Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig’s “09.30. 2012 Run, Ride & Roll for the Pasig River” pushed through with around 70,000 runners and cyclists despite the heavy rain this past Saturday, 30 September 2012.
“There were still a lot of people despite the rain. They ran in the rain, they biked in the rain. It shows conviction. If people want it bad enough, we’re going to clean the Pasig River,” says Gina Lopez, managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation that operates Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP).
The objective of the advocacy event was to raise PHP 14 million to start the clean-up in the esteros of Quezon City as part of the KBPIP’s seven-year rehabilitation program for the Pasig River.
The event kicked off with 1,000 participants composed of runners, cyclists, and skateboarders who left the Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC) at 4 a.m., took a 15-kilometer route to Commonwealth Elementary School, and raced back to the QMC for the finish line. Then, there was the 5-kilometer race at 6 a.m., where the runners took on the route that started at the QMC going to the Tandang Sora Flyover and Luzon Avenue, then back to QMC.
Among the runners were Senator Pia Cayetano, ABS-CBN chairman and CEO Eugenio ‘Gabby’ Lopez III, Gina Lopez, ABS-CBN Cable Channels and Print Media Group Ernie Lopez, and Kapamilya stars Kuya Kim Atienza, Matteo Guidicelli, Kim Chiu, Maja Salvador, and Xian Lim.
The crowd was entertained by other Kapamilya stars, including Sam Milby, Venus Raj, Robi Domingo, Jovit Baldivino, and Marcelito Pomoy, at the the post-race program. The Quezon City Orchestra also provided musical entertainment to all the participants.