2nd QCIM to attract 100,000 runners

MANILA, Philippines - The Quezon City government hopes to draw more than 10,000 local and foreign runners when it hosts the second edition of the QC International Marathon slated in December.

QC Mayor Herbert Bautista has given his official support to his city’s hosting of the event, which expects to double the more than 5,000 runners who took part in last year’s inaugurals.

In a recent courtesy call to Bautista, officials from the organizing Runnex (the Executive Runners Club of the Phils., Inc.) vowed to make the December event an even greater success than the first one.

The Runnex officials also met with QC Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.

Runnex has been organizing running clinics, marathons and similar events for close to three decades. The year-end QCIM will be the biggest event of its kind and is tipped to be at par with the world’s biggest marathons.

Individual runners and government and private companies are supporting the event. Multinational company Procter and Gamble, for example, is fielding some 200 of its executives and runners in the second QCIM.

More foreigners are likewise expected to join the event this year.

Meanwhle, the QC administration is prioritizing health care for their constituents. The mayor said that health care should mean not only taking care of the sick, but preventing disease.

His view runs along with Runnex’s goal of promoting running as a means to staying healthy and fit.

The key program in Runnex is its running clinic, now called the Discover Running Series. The series consists of three modules, namely, the Discover Running module covering three months to be conducted thrice this year, the Discover Distance module running for five months, and the Discover the Marathon module.

The route of the second QCIM will cover the city’s key government, business, education and entertainment centers, passing through Elliptical Road, the UP Diliman campus, Commonwealth Avenue, the La Mesa Ecopark, ending at Quezon City Hall.