- TIKIM Filipino Food Fun Run’s Celebrity Runners reveal their Training Tips and Food Cravings
- Enjoy a unique Mother’s Day celebration and come by to check out TFC Live presents TIKIM Filipino Food Fun Run on Sunday, May 13, at the Coyote Point Recreation Area, 1701 Coyote Point Drive in San Mateo
This Mother’s Day, TFC Live brings you two essentials: food and fun combined in a one-of-a-kind 5K run or walk that celebrates culture and the value of giving back in the inaugural TIKIM Filipino Food Fun Run. Aside from the delectable delights awaiting runners at each kilometer mark, participants will be joined by Filipino celebrities, who are runners themselves. Joining the hundreds of runners at the starting line are actress/singer/host Kim Chiu, actor/model Jake Cuenca, actor/singer Inigo Pascual, and Star Patrol Anchor Gretchen Fullido.
All four celebrities are joining TIKIM to support TFC and because the run will benefit many children via the feeding program of ABS-CBN Foundation International’s Bantay Bata (Child Watch). “I’m really excited to spend time with our fellowmen, and because I’m running for something bigger than myself,” Fullido shares. Cuenca adds that “Aside from getting a good workout, we also get to help the children. You get to have fun while doing something good.”
Pascual looks forward to having his mother with him on this trip. “I’m going to force my mom to do it (TIKIM Run) so that can be her exercise too. The cool thing about this is we get to eat at every kilometer, so in a way, Mommy and I get to bond together on Mother’s Day.” Chiu happily discloses that aside from the joy she feels when she is around kababayans (fellow Filipinos), she is curious about TIKIM and would like to experience the run that combines food, fun, and giving. “Tikim-tikim habang tumatakbo every kilometer so I think it’s going to be fun.” (You get tiny tastes of various Filipino food as you hit every kilometer…)
How TIKIM’s Celebrity Runners Prepare for a Run
According to Chiu, “I sleep early because my body needs to be conditioned on race day.” She also loads up on carbs the day before, “para hindi ka mahimatay and sugar is also important para hindi ka mahimatay pag mainit yung run.” (… that way, you don’t faint, and sugar is also important so you don’t faint if it’s hot during the run.)
Cuenca says that “Everyone who follows me on Instagram knows that running is really my hobby so whether that’s a 5k or 21k or even 42k I’ll always enjoy a good run.” Since all the races he has joined were held in the Philippines, he looks forward to running in the U.S.
Fullido makes sure she is prepared physically and mentally. She shares that “I never towed the starting line unprepared because I know it can be painful if I don’t put in the necessary mileage. I also make sure that I get the proper nutrition ahead of the race so I can perform my best.”
Pascual already runs constantly with his father, Filipino film and TV actor Piolo Pascual, but the younger Pascual says that he will “run more and I’m going to prepare my taste buds for the food that they have prepared for us.”
What the Celebrity Runners are Craving, Hoping to Taste at TIKIM
The fact that TIKIM combines Filipino food with a fun run has a lot of the participants looking forward to the tasting stations at every kilometer mark, and to the food festival that awaits all at the end of the trail
TIKIM’s celebrity runners have their own hankering for Filipino eats and treats and they share their cuisine obsessions here. Fullido has so many favorite Filipino dishes, but her top three all-time favorites are lumpiang shanghai, kaldereta and crispy pata. “I hope they serve these so I can feast on my favorites while running in TIKIM,” Fullido adds.
For Pascual, tapsilog and kinilaw are among his favorites. Tapsilog is when one combines tapa (beef strips), garlic-fried rice (sinangag), and fried egg (itlog) into one meal, usually served as breakfast fare. Kinilaw (literally “eaten raw”) is a raw seafood dish like ceviche.
Both Chiu and Cuenca are looking forward to kakanin. Kakanin refers to various Filipino delicacies that are usually made of glutinous rice, cooked slowly, and blended with coconut milk. Chiu enthuses that “kuchinta, palitaw, pichi pichi yan mga favorite ko!” Cuenca is now a pesco-vegetarian and can no longer enjoy his once-upon-a-time meat-based favorites. He reveals that “when i was still eating meat, my favorites were sinigang and sisig, but now that i am vegetarian i don’t get to eat that but on that day, I’ll eat fish.”
Enjoy a unique Mother’s Day celebration and come by to check out TFC Live presents TIKIM Filipino Food Fun Run on Sunday, May 13, at the Coyote Point Recreation Area, 1701 Coyote Point Drive in San Mateo. The run starts at 8:00 A.M. and the food festival opens at 10:00 A.M.
Aside from food trucks and vendor booths, the food festival will have entertainment, and other fun activities for the whole family. Participants can check out the various food offerings and activities from TIKIM vendors and sponsors like Guerrero Law Firm, Financial Rescue LLC, XOOM, The Law Offices of John C. Ye, SouthWest Sun Solar, LBC, Ria Financial, Saladmaster, Mango Tours, Abby Skin Care, Le Paris Artisan & Gourmet Cafe, Seafood City’s Grill City and Crispy Town, Tastebuds, Pampanga’s Cuisine, Sunflower Bakery, Sweet Dreams,Kadoks, Isla Restaurant, and Sun Tropics.
Other supporters include Tobacco Free California, Belo Medical Group, Consumer Protection Legal Center, Solar Earth USA, NutriAsia, Heavenly Ice Cream, Pampanga’s Bakery & Restaurant, Ma Sarap Food Truck, Da Pokeman Food Truck, OngPin Restaurant, Nick’s Kitchen, Irma’s Pampanga Restaurant, and Crumbwich Silvanas.
Presentors for TIKIM are County of San Mateo “Child Support Services, Seafood City, Remitly, and Philippine Airlines.
