THE organizers of the 7-Eleven Run Series remind the motorists to be cautious when the race fires off with about 8,400 runners and fitness buffs at the Cebu Business Park.
The portion of the roads that are part of the race route will be closed for about seven hours from 11 p.m. on Saturday until 6 a.m. on Sunday.
“Only a portion of the roads will be closed. It’s still passable for motorists. We just want to inform the motorists to be cautious in areas that are part of the route,” local organizer Joel Juarez told SunStar Cebu.
These roads and areas are Cardinal Rosales Ave., Pope John Paul Ave., Osmeña Blvd. M.J. Cuenco Ave., Imus St., Day-as, P. del Rosario St., Jones Ave., Fuente Osmeña, B. Rodriguez St., V. Rama Ave., Katipunan St., Brgy. Tisa, Punta Princesa, Banawa, Escario St., Gorordo Ave., JY Square and Salinas Drive.
Hundreds of volunteers, medical teams, police officers and personnel from the local government unit are tapped to keep the race safe and secure for the runners.
The organizers have also tightened the security in the wake of the twin explosions in Jolo, Sulu in Mindanao.
“Although we are far from Mindanao, but we will tighten our security. We have coordinated with all the police stations that are part of the route and they will be on monitoring. Also there’s Swat team that will be stationed,” he said.
The race sanctioned by the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (Patafa) will feature the 42-kilometer, 21K, 16K, 10K, 5K, 3K and 500-meter kids categories.
The event will be simultaneously held in Cebu, Davao and Manila. The top runners in the 42K, 21K and 16K in three areas will be chosen to join an international-sanctioned race in Asia.
Aside from the cash prizes, 7-Eleven will shell out half-a-million pesos for the runner who can break the national record in the 42K. The men’s national record is 2 hours and 18 minutes by Eduardo Buenavista, while the women’s benchmark is 2:38 by Christabel Martes. (RSC)