BALANGA, Bataan – It’s all systems go for Bataan Freedom Run 2017 which will be held on April 2 tracing the historic Bataan Death March route.
Now on its fourth year, the Bataan Freedom Run still has the punishing ultra-marathon at 42 kilometers for serious marathon runners, plus the 21km, 10km, 5km for the running enthusiasts, and the 1km run for kids and 1km for dogs.
The registration period started last February 12 and will last until March 27, 2017. Registration sites include the Bataan Capitol here, Bataan Tourism Center, Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) office, Chris Sports outlets in Uptown Mall in Bonifacio Global City, SM North Edsa Anne, SM Megamall and SM Pampanga.
Top 3 winners for 42km to 5km categories will get cash prizes and winner’s medal.
The race is one of the major events of the 2017 Philippine Veterans Week which falls around April 9, 2017, the 75th anniversary of the Bataan Death March.
The event is presented by Veterans Bank and co-presented by the History Channel Asia in cooperation with the Provincial Government of Bataan, Freeport Area of Bataan, ANC, CLTV 36 and other partners.
Since 2014, the Bataan Freedom Run is held in honor of the thousands of Filipino and American World War II veterans who endured the Bataan Death March seventy-five years ago and will be one of the highlights of this year’s celebration of Philippine Veterans Week.
Tsaris Medina-Salgado, one of the organizers, said the route for the various distances follows the historic route taken by Filipino and American prisoners-of-war in Bataan province in 1942 when they were forced to march by their Japanese captors after the fall of Bataan and Corregidor.
The proceeds of the event will be used for the rehabilitation and repair of World War II historical markers in Bataan, Pampanga and Tarlac. –Mhike R. Cigaral
