TFC Live’s TIKIM Fun Run Goes to the “Big Guava” on November 17

Historic Philippine Enrichment Complex in Tampa, Florida plays host to 3rd leg of the touring TIKIM Fun Run this year

The month of November in the U.S. is usually associated with the Thanksgiving tradition that marks the start of the Christmas holiday season for many.  But while others bring out and parade their fall or winter fashion and gear that month, just know that the average weather temperature in Tampa, Florida in November is still somewhere between the 70s and 80s.  So, the weather outside may be frightful in other states, but Tampa outdoors remain delightful.

Thus, TFC Live made sure people have a warm place to go in the usual brrr months of the year by taking its TIKIM Filipino Fun Run to the Philippine Enrichment Complex in Tampa, Florida on November 17, 2018, Saturday, starting at 10:00am.

This is the third installment of the TIKIM Filipino Fun Run this year, kicking off last Mother’s Day at the Coyote Point Recreation Area in San Mateo, California, then followed by another last September 22 at the Earl Bales Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  This original, one-of-a-kind 5k fun run (or walk) that celebrates Filipino culture and the value of giving back is fast becoming a touring event juggernaut that is drawing hundreds of multicultural participants of all ages.  Its main attractions other that the run itself?  It takes the runners through a course with a unique Filipino food tasting station at each kilometer and part of the proceeds of the registration is donated to the feeding program of Bantay Bata (Child Watch), a pillar program of ABS-CBN Foundation International.

“Doing TIKIM Fun Run in November couldn’t have been timelier because it’s Thanksgiving season,” said ABS-CBN Global Head of Events Ricky Resurreccion. “Thanksgiving is about being grateful for blessings like your family, so celebrate by running as a family at this event.  Then as you do so, while running and enjoying Filipino food and culture with others, you are automatically giving to others by helping malnourished children in the Philippines with nutritious meals.  That’s because three dollars out of each adult registration go to the feeding program of Bantay Bata. You feel good about everything with this event.”

Part of every TIKIM story is also the selection of the venue.  Why Tampa?  There is a certain quiet but delightful quirkiness to the city. Tampa, as a word, may have meant “sticks of fire” in the language of the Calusa, Native American tribe that once lived south of today’s Tampa Bay.  It could have referred to the fantastic lightning display in its skies during summer.  But if New York is the “Big Apple”, Tampa is the “Big Guava” ironically because of a businessman’s failed quest for wild guava tree plantations in the city back in the 1800s that actually led to Tampa being tried out for cigar production instead.  Tampa turned into the “Cigar Capital of the World” and Tampa folks always say, “we owe it to the guava”.  Related to cigars (or Cuban influences in Florida), the Cuban sandwich recipe that you devour in most restaurants in the U.S. most likely originated also from Tampa.

Moreover, Tampa is quite a creative and imaginative place for fun runs.  Throughout the year, they hold races like the Tampa Beer Run, Tampa Bay Whiskey Run 10k and 5k, the Tampa Bay Tequila Half Marathon, and in neighboring cities, they have the Labor Day Apple Pie Run, Glam Run 5k, Boo Run and Boo Dash, Reindeer Run, Chase the Dreidel 5k, the Santa Claus Run for Scholarship, Ice Cream 5k and Jingle Bell Jog.

In short, the Tampa area is a fun runner’s paradise!

TFC Live partners this year with the non-profit Philippine Cultural Foundation, Inc. to hold TIKIM Fun Run in Tampa at the historic Philippine Cultural Enrichment Complex at 14301 Nine Eagles Drive, Tampa, FL 33626.  Helping out also is TFC community partner Fil-Am Movement International which holds annually the Fiesta Mo Sa Florida in Kissimmee.

For more information or to register for TIKIM Fun Run in Tampa, visit https://usa.mytfc.com/tikim or the registration website at http://tikimfilipinofoodfunrun.itsyourrace.com/event.aspx?id=11366