RUNRIO Launches the Premier Running Series in the Country…

The running and fitness culture in the Philippines has grown exponentially in the past seven years. I remember way back in the 80’s, only a handful of running events was being organized in Manila and most of these runs were either half marathon or full-marathon and it was very rare for race organizers to put up short distance races. Only in the last seven years, organizing races have evolved into accommodating newbies to experience running as a lifestyle. And among the pioneers of organizing fun runs in the country is RUN RIO EVENTS INC., headed by its iconic president and coach, Mr. Rio dela Cruz.

adidas race shirts for all categories...

Brought up with humble beginnings in the province of Camarines Sur, Coach Rio pursued his college education through the scholarship he got from UP Diliman as a member of the UP Varsity Track and Field team. As a young athlete, he always dreamt of competing in the Olympics but, due to the lack of resources and support for trainings, his dream fell short in becoming a reality.

Coach Rio dela Cruz came a long way to where he is now...

After competing in countless of marathon races here and abroad, his passion radiated to his community where, during his time, very few were into running and fitness. Soon after, he decided to organize fun runs in Metro Manila for beginners and intermediate runners with categories of 3k, 5k, and 10k races. Just after a few years, the few hundred of participants who crowded the starting line became tens of thousands of running enthusiasts, covering several blocks of various streets in Metro Manila.

RUNRIO Run Trilogy will start on June 25, 2017... 

Now, RUNRIO Events Inc., is one the most sought-after race organizers in the country. Over the years, the running community who started as fun runners before have become seasoned and loyal RunRio runners. Indeed, RUNRIO is one of the catalysts that made the running phenomenon in the country grow larger and larger every year. Because of this development, Coach Rio created the RunRio Trilogy where runners are offered to elevate their running prowess one notch higher every time they join a race.

The RUNRIO Events Inc. Managing partners. Mr. Andrew Neri, Coach Rio dela Cruz and Mr. Dingdong Dantes...

The concept is a series of three runs with each leg offering a graduation of difficulty that can prepare a runner for the pinnacle of his or her running and fitness lifestyle – the 42 kilometer Marathon. The RUNRIO Trilogy has been in the race calendar for six years but, this 2017, they decided to make a re-launch to feature the new brand partners of the company and to also introduce the new faces that make up the new RUNRIO Events Inc. 

Finishers Medals for 21k, 32k, and 42k categories...

After a series of transformations in almost a decade of organizing races, the company decided to raise its bar of excellence by bringing in two new managing partners namely, Mr. Andrew Neri  (formerly of Milo Marathon) and fitness celebrity heartthrob Mr. Dingdong Dantes. The new RUNRIO Events Inc., made their debut race last month where they staged the annual running event of National Geographic Channel, the NatGeo Earth Day Run 2017, that hauled in more than 13,000 runners.

 The new RUNRIO Events Inc.

As they officially rolled out the new RUNRIO, the Trilogy is the one that they are more excited about because of the series will also feature new sponsors that were not part of the trilogy before. For the longest time, the trilogy series was also closely associated with RUN United series. Recently though, the Run United Active Health owned by UNILAB decided on a new direction, which made them no longer part of the whole trilogy but just a portion of it. However, new brands were dove-tailed into the series namely, adidas, Gatorade, Summit Water, and Garmin Philippines. 

Just among the improvements for a more quality service...

The first leg of the series will feature a half marathon 21k distance. This leg is for the 10k runners who wish to level up but it will also offer the shorter distances like 5k and 10k categories. It will happen on June 25, 2017 covering the whole stretch of Roxas Blvd. The second leg on August 13, 2017 will feature the signature distance concept of Coach Rio himself, the Afro-distance 32k kilometer run. This leg will also use the same route, only longer. The Afro-distance is more of a "self-assessment"  category if a finisher can already run a full-marathon. And finally, leg three will be the Milo marathon.

"We are excited to launch the RUNRIO Trilogy race series because there are many running enthusiasts out there who are looking forward to this event. This year marks the 7th year of RUNRIO Trilogy, whose main objective is to educate runners to train and race progressively," said award winning actor Dingdong Dantes. "Part of the proceeds of this year’s race series will go to the YesPinoy Foundation to support the organization’s philanthropic works," Dantes is the founding chairman of YesPinoy Foundation. 

The support of RUNRIO Trilogy Series will go to youth’s development for young aspiring athletes who also wish to dream to compete in the Olympics. In a special way, I believe it also revives the dream of Coach Rio, but this time in the life of another young Filipino athlete.