ALTHOUGH the SM2SM Run’s main purpose is to have fun, organizers are hopeful that it could be a venue to possibly discover Cebu’s next running star like Olympian Mary Joy Tabal.

“We can’t believe that we are already nine years. I hope that we will become bigger, not just a fun run. We hope to nurture possible Olympic runners like Joy Tabal, who’s aiming for the Tokyo Olympics,” said SM Prime Holdings Inc. vice president Marissa Fernan in a press conference launching the ninth edition of SM City Cebu’s annual fun run.

More than 6,000 runners are expected to converge and enjoy this year’s SM2SM run on Feb. 17, which will start and end at the SM City Cebu North Open Parking Lot.

“Our primary reason is we want people to have fun. Fun that is not only limited to our malls, but extending it by appreciating the beautiful parts of the city,” said Fernan.

Tabal is expected to participate in the race along with other renowned local runners.

“We are expecting Joy Tabal to join. Some national team members are coming in, some local runners also like Philip Duenas,” said race director Joel Baring.

The run has four distances--21K, 12K, 8K and 4K. It will also follow the same route as last year.

The organizers added something new this year, the 4K PWD (Persons With Disability) category, wherein the top 10 finishers will be given cash prizes.

“For this year, there’s not much change with regards to the official route. We use the same route as last year and we also have the same categories. The difference now is that we give prizes to the PWDs,” said Baring.

Aside from cash prizes and finisher medals for the 21K and 12K distances, the SM2SM Run will also be raffling out cellphones, LED TVs and international round-trip tickets.

“The whole purpose of this is to really have fun,” said Fernan, who promised to challenge and bring out her 70 to 80-year-old friends to walk the shortest division, the four-kilometer distance.