MANDAUE CITY — After 11 years of helping Cebuanos look their best, TUF Barbershop is now encouraging them to stay fit as well, as the homegrown grooming brand is celebrating its 11th anniversary by launching TUF Sports, a new platform for its sports and wellness initiatives, alongside its first-ever community fun run on Sept. 12 at Mandani Bay.
TUF Barbershop chief executive officer Stuart Wayne Violanda said the company wanted this year’s anniversary celebration to leave a lasting impact beyond the barber’s chair.
“We wanted to do something different and meaningful to celebrate our 11th anniversary,” Violanda said in a press conference on June 28, 2026.
“A fun run is the perfect activity because it brings people together, encourages a healthy lifestyle, and allows participants to enjoy a memorable experience with family and friends,” he added.
The inaugural TUF Barbershop 11th Year Anniversary Run is expected to attract around 2,500 runners. It will be held at the Green Promenade in Mandani Bay, a day before the company’s official anniversary on Sept. 13.
Violanda said the anniversary run also marks the launch of TUF Sports, the company’s sports and wellness advocacy platform that evolved from TUF Basketball to support a wider range of sporting events, beginning with running.
“Personally, growing up, I’ve been encouraged by my late father to be into sports,” Violanda said, adding that they spent most of their time outdoors because gadgets were not yet part of everyday life. He said he regularly played basketball, volleyball and traditional Filipino games, experiences that fostered his passion for sports and inspired him to make health and wellness part of TUF’s identity. “Good grooming does not stop there. As a gentleman, as a person who enters TUF, we’d also like to promote good health. And one of the aspects of having good health is through running,” he said.
Violanda said they believe grooming and good health go hand in hand, with the anniversary run promoting both.
Aside from Violanda, it was founded by Reece Quiambao, J Lanete III and Ken Cuizon, when they opened its first branch in Cebu in September 2015. Since then, it has expanded to 29 branches across Cebu and 10 more in the Visayas and Mindanao, with its first Makati branch scheduled to open in July.
TUF tapped Cebu race organizer Joel Juarez of Coco Running to oversee the inaugural event.
Juarez said runners may choose from four categories: the 1.1-kilometer parent-and-child run, 3K, 5K and the centerpiece 11K distance commemorating the company’s 11th anniversary.
The 11K race will start at 5 a.m., followed by the remaining categories at 15-minute intervals.
Registration opens on July 1, with promotional materials to be released at 11 a.m. and online registration beginning at 1:11 p.m.
Registration fees are P1,100 for the 11K, P950 for the 5K, P800 for the 3K, P800 for the individual 1.1K run, and P1,500 for the Parent-and-Child category. Each registration includes an official race shirt, race bib, finisher’s medal, post-race meal and raffle stub.
Cash prizes await the top finishers. The top three runners in both the 1.1K and 3K categories will each receive P800. Winners of the 5K race will receive P2,500, P2,000 and P1,500, while the top three finishers in the 11K category will take home P3,000, P2,500 and P2,000, respectively.