00:04Welcome to PTV Sports!
00:06Today, we are live here in the studio with the founder and CEO of Women's Run PH, Nicole Dela Cruz.
00:15Good morning!
00:15Good morning!
00:17Good morning!
00:18Happy now to see you, Nicole.
00:20The energy is so good.
00:23Thank you also for empowering women through sports.
00:26Now, Women's Run PH has encouraged a lot of women to start running, but what made you decide to begin
00:34with this journey?
00:36Yeah, so for Women's Run PH event, I created the event because I really want to increase the women participation
00:43of this sport.
00:44So that's really the clear goal that I have.
00:46But eventually, I was able to create a group of women and the community itself, apart from having the event.
00:53So for me, I really want to make sure and understand the reason why behind women are not actually joining
01:00or participating in this event.
01:02So with that, I created Women's Run.
01:06So creating Women's Run PH is not only about running events, but it's more than that.
01:13So that's when I realized that I really wanted to create a meaningful programs also within the events that we
01:22have.
01:23So I created Facebook community groups for women wherein they have the safe space for them to actually talk about
01:31many things wherein men don't really get to understand in different platforms.
01:35So we provide support for them and empowerment. That way, we get to increase the participation also in this run.
01:43But I'm sure that in forming this team or this organization, there were obstacles along the way. But how did
01:52you handle these obstacles?
01:55By mounting the event itself, there are really a lot of obstacles in terms of mounting it.
02:00Simply because at the time that we started Women's Run, it's more about pitching also to other sponsors.
02:08They're like, hey, this is an event for us women.
02:10But when they get to see the statistics that it's lesser number as compared to having male participants all joined
02:16together in one event, it becomes bigger.
02:18So for me, I really have to work extra hard to make sure that we get sponsors.
02:25We also get people to realize that this advocacy is bigger, will become bigger, especially me having the determination that
02:33I really want it to be.
02:35So that's one of the things that I also faced.
02:38And when creating a community like this for women, from the very beginning, of course, you would always understand that
02:43when you start something new, there's not a lot of people really to participate.
02:48But it's because of the consistency that we keep on building and making people realize that we want to create
02:55a healthy lifestyle for women.
02:57We are creating a safe space for them.
02:59And all the things that they worry about before is what we also address in this event.
03:03You know, teammate, that Ms. Nicole made a very inclusive community wherein women get to try this sport.
03:17And then, I'm just curious, Ms. Nicole, how do women's run values, the inner core or the core values of
03:28the community?
03:29Yes. So, me because I have the different programs that we have, as I mentioned.
03:35Because we want to address having a safe space for women.
03:39We also want to address having, make sure that they feel confident when they run.
03:45Sometimes they feel taken aback na, oh, I'm intimidated by the distance.
03:49And I'm not so sure if my fitness levels can fit in.
03:53So we want to motivate, inspire, and empower.
03:56These are the pillars that we live by.
03:57So, in everything that we do, for motivation, having a big event like this.
04:04When you're ready,
04:05you're able to achieve something for myself.
04:26So having that achievement, it also inspires other people.
04:29So it has a ripple effect.
04:31And for the empowerment that we want to give out to the women is the best way for us women
04:37to actually feel empowered is to experience that we are able to achieve something for ourselves.
04:43The capability, we are capable.
04:45So we give the opportunity for every women to feel motivated, inspired, and empowered.
04:52At the same time, also the joy of completing the run.
04:54Ang sarap kasi ng feeling.
04:56I don't know.
04:56Have you tried running?
04:57Tapos pag cross mo ng finish line.
04:59Ah, ang sarap na lahat ng pinaghirapan ko na nagawa ko.
05:03Nag-pay off.
05:03It paid off.
05:04Yes, that's right.
05:05So Nicole, what I'm hearing from you is that running isn't just about fitness.
05:10And so how do you ensure that the women feel inspired, supported, and empowered at your events?
05:20I'm sure that it's not just about, you know, having the best time in the finish line.
05:25During the competition ba, every women are encouraged to support each other?
05:31Yes.
05:32So what makes our event special and different is I've created the Women's Run Partner Culture of No Toxic City.
05:40No, it's all about really uplifting each other.
