Close to P300,000 in cash prizes are at stake for all the winners in the 1st Red Durano International Road and Mountainbike Championships set from May 3-4 at the Barangay Manlayag Patag in Danao City.
This was announced by the organizers during the launching of the event yesterday at Ila Puti-Sykes.
Those who graced the affair were Rep. Red Durano, the man behind the event, Danao City Councilor Oscar “Boying” Rodriguez, Jr., and Cebu’s top mountainbike riders Marites Bitbit and Niño Surban.
“This year marks the 20th year of mountainbiking in Danao City, that’s why we wanted it to be really big,” said Durano, recalling that their mountainbike craze started when Red and his brother Tourism Secretary Ace Durano brought the first mountainbikes to the Philippines while taking vacation from their high school studies in California way back in summer of 1987.
Among the events to be featured in the two-day race are cross-country, which is a seven-kilometer loop, downhill (2.5 kilometers) and the road race, which covers a lung-busting distance of 130km.
Rodriguez said over 600 cyclists from all over the country are expected to join the competition.
Aside from the entry of Bitbit and Surban, the presence of 2005 SEA Games gold medallist Ali Usman of Indonesia also gives an added boost to the race. The other foreign competitors are from Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Registration fee is pegged at P300 inclusive of a t-shirt and a packed lunch during the race day. Late registrants with be charged with P400.
For further inquiries, one may call the Danao City Sports Commission office at +6332-2001818 or e-mail at danaotelecom@yahoo.com.— Methuselah C. Ramos, Silliman University MassCom Intern