Run for your life — for a healthy life!

The third edition of the Nike We Run Manila held at Marikina City showcased 14,000 runners. Igniting the Filipino spirit of unity, runners signed up in pairs to run 10km and stood in solidarity at the finish line as a mark of respect for the recent events in the Visayas region.

“The Nike We Run Manila 2013 serves runners by offering them a unique platform to run alongside a global community of runners. This year, we fueled the samahan spirit by encouraging runners to sign up and run the race together with a buddy for their fellow kababayan,” says Courtney Cole-Faso, country marketing manager of Nike Philippines.

The streets of “the shoe capital” were flooded with runners in red with a common cause. This year’s theme, Kilos Mo, Kilos Ko, proved to be very timely since the country and the rest of the world are focused on helping the people in Eastern Visayas affected by typhoon Yolanda. From an inspirational theme of influencing a buddy or a family to live a healthy lifestyle by running, the theme became a call for people to unite and show another positive Filipino trait, which is bayanihan.

Highlight of the event was Nike Global’s donation of $50,000 to the people affected by typhoon Yolanda.

Nike We Run Manila was part of Nike’s global We Run series. Aimed at motivating and inspiring athletes around the world, more than 350,000 runners would have taken over three billion strides in We Run races in 26 cities by the end of 2013, motivated by Nike+ and Nike Running design innovations.

Nike’s We Run races range in distance from 5K to a full marathon, and capture the unique enthusiasm of each city. From Sao Paulo to Seoul to Singapore to Manila, each city will be moved to action through a series of unique experiences for runners. 

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E-mail me at anthony@realsports.com.ph. Follow me on twitter@anthonysuntay.