While the Spooktacular (Run For Your Life!) Race this Friday night will have runners, literally, running scared, and while the annual Citigym Half Marathon is popular because of the 21K, a much bigger event looms just barely two months away: The 2012 Cebu City Marathon.
The reason? The 42.195 km. distance. “I’ll run a 5K marathon this Sunday,” many often say. But that’s incorrect. Because a 5K Run, though enjoyable (like the Tribute Run for Melinda) is not a marathon. There is only one marathon distance and that’s 42,195 meters.
That event is happening on Jan. 8, 2012. New Balance singlets await the participants. Live, Sinulog-type entertainment will excite the runners. Water stations will flood the streets every 1.5 kms. Cheerers will shout. CITOM personnel will close the South Road Properties. A Carbo-loading Party will provide a feast for all at the Ayala Center Cebu.
Register now. If you’re got a credit card and can get online, enlist now. The rates are less expensive (compared to Nov. 20, when the “Late Registration Fees” begin). The distances are similar to the past two years: 5K, 21K, and 42K. The routes for the half-marathon and marathon will be the same as last Jan. 2011. Start and finish at the Cebu IT Park. Runners pass through Osmeña Blvd. en route to the SRP. The 5K route will be new—and to be announced at the press conference on Thursday.
What makes this race different is the timing. It’s held seven mornings before one of Asia’s loudest of parties: the Sinulog. Thus, the air is littered with confetti, the streets are lined with buntings; drum-beating music will deafen our eardrums. Our theme: “Feel The Beat. Get On Your Feet!” Find out more at www.CebuMarathon.com.
CITCI. Ken Salimbangon and Nestor Toledo comprise the one-two doubles tandem who organized the Cebu International Tennis Centre Inc.
Nicknamed CITCI and located in Laray, Consolacion, it is the only facility in this island that is home to 10 tennis courts. Yes, you read it right. Not two or four or six—but five clay-courts plus five hard-courts.
This Friday to Sunday, Oct. 28 to 30, Ken and Nestor are helping organize the 18th leg of the Cebuana Lhuillier Age Group Championship at CITCI. Open to players aged 18 years old and younger (some as young as six years old!), the event is Philta-sanctioned and many prizes await the winners. Registration fee is P300 and the deadline is this Thursday. Call now: 0922358845, 5144379 or 09229488739.
PACMAN. The Nonito Donaire fight was boring? Who said so? Not when “Manuel” Pacquiao entered the arena three nights ago. Yes. That’s “Manuel,” not Manny. The Pacquiao lookalike, who’s reportedly an airport worker from Houston, Texas, entered the stadium and had everyone snapping their flash photos.
Who was he? His name is Allan Rivera Manuel.
Wrote Larry Brown of Larry Brown Sports: “He fooled fans, security, and ushers as he walked through Madison Square Garden. It’s easy to see why—he looks exactly like Manny Pacquiao…
“Manuel is such a big fan of Manny, that he decided to make a second career of impersonating the boxer. He got a similar tattoo on his left pectoral muscle, got the same earrings, the same hair, and the same mustache and goatee. He began working out so he would have a similar build to the boxer, and he can even talk and sing like Pac Man. Manuel Pacquiao causes a scene wherever he goes, and he even had to bring bodyguards when he traveled to Las Vegas for Manny’s May fight against Shane Mosley. He really seems to enjoy all the attention, even though he makes it clear to fans that he is not the real Pacquiao.”
HOOPS DOME. I spoke to Councilor Harry Radaza two nights ago. In preparation for the Nov. 5 PBA game (not the usual exhibition but a ‘bearing’ game) between Petron and Alaska, the City of Lapu-Lapu has installed more ceiling lights. This NBA-like arena, the only one in our province, has become even more NBA-like. Looking forward to next Saturday’s Blaze Boosters vs. Aces contest at the Hoops Dome.
