MANILA – Aside from maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle, there could be additional motivation for participating in a marathon, said triathlon icon Ani De Leon-Brown.
Completing a marathon — may that be a full 42K, 21K, 10K, or 5K — will give a runner that sense of accomplishment one may need, said Ironwoman De Leon-Brown, also a former national team coach.
"I just find that a lot of the time, it could be as simple as losing weight or working on their health and fitness. But, in general, I think it's a good life bucket list to have to say that you've accomplished something as challenging as a marathon. And, you know, iba 'yung sense of accomplishment eh," she told ABS-CBN News.
"So, it's not just the fitness itself. It's the whole journey."
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De Leon-Brown was the first Filipina to qualify for the IRONMAN World Championships twice.
Additionally, there has been a booming need for people to socialize in the post-pandemic era, RUNRIO general manager Andrew Neri claimed.
Joining running communities has been one way of meeting other people, he said, and it has been a trend worldwide according to their research.
"We did a research worldwide. It's not only in the Philippines, but worldwide, after the pandemic, people are now more conscious. There are two things we find here. People are eager to be healthy and eager to be socializing with other people," Neri said.
"So we're so happy that we're part of this trend of keeping everyone healthy and happy at the same time," he said further.
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Photo by Kennedy Caacbay, ABS-CBN News
RUNRIO has organized the Manila Marathon, now backed by Samsung Galaxy Watch, slated on October 6 at the SM Mall of Asia Complex.
The build-up for said marathon started on Sunday at the Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati City.
There is a weekly six-session program leading up to the Manila Marathon to help runners complete whichever distance they choose and achieve a personal best.
"So establish first maybe easy running and then fundamentals like breathing. I help them with that. And then later on, in the next few sessions, we'll help them slowly determine their paces and build up their speed," said De Leon-Brown.
"The culmination is the race. Hopefully, they can do a personal best," she went on.
The organizers are pushing for a route that would traverse iconic parts of the city of Manila.
There is also a Cebu version of the event on November 24 at City di Mare by Filinvest. The expected number of participants may reach 16,000 for both the Manila and Cebu legs.