MARATHON FOODIE

Road to Redemption (Last of 3 parts)

2012-02-12T17:48:00.003+08:00

Two weeks before Bataan Death March 160 I was resigned to running the last 58 kilometers of the dark and treacherous Mac Arthur highway alone. Then like manna from heaven, God gave me Ken Alonte and his partner of eight years Emmilie Cuizon. My pacer Ken Alonte sent to me by the gods of ultramarathon running. Cebuano ultrarunner and adventure racer Ken Alonte is a veteran of the

Road to Redemption (2nd of 3 parts)

2012-02-12T17:12:00.002+08:00

Road to Redemption (2nd of 3 parts) 50K and beyond is a woman’s game. There are studies which show that, because of their capacity to store more fat and high tolerance for pain, women survive the ultramarathon distance better than men. Sadly though, men still far outnumber women in ultramarathons, especially in the Philippines. In the 1st Bataan Death March 160K in 2011, there were

Road to Redemption (1st of 3 parts)

2012-02-12T16:57:00.000+08:00

Photo Credit: Team USB The starting line of the 2012 Bataan Death March 160K Ultramarathon was filled with the usual suspects – hardened ultrarunners from all over the country including visiting runners from the United States and Singapore, the hyperactive support crew from running teams rooting for the warriors and then there were the BDM 160 repeaters (like me) who were out on a

Second Chances

2011-12-31T15:39:00.001+08:00

December 31, 2011 Photo credit: Aileen Barrientos It’s not official until you see your name in the list of runners invited to run the country’s longest road ultramarathon. The Bataan Death March 160 organized by retired Army general Jovenal “Jovie” Narcise a.k.a. “Baldrunner” is by invitation only – almost elitist. It’s one of the many reasons why a BDM slot (with its promise of

Long Road, High Drama

2011-12-31T15:30:00.000+08:00

November 22, 2011 All within the past 12 months Cebu played host to the staging of five ultramarathons with distances ranging from 50 to 65 kilometers. But the Cebu Century Properties 100K Ultramarathon last November 18-19 was a landmark run of sorts for Cebu being, the longest footrace the province had ever seen passing through four cities and eight towns. So, on a moonless Friday

Fitting Farewell

2011-12-31T15:03:00.000+08:00

October 25, 2011 Last Sunday, there were three runs happening simultaneously, but runners whether veterans or newbies, knew where they had to be. The tribute run for the late Melinda Ponce gathered a total of 1,436 registered runners after only five days of blitzkrieg organizing. This is made more amazing by the fact that runners were informed about the run mainly by word of mouth

Runners Go To Heaven

2011-12-31T14:35:00.000+08:00

October 18, 2011 You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all she's left... You can remember her only that she is gone, or you can cherish her memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back. Or you can do what she'd want:

Lessons from a Summit Challenge

2011-12-31T13:45:00.000+08:00

October 11, 2011 Photo credit: Bro. Carlo Bacalla, SDB Challenge is a word not to be taken lightly. This, in one short sentence sums up the Summit 60K Ultra Challenge – the debut race organized by the Sugbu Ultra Running Enthusiasts (SURE). And what a debut race it was. There are good races and there are good races, but very few can claim to have set the bar high. The organizers of the

Hidden Routes

2011-12-31T13:12:00.002+08:00

October 3, 2011 My baby brother Sonnyboy, who loves to bike on mountain trails in between med school exams, has been telling me about the trails of Barangay Budlaan for the longest time. Listening to him describe his route with streams, a mini river and mountains, right in the middle of Cebu City's busy Talamban area makes the place sound mythical and almost unbelievable, until I ran the

Falling in Love with Trail Running

2011-12-31T11:48:00.000+08:00

July 22, 2011 After running and racing city streets for the longest time, my legs were becoming road-weary. I felt the urge for a change of scenery and discover new running routes – off the beaten path. And so I signed up for the 3rd leg of the Columbia Eco Trail Run. I almost knew nothing about the race, except that the starting line will be at the Guadalupe Church and runners will

Conquering Dahilayan

2011-12-31T11:13:00.003+08:00

July 15, 2011 At 1:30 in the morning of Saturday, July 9, the shrill sound of the telephone awoke me and trail running queen Merlita Dunkin at our hotel room in Dynasty Court Cagayan De Oro. Wordlessly, we went through our pre-race rituals – shower, final check on our running gear and anti-blister kits. We made sure our pockets were filled with gels, salts and candies for the 55

Queen of Trail Merlita Arias Dunkin

2011-12-31T10:50:00.000+08:00

July 2, 2011 Merlita Arias Dunkin would be the first to admit she’s not the fastest runner on paved roads. In fact Merlita very seldom emerges as one of the top three podium finishers in local road races. In the Cebu City Marathon last January, Merlita only placed seventh in the women’s category. But, Merlita will race anyone, man or woman, on a trail course anytime. At the TNF Thrill

Joel Garganera: All-Night Runner

2011-12-31T04:06:00.001+08:00

July 1, 2011 Last June 25, when everyone else was sleeping, Cebuano runners Joel Garganera and Napoleon dela Torre ran all night at the Sundown Marathon – a 100 kilometer ultramarathon in Singapore. Their goal – to beat the sunrise or the race cut-off time of 16 hours, and they did just that. Nap, who ran the Great Wall Marathon and the TNF 100 among others in his long list of running

