By Mars G. Alison

www.fullpointcebu.com

 

A change of name and a different schedule will take effect in this year’s edition of the Bantayan Beach Games.

This annual sporting event will now be called the Santa Fe Beach Games, according to Benjoe Gimenez of the organizing Sugbu Triathlon.

During a press conference held at the Fuente Pension House, Gimenez said that they have decided to grant the request of Santa Fe because they want to help further promote the municipality’s tourism, especially after it was damaged by typhoon Yolanda last year.

Aside from that, most of the sporting activities are held at the Sugar Beach Resort which is in Santa Fe, so for this annual event’s 13th edition, they are adopting the municipality’s name for the title, Gimenez added.

The second major change is the change of schedule for the event’s highlight.

In the previous holding of this annual sporting event, the highlight, which has always been a triathlon race, was always held during the weekend of the Holy Week.

santafe
Members of the Sugbu Triathlon (L-R) Jess Arriola, Sugbu Triahlon
president Rick Dizon, Benjoe Gimenez and Anton Regis, during the Santa Fe
Beach Games 2014 presscon at the Fuente Pension House.

For this year, the highlight is the second leg of the Tri Team Championship Series. And, instead of either Black Saturday or Easter Sunday, it will be held at the start of the Holy Week, on Palm Sunday, April 13.

Rick Dizon, president of the Sugbu Triathlon, said they changed the schedule in consideration of the participants because holding it earlier would allow them cheaper accommodations.

Also, the change of schedule would make for a safer race as the island starts to get crowded starting on the middle of the Holy Week until Easter Sunday.

Gimenez added that they also want to attract visitors to the island on other days, not just during the Holy Week.

Another addition is that organizers have reserved Easter Sunday for the locals wherein an Easter egg hunt will be held for the children on the island.

In line with this activity, Gimenez said they welcome donations, either in cash or in kind, which will be used as prizes for the egg hunt.

The rest of the activity for the beach games are the Twilight Beach Run on April 17, the Open Water Swim on April 18 and the Ocean Man on April 19.

For more information about fees and deadline of registration, please log on to http://sugbutriathlon.com.