2,000 runners vie in USJ-R’s Takbo Para sa Iskolar ni Jose

AROUND 2,000 runners are expected to answer today’s starting gun of the “Recoletos Run: Takbo Para sa Iskolar ni Jose” at the Plaza Independencia.

Race director Joel Juarez happily announced that they were able to draw in more than the expected number of runners for the fundraising run of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) which is organized by Josenians Inc., the alumni association of USJ-R.

The race aims to raise funds to support the school’s academic scholars.

Juarez said that most of the participants are students and faculty of USJ-R. The race will kick off at 5 a.m.

The money that will be raised from the running event will help selected students of USJ-R to finish their college education through a full scholarship program from first year up to the final year of their chosen course.

The charity run will feature the 15-kilometer open category, 5k, USJ-R students category, faculty and alumni category and a 3k race.

The official route will traverse from the South Road Properties (SRP) up to the boundary of  the cities of Talisay and Cebu.

Organizers said they chose Plaza Independencia as the official venue because it is where the monument dedicated to the first Recollect priests who arrived in Cebu a century ago was erected.

The top three winners in the 15k open category will receive P3,000, P2,000 and P1,000 respectively while the 4th to 10th placers will receive medals. Winners in the 5k and 3k divisions will receive certificates.  /CORRESPONDENT DALE G. ROSAL