000 will be given to the students of Manipis Elementary School in Talisay City.
“Each participant [going the extra mile] means P1,000 cash will be donated to the school. We are aiming for 300 participants,” she said.
To register for the extra mile challenge, one must first send a private message to Cobra Energy Drink’s Facebook page or send an email to cobraenergydrink.phil@gmail.com.
The messsage should include a participant’s name, age, race category, mobile number, and email address.
Ramil Abing, assistant provincial administrator, said that they were the ones who proposed to Sunrise Events to tap Talisay City administrator John Yre delos Reyes regarding the beneficiary of the challenge.
“Since the Ironman challenge route includes Talisay, it is appropriate to give them the chance to choose the beneficiary school,” he said.
Delos Reyes said the Manipis Elementary School is located in a mountainous area and is the farthest school in Talisay City. He said that the barangay is a calamity-prone area.
According to Delos Reyes, it was Talisay City Mayor Johnny delos Reyes who decided to make Manipis Elementary School the beneficiary of the extra mile challenge.
“The latest news was that the school’s roof was destroyed because big rocks fell after a landslide. Fortunately, there were no students who were injured,” he said.
Manipis Elementary School principal Zenaida Silva said they were glad that the school was chosen to be the beneficiary of the extra mile challenge.
“The needs of the students will now be answered,” Silva said.
Silva said there were two rooms that were damaged because of the landslide./UP Cebu Intern Mary Claire U. Catado