Meeting with IronMan AsPac C’ships organizer and incoming Cebu City mayor successful
Sunrise Events Inc. (SEI) General Manager Princess Galura breathed a sigh of relief after her meeting with Cebu City’s incoming Mayor Tomas Osmeña went well last Thursday in Cebu City.
Galura met with Osmeña to discuss the group’s preparation for the August 7 Cobra IronMan 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships that will start and finish at the Shangri-la’s Mactan Resort and Spa. Cebu City will play a major role in the race’s overall success as it is part of the 90-kilometer bike leg.
The bike route will use S. Osmeña Road, through the subway tunnel and to the South Road Properties (SRP).
“The mayor was accommodating and all of our requests, which we have asked in the previous years with the previous administrations, were all approved,” Galura said.
The request consists of the usage of the SRP, the tunnel, availability of portable toilets along the route, the traditional bike-out for the participants a week before the race, ambulances that will be deployed along the route and the presence of traffic enforcers.
Galura also plans to meet with Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing and Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas in the future as both cities are also part of the bike race route.
“We are happy that the meeting went well, and all of our requests like we’ve requested support from the previous administrations are all approved. We will keep in touch with the assigned person regarding the preparation of the race,” Galura said.
The Asia Pacific Championships which will have around 3,000 triathletes from 41 countries competing in the 1.9-k swim, 90-k bike and 21-k run event.
IronGirl
Galura was also in Cebu last Thursday to attend the weekly meeting with the race’s stakeholders. She announced during the meeting that they will officially launch the IronGirl, a noncompetitive and shorter version of the IronMan 70.3, featuring female participants.
“Most of us females are on the side of the road or at the finish line cheering for our husbands, sons and brothers competing in the race, so we decided to come up with the idea of having a noncompetitive and a purely fun race for the women. It would be more beautiful to see them cross the finish line and hang a medal around their necks,” Galura said.
The IronGirl race is tentatively scheduled on Aug. 5.