Tycoon Fernando Zobel De Ayala will be among more than 3,000 sports enthusiasts joining the Philippines? first running event anchored both on a good cause and cutting-edge technology.
Aiming to help Habitat for Humanity raise funds for the relocation of squatters along the Pasig River, the Ayala group?s telecommunication and property arms, Globe Telecoms and Ayala Land Inc., teamed up to bankroll the run that offers a local technological first?the use of disposable electronic timing chips to track the performance of participants.
The ?Run for Home: Globe-Ayala Land City Run for Habitat for Humanity,? to be held July 19 at 5 a.m. in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City, has courses for runners of all ages and levels of experience, from 3-kilometer, 5-km, 10-km to the 21-km run.
Ayala, who was a member of the Philippine delegation to the New York Marathon in 2006, told reporters on Monday the Ayala conglomerate was excited about the project because it would enhance awareness of the initiatives of Gina Lopez, managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation, and would involve ALI and Globe Telecom for the first time.
?The second part that I find very exciting as a runner myself is that Globe and ALI believe in the highest standards in anything that they do and I was excited when they told me that they want to do this run differently.
?One of the firsts in the country is the use of a chip for the event and it?s a disposable chip and to me, that?s completely new,? said Ayala, who is vice chair and president of Ayala Corp.
The timing chip is a miniature transponder in a specially designed waterproof plastic housing. It is used in popular international marathons where they are often attached to a runner?s shoelace or in triathlons where they are worn on ankle bracelets.
?The chip is meant to analyze the run. So, let?s say within the run for the 21-km, there will be about four to five mats...Four days after the event, you will be able to analyze your run...see the time, ranking, time for the first X-km or the next Y-km, how you fared among the males, how you fared among the females, you see all that,? explained Ferdinand de la Cruz, head of Globe Telecom?s consumer sales and after-sales.
