Asics night relay up at SM by the Bay

MANILA, Philippines — The first night relay race in the country hits the road via the maiden Asics Relay Philippines on May 26 at SM By the Bay in Pasay.

Flagging off at 7 p.m., the Asics Relay Philippines features teams of four in the male, female and mixed gender categories working in a concerted effort to cover the 42K and 21K distances. Each team member runs for 10.5K in the full marathon and 5.25K in the half-marathon.

The race serves as kickoff of the series, which is now on its second year. After the new leg in Phl, Asics Relay goes to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

“For our second edition, we want to expand the concept to key cities and Manila is one of our key cities,” said Asics Asia sports marketing manager Andy Neo during yesterday’s presscon at Conrad Hotel.

“The objective is to bring this running event to the Philippines and create an event that emphasizes teamwork among the participants over individual abilities. This is a very unique running event,” he added.

The concept, he explained, is premised on the idea that running 21K and 42K are challenging to most aspiring runners and the relay concept offers participants the chance to complete a half or full marathon with three teammates.