Friday, November 25, 2005

The cities of Manila, Pasay, and Parañaque are bound to witness the biggest gathering of inline skaters from the Philippines and South Korea as the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Korea Extreme Sports Association (KESA) hold the 2005 Philippine International Inline Marathon in Metro Manila on December 10, 2005.

Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said the event aims to promote friendship
between the Philippines and Korea as well as boost sports tourism in the
country.

“Korea has become the Philippines’ top tourist market in Asia and the
second biggest in the world, next to the United States, and we definitely
want to sustain our good relations with them,” Durano said.

From January to September of this year, tourist arrivals from Korea
registered a total of 349,093, posting a growth rate of 28.5% against the
recorded arrivals of 271,747 during the same period in 2004.

“The holding of the competition here is also timely as we are presently
expanding our target market segments in Korea. It will enable us to capture the interest of Korean sports enthusiasts and the Philippines will be known as a destination not only for holidays on the beach but also for sports and adventure. That’s why we deeply appreciate KESA’s selection of the Philippines as the venue for this sports event, which the organization hopes to eventually bring to other parts of Asia,” Durano added.

Meanwhile, preparations for the tournament are being undertaken in
coordination with the DOT’s partner agencies, which include the Metro Manila Development Authority, Philippine National Police-Traffic Management Group, local governments of the cities of Manila, Pasay, and Parañaque, Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation, National Parks Development Committee, and Squad Alpha, the event’s organizer.

“The excitement over the upcoming inline marathon is quite high as this is the first time this kind of sports competition will be held in the
Philippines. It is also the first time that KESA is holding the race outside
Korea, and we expect as many as 300 Korean participants,” Maricon Ebron of DOT’s Team Korea said.

KESA is one of the leading extreme sports organizations in Korea. Founded in 2002, it has organized a series of local and international extreme sports competitions, including the Korea-Japan B3 Games, Seoul Inline Marathon, Metro Inline Festival, and Induced Asian X Games in Korea.

The marathon will include three categories, namely, the open division,
which is only for certified inline skaters aged 13 and above; the masters’
division, which is open to amateur skaters more than 12 years old; and the beginners’ division, which is further divided into two categories—the adult beginners division and kids’ group for participants aged 12 and below.

Ceremonies will start at exactly 7:30 A.M. at the Quirino Grandstand.
Those belonging to the open and masters categories are required to complete a 20-km special course, while beginners will have to finish a distance of 5 kilometers for the adult division and 3 kilometers for the kids division. All participants will be given three hours to complete the race.

Cash prizes ranging from US$200 to US$1000 will be given away to winners of the open and masters divisions, while supplementary prizes await the winning participants in the beginners group. Special awards will also be given to the skater with the best get-up and to the first Filipino participant to finish the race.

Sidelines of the event will consist of extreme sports demonstration, such
as BMX bike, skateboard, and inline-rollerblade stunts, and a music concert at the night of the competition.