Cebuano joins 5K race in LA

FOOTBALL player turned cyclist Luis Miguel “Igi” Maximo will be wearing another cap in his first stint abroad.

Maximo will be joining the 5K division of the 2010 Honda LA Marathon on March 20 at the Dodger Stadium.

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Maximo, who was scheduled to race in the US junior cycling circuit next weekend, decided to join the LA marathon as part of his training.

“Since running is cross-training for cycling, Igi took advantage of the LA Marathon schedule being close to the cycling race,” said Jonathan Maximo, Igi’s father.

It was Cebuana duathlete Christina Reynes, who is based in Culver City, who invited Igi to try running in the United States after she read about Igi’s trip to the US in Jonathan’s blog.

Jonathan said he and his son, who won a junior division cycling race in Manila last month, are also set to join a series of clinics and seminars about running at the LA Marathon Expo this week and they will share what they learned with the local runners.

“This is an opportunity for us as well to be able to get hold of running materials which we can share with the Cebu running community, ” said Jonathan.

Jonathan, who used to be the head of the Cebu Football Association, will not be racing in the marathon but instead will observe how the event is run.

The Los Angeles Marathon started in 1986 and has hit 25,000 entries this year.