Uytengsu heads cast in PBA charity run

MANILA, Philippines - Alaska team owner and former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) chairman Wilfred Uytengsu will be at the forefront of the first ever running event for charity as Asia’s first ever play-for-pay league is staging this weekend at the SM Mall of Asia.      

A former national champion swimmer who’s now into triathlon, Uytengsu is seeing action in the 10-K event of the “PBA Powerade Run For A Cause” set July 31 starting at 5 a.m.      

Uytengsu once served as co-captain of the University of Southern California (USC) men’s swimming team in the early 80s and is the brain behind the annual Ironman event in the country which is holding its second staging next month.      

Apart from the Alaska team executive, movie and television star Jericho Rosales and PBA courtside reporter Cheska Litton have also committed to join the event being held for the benefit of children suffering from cancer.      

Funds to be raised from the meet expected to attract some 1,500 runners, will go to the Cancer and Hematology Center of the Philippine Children’s Medical Hospital in Quezon City.    

Registration fee of P500 is pegged in the charity event presented by Soleus, the official timer, and backed by Smart, Air21, Viva, Zest Air, Pharmaton, Accel, Mang Inasal, Biogenic Alcohol, Norkis, AeroMed and Ifnica, along with commissioner Sonny Barrios, deputy commissioner Chito Salud and members of the PBA Board led by chairman Rene Pardo of B-Meg Derby Ace. There will also be 5K and 3K races, where the top male and female winners are going to receive P5,000 and P3,000, respectively, plus timepieces for the top three finishers.      

Male and female champions in the 10K footrace take home the top prize of P7,000.      

Barrios said all players from the 10 PBA teams are obliged to do their share in making the runfest a success. Fines are likely to be meted for players who failed to show up.      

Players from the four teams seeing action in the Fiesta Cup semifinals are all exempted from participating.      

The footrace has for its media partners The Philippine STAR, Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Business Mirror, Bandera, Libre and AF, exclusive radio partner is NU 107, with Solar Sports as the exclusive TV partner.      

For further details, call up the PBA office at 470-2768 local 221 or log on at www.pba.ph.