Running Saves Kidnap Victim from Abu Sayyaf

2011-12-31T04:03:00.002+08:00

June 24, 2011 Fifty-nine year old Cebuano engineer Virgilio Fernandez took up running in 2008 to help ease his hypertension. Fernandez's eldest son Neil Adrian tells ABS CBN Cebu reporter Rachelle Dangin his dad Virgilio would run around the Fuente Osmena circle every morning without fail. Little did Virgilio know that his recreational running would one day save his life. It was 1:30

Joel Baring gets it right

2011-12-31T03:50:00.003+08:00

Photo credit: Lorebelle Joy Joel Baring is one of the three race directors in Cebu who has been organizing road races way before the running boom hit town. The other two are Joe Deresas and Raffy Uytiepo. I’ve had the occasion of running many of Joel’s races. There were some that fell short of basic technical standards such as the first Ayala Eco dash in September 2009 where frontrunners got

Forever 29

2011-12-31T03:45:00.004+08:00

June 10, 2011 Photo credit: Madonna Sitoy Today I turn 34 years old. In kilometers, that’s the distance between the Cebu Provincial Capitol and the edge of Barangays Poblacion and Taytay in Danao City up north. The birthday itself feels just like any other day, except that there will be a mini lunch party at the office for the traditional birthday “bangka”, even though I

In defense of the Skirt

2011-12-31T03:34:00.003+08:00

May 20, 2011The recent SRP Sundown run had a 5K “mini-skirt” category. In his column last Saturday, my colleague Mike Limpag wasn’t comfortable with the idea of women running in mini-skirts and chided the race organizer for coming up with a gimmick that borders on the sexist to spice up a fun run.I would have to disagree. As a mini-skirt clad runner myself, I see nothing wrong with the 5K “

Brighter lights, better road runs

2011-12-31T03:27:00.003+08:00

May 30, 2011Photo credit: RomanSlerzfotos In the past three months, the main streets and thoroughfares of Cebu City have become more runner-friendly, even at night and early dawn, thanks to the city’s P15-million street lighting project. In case you haven’t noticed, the 250-watt yellow sodium lamps have given way to the much brighter metal halide white lamps. The new brightness of the

Going back to basics

2011-12-31T03:12:00.003+08:00

March 18, 2011 For the past three weeks I’ve been avoiding any form of running whether on the road, on the track even on the treadmill. I just didn’t have the heart for it after BDM 160. Instead I enrolled myself in a gym and participated in as many group exercises as I can in order to stay fit. Photo Credit: Maricar I. Durano (with combat warriors @ Fitness First Cebu Patsy Canete, Edcel

A hundred-mile journey (2nd of 2 parts)

2011-12-31T02:46:00.004+08:00

March 11, 2011I was the third woman to cross the KM 102 checkpoint in 17 hours and 34 minutes. The possibility of a podium finish got my brain pumped up, but it was also then that I made my first mistake.The race plan called for a 30-minute nap and a (solid food) meal break, but then I decided to ditch the nap and meal break and forged ahead.But ditching the rest and meal break slowed me down. At

A hundred-mile journey (1st of 2 parts)

2011-12-31T02:30:00.004+08:00

March 4, 2011Only those that risk going too far can possibly know how far they can go.– Walter Bishop, FringeThe car ride from Camp O’Donnel in Capas, Tarlac to Mariveles town in Bataan was smooth and took only less than two hours. That’s barely two episodes of Fringe which I was watching at the back of the car to take my mind off the next day’s epic race.The car’s trunk was crammed with two ice

Running to infinity and beyond

2011-12-31T02:22:00.004+08:00

February 25, 2011By the time you read this, my crew and I will be on our way to Mariveles, Bataan. This historic town sits right across Corregidor Island – the last stronghold of valiant Filipino and American soldiers before surrendering to the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.Mariveles is also KM 0 of a journey of a hundred miles – the Bataan Death March 160.From a historical point of

Making my peace

2011-12-31T01:55:00.003+08:00

February 20, 2011I finally made peace with Standard Chartered Hongkong Marathon and finished with a new personal best of 5:04:34.Photo credit: Eugene Cabusao (w/ my Mom and Dad)I ran Hongkong sans any sports gel as I left my stash in Cebu after switching travel bags. I survived on bananas and biscuits provided by the organizer. It was so cold I had to wear a garbage bag at the starting line and

Slaying old demons, settling unfinished business

2011-12-31T01:52:00.001+08:00

February 18, 2011Hongkong- As I write this, it's 7 o'clock in the morning and it's still 12 degrees outside. The sun has yet to make an appearance, and it looks like he won't be around anytime soon. This means I would have to chuck the shorty split shorts and run with arm warmers, gloves, a beanie and compression leggings. The past three months I've been preparing my body to run at 34 degrees at

A Perfect Race, Made Even Better

2011-12-31T00:54:00.006+08:00

January 14, 2011Days leading into the second edition of the Cebu Marathon, the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC) organizing committee must have been on tenterhooks.With the resounding success of the first Cebu City Marathon last year, CERC was pressured to roll out an equally successful, if not better Cebu Marathon in 2011.As CERC’s John Pages puts it, “the success of the first Cebu City