National Geographic Earth Day run to draw huge cast

MANILA, Philippines — National Geographic will host the ninth edition of the Nat Geo Earth Day Run, which features not just the regular weekend runners but also environment-conscious ones at the SM Mall of Asia grounds on April 22.

Since its inception, the Nat Geo Earth Day Run has been attracting thousands of individuals across Asia who have pledged to save the planet with organizers expecting about 15,000 participants to join in the 3K, 10K and 21K categories.

Like in past editions, National Geographic is teaming up with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Philippines and will lunch a campaign dubbed #NotPlastic aimed at tackling the country’s issue on single-use plastics that pollute oceans and threaten marine biodiversity.

“The Philippines has been identified as the third highest plastic polluter in the world,” said WWF president and CEO Jose Angelito Palma in yesterday’s event launch at Impressions in Resorts World Manila.

“In response to this, the two organizations aim to increase awareness on plastic waste and push programs that focus on plastic waste management by utilizing the proceeds of the highly anticipated annual run for the environment,” he added.

Fox International and Pay Maya are also providing support while The Philippine STAR is the event’s media partner.

Interested parties may log onto the Nat Geo Earth Day Run official website www.natgeoearthdayrun.com or they can pay via Pay Maya. Offline registration is available at authorized boots located at SM MoA, SM Aura and SM by the Block.