TUBOD, Lanao del Norte -- More than
4,500 participants registered for PhilHealth’s first simultaneous nationwide
run at the sprawling Mindanao Civic Center (MCC) sports complex last February
17.
Dubbed as
“PhilHealth-DOH Run 2013”, it was the biggest run ever hosted by Lanao del
Norte LGU and broke all attendance record from previous fun run events hosted
by the provincial government.
The province is also
recognized as the only plus site and the lone provincial host for this
nationwide running event.
Lanao del Norte is
recognized by PhilHealth as one of its race venues along with 18 other cities
that included Manila, Batangas, Sta. Rosa, Clark, Baguio, Malolos, Dagupan,
Tuguegarao, Legaspi, Iloilo, Cebu, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Marawi, Koronal,
Butuan, Davao and Zamboanga.
“The rural health unit
of Tangcal municipality, Lanao del Norte is the local beneficiary of this
PhilHealth run and the rest of the proceeds from this event will be used to
support the national and regional institutions promoting the protection of
mothers and children in the country,” said PhilHealth-Iligan Head Ayesah
Macumbal.
The runners converged at the MCC oval track early Sunday morning and took off for their respective race categories which include five-kilometer (5K), 3K, and 2K routes.
Among the groups who joined the
event were officials from PhilHealth Region 10 and Philippine Hospital
Association (PHA)–Lanao del Norte Chapter, soldiers from the 35th (Makamandag)
Infantry Battalion, 2nd Mechanized Infantry (Magbalantay) Brigade, 4th
Mechanized Infantry Battalion, 3rd Light Armor Brigade, 15th Infantry
Battalion, officers from the Provincial Police Office, government employees,
volunteer health workers from the towns of Tubod, Baroy and Lala, as well as
barangay and provincial officials.
“I am very happy to see
that many of our neighboring cities really supported our run. Many of the
Iligan runners opted to run here in Lanao del Norte instead of Cagayan de Oro.
It shows their confidence in our peace and order situation and their strong
belief that we can give them a good race experience”, Gov. Khalid Dimaporo
expressed.
The top winners in the
2K category are Earl Sebastian (Kiddie Division), Marieth Maurice Palomares
(Female), and Edgar Netes (Male).
Meanwhile, Richie Dala
(Male) and Roxanne Maaba emerged as champions in the 3K category. In the 5K race,
James Don Torres (Male) and Ridjin Dala (Female) were declared as the fastest
runners.
The Reyes family from
Iligan was spotted as the “Healthy Family” of the PhilHealth run while
Christian Sasil was given the “Hunk Dad” award.
Lucrecio Maniera and
Thelma Jimoya were given the “Super Lolo” and “Super Lola” special awards
respectively for being the oldest runners of the race while Princess Jane Bagao
was recognized as “Wonder Kid” for being the youngest runner.
Justine Te received the
“Ms. Sexy Babe” award, Karlo Adala the “Mr. Pogi” award and Rendylou P. Dagaang
as the “Hot Mama” of the race.
Gov. Khalid Dimaporo,
who celebrated his birthday a day prior to the race, raffled off 13 brand-new
laptops, t-shirts, and gift packs.
All participants also received
goodie bags, finisher’s certificate and a race jersey.
The fun run was
sponsored by Nature’s Spring, Dunkin Donuts, AIM-Coop, Petronas Gas, SEL-J
Pharma, 1st Valley Bank, MSU-IIT Multi-purpose Cooperative, Ivory Printing
Press and POS World. Jovanny Pangasian/PIO
Photo caption: Lanao del Norte PNP
group is seen here leading a horde of runners in the 5K category during the
recent PhilHealth-DOH nationwide run held at MCC sports complex, Tubod on
February 17, 2013.
