‘Marathon good tool to dramatize need to rehabilitate Pasig River’

Despite some hitches, the recent Pasig River Heritage Marathon achieved its goal of generating awareness on the continuing need to rehabilitate the Pasig River.

Organizers of the event said the 42.195-km run, more than anything else, was a big success in terms of instilling in the minds of the general public the need to rehabilitate the Pasig River, where the runners had passed through along the roads parallel to its banks.

In all, the participants, all 130 of them, covered 11 of Pasig River’s 13 bridges from Del Pan to C-5 to The Fort where the marathon ended in an otherwise befuddled finish.

But that was because of the re-routing the organizers had to make along EDSA in conjunction with the People Power anniversary celebrations although they decided to rule the event a no-contest.

That was the best option at hand, they said, and then later decided to divide the prize money for the top three finishers in both the men’s and ladies divisions.

"It was a difficult route to contain especially we had to make last-minute adjustment due to the re-routing of traffic along EDSA. But we are thankful that nobody encountered any untoward incident while on the road," said event manager Ron delos Reyes.

It was a learning experience, Delos Reyes stressed, and it will surely guide them in their preparations for the second staging of the event again next year.

Also on hand to support the event were the Clean & Green Foundation, in cooperation with Visions in Action, Gomburza, the Archdiocese of Manila through Caritas Manila and the Sagip Pasig Movement.