‘Run in Cebu City Marathon to thank Santo Niño’

CEBU CITY Mayor Michael Rama is encouraging runners to join this Sunday’s Cebu City Marathon (CCM) and consider it a thanksgiving run for Cebu’s patron, Sr. Santo Niño.

Rama, who said he will possibly join a short-distance category, said Cebuano runners should be thankful that the Holy Child Jesus spared the Queen City of the South from two catastrophic natural calamities last year.

“We will run this Sunday to thank Santo Niño,”  Rama said during yesterday’s press conference at the Cebu City Hall. “If we remember what happened to us last year, we are very lucky compared to our neighboring provinces. I think this is one fitting way to thank Santo Niño.”

Joining Rama in the press conference were councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, Ritchie Osmeña, Vice Mayor Edgar Labella, Run Rio’s Ally Lim, Cebu Executive Runners Club’s (CERC) John Pages and medical director Dr. Peter Mancao.

“We also thank him for giving this race a chance to be recognized internationally. I’m sure that it will boost our tourism,” Rama added.

The mayor also said Cebuanos should be proud of the CCM after it was accredited by the Association of International Marathons (AIMS). The CCM is one of the two races in the country to earn such an accreditation. “The accreditation will not just boost our tourism but it will also increase the level of competitiveness because there will be a lot of elite foreign runners who will be joining,” Rama said./CORRESPONDENT DALE G. ROSAL