Saturday, June 30, 2007 USC expects 5T participants in marathon slated for July 29
THE organizers of the University of San Carlos (USC) Power Run are expecting around 5,000 participants when the event unfolds on July 29 at 6 a.m. in front of the Cebu Capitol Building.
This was revealed yesterday by the different officials during a press conference held at the Manuel Restaurant at The Parklane Hotel in Banilad, Cebu City.
Rev. Fr. Vic Uy, vice president for finance and sports of USC, announced during the meeting that the projected 5,000 runners joining the race isn’t hard to achieve since they are requiring all their college freshmen students who are taking the National Sports Training Program subject to join the competition being co-presented by radio station Power FM 89.1.
Freshman students
“We are going to tap freshman students of USC taking the NSTP subject to join. But this race is also open to all professional runners and the public in general,” said Uy, who was joined in the meeting by USC-NTSP coordinator Phyllis Sia, Rey Rabor of the Filipino Entrepreneurs and Resources Network, Inc., race director Joel Baring of the Sports and Fitness Enthusiasts (Safe) and other USC officials.
“We are doing this for a cause and that should be enough why it is a must for everybody to join this event. We will also try to promote this race among our students because it isn’t enough for them just to pursue academic excellence as they should also promote physical excellence,” added Uy, who is also the Private Schools Athletic Association (Prisaa) Region 7 president.
Beneficiaries
The competition, whose beneficiaries are the street children of the SVD JPIC-IDC Program and the drug dependents at the Recovery House, will have three race categories—10 kilometers, 5 kilometers and 3 kilometers.
The 10k and 5k races have three divisions each—Men’s and Women’s Open and the All-USC division, while the 3k race is exclusive for USC students only.
The top three runners in the 10k and 5k divisions will pocket P3,000, P2,000 and P1,000 each, respectively, while the winners in the 3k division will also receive cash prizes.
Registration fee is pegged at P150, inclusive of jersey in the open divisions of the 10k and 5k runs, while high school and elementary students of USC will pay P75 and P50, respectively.
The event is also being co-presented by International Pharmaceuticals Inc., Pepsi, Fitness First, Nature’s Spring and Junrex.
The major sponsors include M.Lhuillier, Phil. Paper Craft Inc., Rogemson’s Company, Julie’s Bakeshop, Avia and Converse, while Seiko and Txt 2 Protect Celphone Insurance are the minor sponsors. (JSV)
