Women power race

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

WITH their aim to encourage more women to run, the International Pharmaceutical Inc. (IPI) stages a Casino Femme running event dubbed “The Empowered Run Series” this Dec. 12, 5:30 a.m. at the Parkmall, Mandaue City. 

After their successful staging of their Mindanao leg last November in Davao City that attracted more than 1,600 runners, they are expecting to draw more runners here in the Visayas despite another running event on the same day.

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“I don’t think we will be having a problem with that because the other event is in Cebu City, while ours is in Mandaue City. I believe we can hit our expected number of  runners because Cebu was able to cater to four running events last weekend, which catered to several audiences,” IPI marketing director and organizer Angel Dela Merced said during a press conference yesterday at the Port Seafood.

He was joined by Casino Femme brand manager Analou Jundos, IPI Foundation executive director Lourdes P. Damazo and  Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.’s (Rafi) Vernon Joseph M. Go.

Dela Merced said he is encouraging more beginners to join the run because not only are they expecting a lot of women, but newbies as well, since their aim is to promote health and wellness.

Core objective

With Cebu City Sports Commission’s plan of regulating running events in Cebu next year since not a few are doing it for business, Dela Merced said they are holding running events because it fits their company’s core objective on health and wellness.

Jundos said that after Visayas, they will be holding their last series in February next year in Manila.

“If the series will be successful, we are planning to hold the series annually. This run is not exclusively for women, but we also have categories open for men. In Davao, we had around 60 percent female runners and 40% male runners,” Jundos said.

Lyle Larida, who is part of the technical committee, said that during the run, there will be fewer elite runners because most of them will be competing in the Milo National Finals in Manila.

Benficiary

Part of the proceeds will be given to the IPI Foundation and Ramon Aboitiz Foundation for their various projects.

The run will be featuring a 1.5K and 3K for women with registration fee pegged at P250, while the fee is P300 for the 5K open category and P350 for the 10K open.

Registration centers are in the Cebu City Sports Center, Parkmall and Runnrs in Ayala Center Cebu.