Run 4 Ron fundraiser this May 24

After successfully scaling Mt. Fuji last year, Ronald Villafria will take part in the 2009 Fuji Mountain Race and is again calling on the sports community to help him with the cost of flying to Japan.

Villafria said he will hold his Run 4 Ron II fundraiser on May 24 and the five-kilometer race will start at the Micro Beach pavilion and will have participants run north toward the old Puerto Rico dumpsite and back.

Entry fee for the Run 4 Ron II fundraiser is $15 and will entitle participants to a free event T-shirt, refreshments after the race, and a ticket to the raflle.

Villafria took part in the 2008 Fuji Mountain Race, or Fuji Tozan Race, in July 25, 2009 and finished the 36-kilometer trek up and down the 12,388-foot mountain in four hours and 20 minutes.

The Mt. Fuji Marathon or Fuji Tozan Race is composed of two legs, a 15-kilometer race to the fifth station of the mountain and a 21-km race all the way to the top. The final six-kilometers of the race is also a trail run.

Villafria in one of only 6,000 participants that have been pre-screened to take part in the 2009 edition of the Fuji Mountain Race.

A number of businesses and individuals have already signed up as sponsors of Run 4 Run II, namely Salon de Manila, DFS Galleria, Pacific Islands Club Saipan, Hard Rock Café Saipan, LBT Appraisal, Auto Glass Pro, Fomacon Liner, GEC Pawnshop, Jazy Sportswear, Bobby Mandapat, Island Apparel, Coco Restaurant, Micronesian Brokers, Inc., Custom Construction, Steven Pixley, Susan Espanillo, Erwin Aquino, and John Ilao.

Last year, a total of 120 signed up for the first Run 4 Ron fundraiser with 70 taking part in the actual run. The remaining 50 opted to donate the $10 to Villafria’s scheduled Japan trip.

Eli Torgeson and Maimi Shimizu won the men’s and women’s open division and they took home first-place trophies and cool Hard Rock Café denim jackets.

Sixteen-year-old long-distance runner Matthew Mancao and Tamio Nishikido finished second to Torgeson and Shimizu, while Mieko Carey and Suzy Kindel rounded up the top male and female finishers.

Age group finishers were brothers Lester Lapuz and Rowel Pamaran (18-and-under male); Jodel Fernandez (18-and-under female); Fernan Capillan, Rick Villanueva, and Jay Boado (19-29 male); Emily Gries (19-29 female); Lewie Tenorio, Alberto Cataina, and Butch Sublemente (30-39 male); Zandra Um (30-39 female); Florence Antonio, Cesar Danao, and Ireneo Isip (40-49 male); Dawn Hammermeister (40-49 female); and Steve Pixley, Chang Wan Jang, and Rene Calage (50-59 male), and Phyllis Hammermeister (50-59 female).