UAP Balladaw’s fun run helps abandoned children
RUNNING is the easiest sport to pick up. The activity does not need any unique equipment or any special attire. With a pair of running shoes, it can be performed just about anywhere and anytime. Moreover, it offers a wide range of health benefits. It improves one’s cardiovascular health as it is a great exercise for the heart.
To further boost the popularity of running in Davao City, while promoting the architecture profession to the general public, the Balladaw Dabaw Chapter of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), headed by Chapter President Isabelita Israel, organized the first-ever Balladaw Run on Jan. 28, 2024, at the Azuela Cove, Davao City.
The fun run event, aside from advocating running as a healthy undertaking, was also a fund-raising affair; it was meant to financially help the activity’s chosen beneficiary, a charitable institution catering to sick, malnourished and abandoned children.
The Balladaw Run 2024 consisted of three categories: 21 kilometers, 10 kilometers and 5 kilometers. The 21-km finishers received finisher shirts and medals, while finishers in the 10-km and 5-km categories received medals. Supplementary prizes were awarded to podium finishers for both men’s and women’s divisions in all categories.
The starting gun for the 21-km category was at 3 a.m., while the 10-km and 5-km categories kicked off at 4:30 a.m. and 5:15 a.m., respectively. For warmup, runners danced along during the short Zumba session held at the start of every category, which was facilitated by Anytime Fitness. During the race start, participants dashed from the starting point, traversed through the given route, made a U-turn at the designated area, and raced toward the finish line.
Food and water were provided by the organizers to all fun run finishers at the event venue after they completed the prescribed routes of their respective categories. A total of one thousand participants joined the fun run — 250 in the 21-km, 350 in the 10-km, and 400 in the 5-km category.
The event was made possible with the support of Davies Paints, Nature’s Spring, Unilab, Rain or Shine, Citi Hardware, Mindasales, Fitbar, Converge, Deobuild, ILI Architects, Setarios Architects, Pleños Designs and Innovation, Davao Modern Glass, Baks Design + Consultancy, Team Titans Davao, Cebufirst Plus, Running Kids, Point Sports, Tobys Sports, Gaviola Hospital, Movement Precision Davao, Omega, Salonpas, Team Barracuda, and Triathlon Association of Davao.
The Balladaw Dabaw Chapter has always given utmost importance to both physical health and charity. Previously, the chapter spearheaded the Ride For Hope, a biking event aimed to promote biking as a lifestyle and to raise funds for the House of Hope Foundation, a non-profit organization that caters to the needs of children with cancer in Davao and the rest of Mindanao. The Balladaw Run 2024 is its second major fitness and charity event. And surely, this would not be the last.
The writer is the editor in chief of The UAP Post, the Official News Publication of the United Architects of the Philippines. He finished his BS Architecture degree at the University of the Philippines Diliman. He is a past District Director of UAP Regional District D1 and a past Chapter President of UAP Davao and UAP North Davao Chapters.