The local running team Dumaguete Adventure Runners & Striders marks seven years of night running the streets of Dumaguete, even running towards the other towns in the Province.
The DARS, established in Oct. 30, 2010 to have organized road running activities mainly for fun, has since metamorphosed into a serious running team, competing full marathons and ultramarathons around the country, and popular races in Vancouver, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Tokyo, Athens, Sydney, Malaysia, and last week in Paris.
According to Paultom Paras, now coordinator of the Negros Oriental Sports Development Program, the Thursday night runs — which usually begin from Portal West at the corner of Perdices St. and Silliman Ave. — were conceptualized in April 2011 to give opportunities for runners (mostly parents) who may not be early risers to still be able to run after work or after attending to housechores.
One regular night runner (when he’s in Dumaguete for three months at a time) is Derek Lamb from England who remembers running during a heavy downpour all the way around the 5.2-kilometer route, while training for the August Rush 100K Ultramarathon to celebrate Silliman Founders Day. “Afterwards I watched the video of us running in the rain, and it was pure fun!”
Arbin Bulaybulay equates the DARS Thursday night runs with fun nights. He remembers colleague Polo Tecson inviting him to join in January 2016 “and it was so memorable because after the run, there were lots of food and lechon!” He said that from then on, he has completed many long runs “farther than what I could have imagined I could ever accomplish”.
Edmar Balandaca, a registered nurse, has fond memories of his 36th birthday as he got a surprise celebration with lots of food after running five kilometers that evening.
Dr. Vivian Sy says her best and happy memories in a night run are the “moments running with people from all walks of life sharing the same passion”. She said the bond has since “extended beyond the roads”, and now calls the addiction to the sport “a hard habit to break”.
While joining one Thursday night run, Hildo Ewayan remembers he was asked by bystanders to which military battalion he belonged, thinking he was a soldier doing the mandatory exercise.
The DARS started in 2010 with core members Albert & Maripol Rotea-Tecson, Dr. Santiago Tiongson, Dr. Franklin Paraiso, Rowena Zerna, and Dr. Don Rene Catada. There are now about 300 active members affiliated with DARS, who have also gone on to become triathletes, paddlers of dragonboats, swimmers, mountain bikers.
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