Senator Pia Cayetano and more than two thousand Pinays joined this year’s successful staging of “Pinay in Action” held last March 9 at The Fort in Taguig City.

Now on its third year, Pinay in Action is the biggest and only all-women’s run staged annually in the country to mark international women’s month. The run promotes empowerment, rights and health of Filipino women.

In this year’s race, Mercedita Fetalvero topped the 10-kilometer run category, which she finished in 35:04.79. She was followed by Maricel Magulan and Lisa Yambao, who bagged 2nd and 3rd places while clocking 37:15.01 and 39:55.60, respectively.

Whea Ann Barcena reigned supreme in the 5-kilometer category, finishing the course in 18:39.51, followed by Ranya Bumpus and Manayda Macao who clocked 20:26.19 and 20:55.55, respectively.

Aside from the fun run, Pinay in Action also staged its First Women’s Expo at the NBC Tent which featured more than a hundred booths showcasing women’s needs and issues.

Among the booths featured in the expo are the breast cancer awareness booth which gave free seminars and pamphlets on the number one cancer killer among Filipino women.

Another was the Pinay Everest Team booth which was graced by members of the Pinay Everest Team, Noelle Wenceslao, Karina Dayondon and Janet Belarmino. The booth featured the equipment used by the women climbers and photos of their successful conquest of the world’s highest peak.

The Magna Carta of Women photo exhibit was also among the most well received booths. The booth featured images of women and their rights as envisioned in Senate Bill No. 1701 (Magna Carta of Women Bill), authored by Sen. Cayetano.

The lady senator believes that despite the existence of laws guaranteeing the rights of every Filipino, the Magna Carta of Women is still needed to ensure that every woman in the country will be safeguarded from all forms of gender discrimination.

The lady senator explained that many Filipino women continue to suffer discrimination despite the implementation of pro-women legislation and statutes, such as the International bill of rights laid down by the United Nations in its general assembly in 1979 on the convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

“CEDAW has been in force for twenty-six years since the Philippines ratified it in 1981. Yet Filipino women continue to suffer from various forms of discrimination stemming from economic, political and social factors and unequal relation between men and women,” she stressed. #

[March 23 Update] View race results here.

Photos of the race are now available in the gallery.

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Download 5km program spreadsheet here.

On the other hand, the 10K program should only be tried by healthy, injury-free individuals who have been working out regularly (for a total of at least 2hours/wk) over the past 6months.

Download 10km program spreadsheet here.

“Excuse me, I couldn’t help but wonder—are you a runner?”

If I were standing in line for groceries or at the atm today and someone asked me that question, I would be totally tickled with the flattery and would be floating on cloud nine for the next couple hours. Unfortunately and to my complete and utter devastation, queries like that are seldom directed towards me.

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It was a process. It started with the death of my son… Running consoled me..

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