WITH the backing of the Baguio City Government and its beneficiary – the Baguio General Hospital Medical Center Dialysis Center, the Kalayaan Trail Run and Music Festival is expected to lure more running enthusiasts.
Set on June 9, the running event will feature 3-kilometer (km) kiddie fun run/walk, the 5-km run for more mature runners and the centerpiece 10-Mile (16-km) trail run that will course through the forests of Kadaclan, Loakan, Happy Hallow, the yellow trail of John Hay.
Scout Barrio, Kadaclan, Loakan and Happy Hallow are all part of the John Hay Reservation.
The Kalayaan Trail Run and Music Festival, according to Eric Coronacion of the P7 Events will benefit patients at the Baguio General Hospital Dialysis Center.
Organizers added the event also aims “to create an iconic annual event in time of the celebration of the Philippine Independence Day.”
“The runners are slowly coming in but we expect most of them to register in the last days of registration which is our usual experience in any race,” said race director James Tellias of Team Pinikpikan.
The race, according to organizers is designed to give a new experience for all the participants, runners and non-runners alike integrating the race to a food and music festival.
Meanwhile, Eros Goze, of the organizing P7, said prizes will be up for grabs for the best photo taken during the day-long event that feature a run as well as a music and food festival.
A total of P20,000 will be given to the top three winners in the open category, where DSLR will be used, while P10,000 will be given to the top three finishers in the digital phone side.
“This is something unique as works of the finalists will be put on display at Malcolm Square,” said Goze, a professional photographer.
The best photos will be blown up to the two by three feet images on tarps and will be displayed for the final judging at the city’s heartland. The event is a separate day long activity where the square will be converted into a street café, with musicians and coffee serving booths.
The Kalayaan run is conceived as a three-fold event that will be an iconic serving between February and December, or the Panagbenga and Christmas in Baguio celebration.
The food fest portion will feature 30 food concessionaires at the Scout Barrio grounds who will offer not the run of the mill food. Booths will open at 9 a.m. until midnight on said date. (Roderick Osis)