A few weeks ago, as I was about to head home from a series of meetings, I bumped into a friend, social entrepreneur Illac Diaz. Excitedly, he sat me down and said: “Give me 5 minutes. This project can change the world.” or something of that sort. How could I leave then?  I sat in awe, amazed at this new concept and hopeful that runners would go out and help. Yes, it can make a difference if people came out and contributed, I thought. I promised to help him spread the word.

Illac’s new project is called Bottle School. It is all about pioneering one possible solution to help rebuild.

- Social entrepreneur and runner, Illac Diaz, with bottles that can turn into buildings -

Illac learned about self build construction from abroad, which uses commonly disregarded PET 1.5 litro bottles as hollow blocks and mortar to construct buildings. In his case, he decided to use these discarded PET bottles to build schools.

– Bottles are collected, lined up in rows with cement -

– Tada! -

Last year, a million young school children’s education was disrupted and about 2,800 pre-school classrooms were destroyed due to the typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.With PET bottles, plus cement and labor, schools can be rebuilt…imagine that!

With this in mind, Illac, a track athlete in college, thought of organizing The Bottle School Run. Runners are requested to pay a small fee (which will be used for cement and labor) and contribute two (2) PET bottles to enjoy a running event for a good cause.  Sounds good, right?

I’ll be out of town then, but I do hope you can join this meaningful run.

What: Bottle School Run
When: Sunday, June 13, 2010
Where: Bonifacio Global City
Distance: 3k, 5k, 10k
Fee: P200 for 3k | P300 for 5k and 10k. All participating runners are requested to bring two bottles with a 1.5 or 2 liter size of any soda brand on race day
Gunstart Time: 5:30am (10k), 5:45am (5k), and 6:00am (3k).
Email: thebottleschoolrun@gmail.com
Website: www.bottleschoolproject
Contact: Liza Fumar 0927 284 54 36 or Edward Kho 0915-9990187

Click HERE to download registration form.

PRESS RELEASE:

This year, through the pioneering efforts and innovative solutions of MYSHELTER spearheaded by the country’s noted social entrepreneur Illac Diaz, a one-of-kind run-for-a-cause dubbed as The Bottle School Run will be staged at Bonifacio Global City on June 13. All proceeds of this noteworthy race will be used to replace and rebuild a damaged school in Taguig using a ground-breaking architectural model – school classrooms mainly made of soda PET bottles.

Now, runners of all persuasions are invited to actively take part in a unique racing event to create a community-based, people-empowered solution which starts with building ecologically-sound and architecturally-revolutionary classrooms for children aspiring to pursue a path of literacy and knowledge.

The Bottle School Run is a distinctive race for seasoned and beginner runners, alike, as it provides them an opportunity to become advocate runners who could champion an honest cause, a solution that can change the world. It sets a symbolic backdrop where the chase of each participant runners for individual personal record enables beneficiary children chase their dream of obtaining education.

Registration for The Bottle School Run starts on May 29, Saturday and lasts until June 11, Friday. Registration centers are:
Planet Sports Trinoma (1pm to 8pm)
Planet Sports Alabang (1pm to 8pm)
New Balance Glorietta (1pm to 8pm)
Taguig City – Fort Bonifacio Satellite Office, 3rd Flr, Market! Market! (9am to 5pm)

Distance categories are 3k, 5k, and 10k. Registration fees are P200 for 3k, and P300 for 5k and 10k. All participating runners are requested to bring two bottles with a 1.5 or 2 liter size of any soda brand on race day. Gunstart times are 5:30am (10k), 5:45am (5k), and 6:00am (3k).

For further race details, please visit www.bottleschoolproject.org. Inquiries may be directed to thebottleschoolrun@gmail.com or to Liza Fumar, Co-lead, The Bottle School Run, through 0927 284 54 36. Alternatively, interested parties may contact Edward Kho, Race Director, through 0915-9990187.

Posted on 06.01.10 to 03 Race Announcements. Tags: Bottle School, Illac Diaz. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 9 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.