It all started with a conversation over a glass of wine during a Christmas party in 2014. Resorts World Manila (RWM) Chief Operating Officer Stephen Reily got to talking with an employee about running, a sport that Reilly was passionate about, and from the casual chat came the idea to form a club for the company’s running enthusiasts.

A month later, the club called “Eat N Run” was born, with members meeting once a week to pursue their passion for running, and enjoy a meal together. The number of Eat N Run members grew each week until the club had as many as 200 runners.

Charity Fun Run

In 2016, the club organized its first company-wide event dubbed Run With Me, a 7-kilometer charity run organized in celebration of the integrated resort’s 7th anniversary, with veteran running coach Rio Dela Cruz as co-organizer.

More than 800 RWM employees, partners, and special celebrity guests participated, raising a total of P1.3 million for the event’s beneficiary institutions.

TV news personality Gretchen Fullido and her team came in first, winning P325,000 for the Lola Grande Foundation. TV host Rovilson Fernandez’s team came in second with P195,000 for the Tzu Chi Foundation, while Sponge Cola lead vocalist Yael Yuzon and his team took the last podium place to win P130,000 for White Cross Philippines.

“It’s great that we have so many kindhearted celebrity friends who came to support our cause. They definitely helped boost employee participation for the event, as well as morale during the run, ” Reilly shared.

Bigger race

This year’s edition of  Run With Me proved to be an even bigger success. Around 5,000 runners assembled at McKinley West in Taguig City at daybreak to participate in the celebrity charity race, which was opened to the general public. Run With Me 2017 was divided into three distance categories: 21K, 10K and 5K.

The run raised a total of P3 million for the various beneficiaries chosen by participating celebrity leaders.

Meg Imperial led the Pink Team to First Place (YesPinoy Foundation), followed by Cristine Reyes and Ali Khatibi’s Purple Team (HERO Foundation). Coming in third was Rovilson Fernandez’ Brown Team (EPCALM Adult Leukemia Foundation of the Philippines), followed by Gian Magdangal’s Green Team (Tzu Chi Foundation) while Troy Montero and Aubrey Miles’ Red Team took the fifth spot (COR Foundation).

RWM likewise supported Mo Twister’s “Run With Mo: extending the event to the shores of California. While Run With Me was taking place in Taguig, Mo had biked from San Francisco to Los Angeles, covering a distance of 917 km in eight days. He dedicated this “run” to RWM for the benefit of the Arthritis Foundation.

Indeed, Reilly’s vision from that Christmas party three years ago went well beyond his expectations.

“We are excited to stage a bigger and even better charity run in 2018 and the continuing years. Run With Me is a perfect example of our commitment to make communities win, and it is certainly an initiative that we believe will offer many benefits and returns to all those involved in the long run,” Reilly concluded.

Resorts World Manila gives donations to the Run With Me 2017 beneficiaries: Tzu Chi Foundation of the Philippines, COR Foundation, EPCALM Leukemia Foundation, YesPinoy Foundation, and HERO Foundation.

SOURCE: Philippine Daily Inquirer by Amy R. Remo