Build it now!

Cebu - Let me add my two cents’ worth in the clamor for a new Cebu track and field oval.

A friend who spent his Christmas vacation in Dumaguete City excitedly told me that while he was there with his family, he was running almost every day. I have been trying to invite this friend to join me and some other colleagues during our afternoon runs at IT Park and in many races that I have joined but he always had some alibis. Now he was telling me he was running almost every day!

I asked him why the sudden change of heart? He said he got hooked to running in Dumaguete because of a new track oval there.

My friend told me that as he made his laps around the oval, he could smell fresh rubber and that after running he would notice small rubber spikes lodged in his shoes! That’s how upbeat he was in describing his run at the Mariano Perdices Stadium.

He even sent me a picture of the oval. As I looked at it, I could imagine running in such a new oval! I mean running free, looking ahead not looking down to avoid cracks or holes if you’re running at the Cebu City Sports Center.

Unless, I’ll be mistaken as vain; I’ve run in worse tracks – like that oval (if you could call it an oval) at Iloilo City High School in Molo – where stones, pebbles, cans and cow droppings are all over the ground. If, at any time, you slipped while running, you’ll be carrying a remembrance of that oval for the rest of your life just like some of us.

I even remember running the sprint without spikes. In the middle of the race, it rained all of a sudden and our oval turned into a rice paddy. I could barely run. Not only had the track became so slippery, inches of mud had stuck in the soles of my sneakers!

With a budget surplus of P250M, the city government could afford to build a new oval. City officials are now saying, however, that they’ve allocated these funds to other projects!

What other projects are they talking about?

If there’s a project that needs allocation it’s the oval. We need an oval…now!

Maybe Cebu should host the Palarong Pambakla, este Pambansa (as my tukayo Raffy Uytiepo wrote in his column last Tuesday) to have a new oval, but that would be a different story.

Cebu doesn’t need dole out from the PSC to build the oval because the city has the resources. If Dumaguete City can build a brand new rubberized track oval (no pun intended), don’t tell me Cebu can’t afford one! Let’s build a new oval now… and after it’s built let’s take care of it!

As to my friend, he has not run since arriving from Dumaguete.

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The 1st Rotary 10K Run kicks off on February 22 at The Terraces (Ayala Complex) in the Cebu Business Park. The run, originally, for Rotarians is now open to all running enthusiasts. Those who feel 10K is too far, then there’s a 5K event and the elderly and executives could try the 1K walk. Attractive prices and trophies await the winners. Registration starts next week at the Philippine Sports Commission office at the Cebu City Sports Center. If you have nothing to do this day, I’d encourage you to join the fun.

For comments, please write rabai_o@yahoo.com. – THE FREEMAN