It’s Ironman weekend again

Cebu’s busiest sports weekend just got a bit busier this year. Every first weekend of August, the new season of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation gets launched and in the same weekend, the Cobra Ironman 70.3 kicks off its twoday activities with the Ironkids at the Shangri-La Hotel.

Woe to the reporter who gets assigned to both because he or she has to channel his or her inner Ironman to cover both events. Those were the usual events in the past six years but this year, the Philippine Football League is in town so aside from the Ironkids, Cesafi opening, it’s Global Cebu FC vs. Ilocos United at the Cebu City Sports Center on Saturday.

On Sunday, it’s another round of Cesafi matches and the main event itself, the Cobra Ironman 70.3.

The race will cross four cities--Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Cebu and Talisay-- so you can pick your favorite spot to watch the racers in the bike portion. Just a word of caution, though, these racers have one thing in mind, to finish, and they might not be paying that much attention to the crowd. Since this is race day, it’s not really their job to avoid the crowd. It’s that of the police and of course, the crowd.

So, if you do cross the street where the bikers pass, make sure there’s no one near you. Remember, these aren’t motorcycle riders who can afford to brake and then speed up again, these are racers who are maintaining a pace according to their race strategy. Don’t make them avoid you.

Yes, it may seem a simple request but I’ve been told in the past where the crowd got a little careless; when a famous personality got near one section and the news slowly spread, one section of the crowd reportedly crossed the line to catch a glimpse of the action, not minding the bikers who were going the other way.

ANOTHER TEST FOR GLOBAL. The last home game of Global Cebu had “only 4,500” fans because it was drizzling. I say only because that’s almost a thousand fewer than what the previous two matches attracted.

Today, the match is at 4 p.m., three hours earlier than the usual 7 p.m. matches in the previous home games. Will that be a factor in the size of the crowd? Will it be bigger or smaller since some of the fans may be still at work?

I don’t know but I don’t want to find out.