05:43This event makes it more special and different from the ones that we usually have.
05:48Because here, you get to run with thousands of women alongside you.
05:53So how powerful that is for us to actually have this group of women sharing the same goal.
06:01We're celebrating each other, celebrating also the achievements that we have.
06:05So it's more of really helping each other out, inspiring.
06:10You get to, people you don't know, you run together, but you cheer with each other.
06:15So that's the beauty of our event.
06:18And the design and how it is managed and how I want it to be the event.
06:24It's really designed for women.
06:27Now, you've also worked with groups like Cancer Survivors, the Filipina CEO Circle, also Women Leaders.
06:36What is the impact of this partnership and collaboration with Women's Run PH and their organizations?
06:44Yeah, so for me, I'm very happy with the partnerships that I have with the, we also have LEGUs, no?
06:50We have LGUs, we have the Filipina CEO Circle, the corporations and also the advocacy partner.
06:56Having, for me, it's very important to have an advocacy partner because this makes our event even more meaningful.
07:02It has this great impact. And not only that, it's also how the runners were able to see and also
07:11feel.
07:12So our advocacy partner, they joined the event.
07:15It's not only just a platform for us to empower, but it also becomes a platform for hope.
07:21Because we have cancer survivors, we also have women who are sexually abused, who are physically abused joining the event,
07:29others with disabilities, with autism.
07:32So being able to cross the finish line, our participants would also get inspired by how resilient our participants from
07:40our advocacy partners are.
07:42And this way, they get inspired, despite of what I'm going through, the challenges that I've experienced, I can still
07:50do it.
07:51So those are the best impact that we give out to our runners.
07:55Not just only the extrinsic value that they get, but also the internal value that they get to carry home
08:02when they get to get home or after the event.
08:05Which is the courage, perseverance, and also being empowered.
08:10Now, around 16,000 registered participants are expected to join the FCC Women's Run PH this March, 2026.
08:23Did you expect that this will grow this big so fast?
08:28And how did your team adjusted to cater with this big or huge crowd?
08:34Yes. In terms of the target number of runners, I really set a goal that it's going to be 15
08:41,000.
08:42But to exceed that number of participants, that's something that surprised me.
08:47Because usually in our events, women are going to be 15,000, 16,000 or 10,000 participants.
08:54But this one, it grew big.
08:57I'm really happy with how women were able to resonate in this event and how we were able to actually
09:02make it big and grow this much.
09:05So I'm really thankful. But what we did is we worked extra hard to make this happen.
09:11It doesn't happen just that instant.
09:14So when we started off, we started with 1,000.
09:17I'm a quite ambitious person.
09:201,000.
09:20I said, I want to increase the participation of women.
09:23So after a few months, let's make it 5.
09:26I was so scared at first.
09:28Because it's like, oh no, it's not moving the registration.
09:30But all of a sudden, we made it happen to 5.
09:336, 8, 11, and now 16,000.
09:35So it's a great, really, number wherein we were able to scale up this event.
09:42When we scale up this event, we also have to scale up and level up the manpower, the safety of
09:47everyone.
09:48So we focus also on the quality of the event, but also for the safety of the runners.
09:54So as a mom of three, an athlete and a CEO, of course, for you, what do you think is
10:03the roadmap for Women's Run PH, Ms. Nicole?
10:07So now our roadmap or what we envision Women's Run for this year is we've mounted different events already regionally.
10:16So I also added one city, which is Cebu City.
10:21So we want to, of course, expand it, but at the same time, still have that purpose-driven event and
10:28to deepen our advocacy.
10:31And for me, the clear goal right now is to make sure that we are able to create good and
10:38positive impact in the lives of women in every cities that we go to
10:42and also in every runner that we have or participate in our event.
10:46Finally, Nicole, kindly invite our viewers to support Women's Run PH.
10:51Okay. Thank you so much, everyone, for actually registering because we are sold out already for March event for the
10:58International Women's Day.
10:59But I would like to invite everyone for our October event. We already launched it.
11:03We're going to have it here in Metro Manila. All the details will be posted in our social media, Women's
11:09Run PH, and also our website, www.womensrunph.com.
11:13I'll see you all and let's go run together.
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