Cebu City Marathon finally gets AIMS accreditation

THE annual Cebu City Marathon will take a massive leap on it’s seventh edition next year that will surely put Cebu on the map of international marathons.

This after the race was finally accredited by the Association of International Marathons (AIMS).

AIMS is the premier member-based organization composed of more than 350 of the world’s leading distance races from 102 countries.

The Cebu City Marathon became AIMS’ newest member after race organizer John Pages of the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC) and Coach Rio Dela Cruz of Run Rio asked AIMS to accredit the pre-Sinulog Festival run.

Pages proudly announced yesterday that after seven years, they finally got the most sought-after accreditation.

Joining Pages during yesterday’s launch at the Mooon Café in Cebu IT Park were Dela Cruz, AIMS Vice President Dave Cundy, CERC’s Jesse Taborada and Joel Juarez.

“We did this because we wanted the Cebu City Marathon to step up to the next level,” said Pages.

ADVANTAGES

The 2014 Cebu City Marathon will be on Jan. 12 at the Cebu IT Park. According to Cundy, the advantages of being accredited by AIMS is that the race will be listed in the AIMS calendar of events, which will surely attract foreign runners and boost the venue’s tourism. An accredited race will also serve as a qualifier for major international marathons including the prestigious Boston Marathon. Another advantage is that AIMS itself will measure the exact distance of the run and will also help choose the route.

Cundy himself measured and corrected the entire route of the 21k and 42k distances for the Jan. 12 race. According to him, they changed a small portion of the route particularly along Mango Avenue which was re-routed to Banawa. The rest of the route though, including the South Road Properties (SRP) was retained.

“We re-routed it because the place is full of bars which is not suitable for passing runners,” said Cundy.

Dela Cruz meanwhile, decided to exclude the 5k race in future Cebu City Marathon races to allow the runners to focus more on the 21k and 42k runs.

“Run Rio’s primary objective of handling the Cebu City Marathon is for its marketing aspect. We are here to promote the race and invite foreign and local runners to join this prestigious run,” said Dela Cruz.

PAPERLESS

REGISTRATION

Dela Cruz also introduced yesterday a specially made pre-paid card that can be purchased to register a running event that is being handled by Run Rio including the Cebu City Marathon. The pre-paid card will serve as a credit that can be purchased to register online or at registration areas. It has various prices that correspond to the distance a runner wants to join.

The Cebu City Marathon is the second Philippine marathon accredited by AIMS behind CamSur Marathon. Other races like the annual Milo Marathon and the Run for Pasig are shorter races also accredited by AIMS in the country.

The AIMS accreditation will last for five years.

The registration for the CCM will start mid-October through the Cebu City Marathon website while other details like registration areas and other related matters will be announced later.  /correspondent Dale G. Rosal