MANILA, Philippines—Just before the first glimmer of sunshine, in chilly early dawn, families, friends, couples, kids and runners laced up their sneakers.

Multinational company Amway has launched 1k@Amway Fun Run 2014 Sunday at the Mall of Asia grounds in support of its independent business owners and would feature three such events, the first in Manila, second in Cagayan de Oro City on Feb. 9 and the culmination in Davao City on Feb. 16.

“We want to tap into the love for running by the Filipinos, because running has become into a passion and a sport and you know it comes very well with family business opportunities because anybody can participate in a fun run,” said Lemi Olmedo, country manager of Amway.

Olmedo said that the three cities, where fun runs would be held, have the biggest distribution centers of Amway in the country.

The runs would have three divisions, one-kilometer, five-kilometer and eight-kilometer events.

She added that 1k@Amway Fun Run represents the P1,000 that is required to start a business with Amway and the eight-kilometer division represents the 80th year of Amway.

“Actually Amway businesses typically start as husband and wife, most of our distributors are husband and wife, and we decided to do it on a Sunday because we want to cater to the families,” said Olmedo.