3 Pinoy BPO workers to join NYC marathon

MANILA, Philippines ­– Three Filipino BPO employees are set to run in the world’s largest marathon, the TCS New York Marathon, on Sunday, November 6.

Alberto Agulto, Clint Ortiz, and Leo Peñas will represent the Philippines and their employer, Open Access BPO.

The 3 employees were personally handpicked by the company’s CEO, Ben Davidowitz, who said their participation in the marathon was also “an opportunity for us to reward those folks who have been in the company a long time” while also giving to charity.

Agulto, 44, has served Open Access for 8 years, starting as a call center agent. Now a  group team leader for one of the company’s campaigns, Agulto had participated in the Run United Marathon in 2014, Condura Skyway Marathon in 2015 and 2016, and the National Geographic Run in 2016.

Ortiz, 41, has been in the company for 5 years. He is the senior program manager in charge of the multilingual operations of the company. Ortiz took part of the Run United Philippine Marathon in 2014, Condura Skyway Marathon in 2015 and 2016, and National Geographic Run in 2015 and 2016.

Peñas, 32, began his career in Open Access as security guard in 2013 and became a personal driver to Davidowitz. A running enthusiast, Peñas finished the Calle Arco Pagsanjan 60-kilometer Ultramarathon in Laguna City.

Since the start of the year, the 3 runners had done cross-training, including swimming and elliptical workouts. They left for New York in late October to  get acclimatized, and to meet members of Pinoy Runners New York, a local runners’ organization, who are also joining the NYC marathon.

Open Access BPO donated about $25,000 to Ryan’s Run, a nonprofit fundraising campaign that supports the Allied Services Integrated Health System in the US to develop rehabilitation technologies. In return, the 3 employees will take part in the marathon. – Rappler.com