Organizers have launched the biggest fiesta marathon in Negros Oriental.

The Dumaguete Adventure Marathon, which will be held on Sunday, Nov. 22, will be the first marathon here which will not be run on just a flat track. Instead, the marathon will take runners from Dumaguete’s Rizal Boulevard and up to barangay Calabnugan in Sibulan town, and barangays Balili and Palinpinon in Valencia town before heading back to Dumaguete, ending at the Sidlakang Negros Village.

“Marathoners have become tired of running on flat surfaces. We’re now giving them a different kind of marathon,” said Dr. Aparicio Mequi, director of the Institute of Youth Sports for Peace (IYSPeace) of Foundation University, who is the Dumaguete Adventure Marathon’s prime mover, in a press conference last Thursday.

In a briefing given during the press conference, Mequi showed photos of some of the famous adventure marathons held in the Great Wall of China, the Polar Circle and the African wilderness.

The marathon, which has a maximum distance of 34 kilometers, also gives runners the option to run only three, five or ten kilometers.Though slightly over the distance of a half-marathon, the intrepid road runner and adventure seeker will be challenged by a 3-kilometer uphill ascent to Barangay Balili starting at 110 meters above sea level and up to 390 meters above sea level. Coming down, the runners will be treated to natural scenic sights and views of the famous Cuernos de Negros (Horns of Negros) and the islands of Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor across the Mindanao Sea.

With technical support of the Metro Dumaguete Roadrunners Club and with the support of the local government units of Dumaguete City, Sibulan, Valencia and even Bayawan City, the annual event has now seen the participation of professionals, students, as well as children with disabilities (CWDs).

Florence Baesa, president of the Dumaguete Press, Radio TV club and Roy Bustillo, president of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas, Negros Oriental Chapter, said the media would be joining the marathon as runners and not just as reporters covering the event.

Adventure marathons, Mequi explained, are all about fun. In Hawaii and Japan, people join the marathons in local costumes. In Malaysia, the marathon is also being used to project Malaysian cuisine.

“We hope our runners will be running for fun,” Mequi said. Consistent with the University’s advocacy for rice conservation dubbed “Rice is Life,” prizes for the winners will be sacks of rice which may be converted to cash.

Organizations like the Rotary Club of Dumaguete East, the ONE Rescue, the Philippine National Police and Red Cross youth volunteers, will post personnel along the marathon route to assist the runners, Mequi said.

Barangay residents will also be tapped to maintain peace and order, as well as to distribute water to the runners.

Mequi said that the Dumaguete Adventure Marathon is a concept inspired by the encouragement of Dr. Jack Scaff, founder of the Honolulu Marathon Clinic.
Interested contestants may learn more about the Dumaguete Adventure Marathon by visiting the IYSPeace office at Foundation Unviersity or by logging on to the dumaguetemarathon.com/2009 website.