THOUGH they recognize the need for a regulatory body for running, members of the Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) will go easy in the creation of the proposed body that will oversee the sport in the three cities of Cebu—Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.
During their meeting at Yayoy’s Grill yesterday, CCSC commissioner Tony del Prado urged more consultations with the running public.
“We have to consult the public, race directors and organizers about the idea of forming a body to regulate running events in Cebu. We have to go easy on this.
We want to get involved to be appreciated, not to be considered as interfering,” Del Prado said.
Among those they talked with yesterday was running veteran Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III, who organizes the annual Run for Sight series and Cebu Doctors University Runs.
Larrazabal supports the need to strengthen the coordination among the key cities after witnessing the mushrooming of running events in Cebu.
“Let us not wait when there are more than two running events in one day. We don’t have enough security people to cover all these running events. We should always prioritize the safety of our runners,” Larrazabal said.
Suffer
Young said he started organizing running events in 2006 because he wanted to give Cebuanos a venue to become competitive.
Though he is overwhelmed by the number of running events, he is alarmed when two running events are scheduled in a day because one will surely suffer.
“Having more than one running events in one day defeats the purpose of organizing a run, which is to strength the bond among runners,” Larrazabal said.
Last Sunday, there were two running events—the CDU University Run and the Pilipinas International 25K Marathon. This weekend, there will be three—one on Saturday and two on Sunday.
Dr. Danilo Villadolid, considered the godfather of athletics in Cebu, said having too many running events may lead to a decline of the caliber of Cebu’s athletes, saying elite athletes shouldn’t join in more than two 21K events in a month.
“We will have burnt out runners and we will have poor quality of distance runners,” said Villadolid, who added he cannot blame runners for joining such competitions because of the attractive prizes at stake.
To help push the creation of the body, Cebu City Councilor Raul Alcoseba said he will author a resolution urging the CCSC to check the credibility of race organizers, and the schedules of runs before a permit is given to race organizers.
Alcoseba will also meet with the members of the sports commissions of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay to get their input on the matter.