The Christmas and New Year holidays–and all the eating in between–seemed to catch many of us unprepared for a full marathon, save for the 30 to 45 kilometers each week that we logged for the last four months.
Nevertheless, on the cool, moonless dawn of January 8, some 74 of us Dumaguete runners found ourselves at the starting line at the Asiatown IT Park in Lahug, Cebu, along with more than 7,000 other runners, to join the Cebu Marathon.
There were about 1000 doing the 42k, but only 36 of us Dumaguete runners were joining the “full mary,” as we call the marathon. There were also 34 Dumaguete runners who ran the 21k or half marathon.
42k. That’s like running from the Dumaguete to Bais, or Dumaguete past Bondo in Siaton. Most of us were doing it for the first time–“marathon virgins,” they called us.
We had been up since 1 a.m. and had been feeling the gradual building up of excitement until the 4 am gun start matched by a fireworks display. The half marathon began at 5am. It was still dark but there was an excited chatter among the runners, and one could feel the energy of those who had personal records (PRs) to set or beat, or simply those who were just so eager to complete their first marathon.
The route took us through the major thoroughfares and historial sites of Cebu, passing by the Provincial Capitol, Fuente Osmena, Colon St., the Sto. Nino Church, Cebu City Hall, Magellan’s Cross, the Malacanang of the South, Plaza Independencia, and Fort San Pedro.
From there, we entered the 800-meter tunnel and headed out into the South Road Properties (SRP), which by now needs a lot of repairing.
Barefoot runners Haldor Jay and Florimae Datoy noted that despite the condition of the roads, walking without shoes on may be awkward but that it reconnects you to the earth. “It made me think and have the feel of what it must have been like in the time of Jesus.”
We went on for about 11 kilometers more towards the end of SRP in Talisay City, and we headed back the way we came, except for a slight detour for the 42k runners upon reaching Maxilom Ave.
Practically the entire stretch of the marathon route was dotted with lively music blaring from huge speakers. Other entertainers danced while holding up Sto. Ninos, while some runners would take time off to caress the statues with their hand before getting back to running. Afterall, the Cebu Marathon was a prelude to the City’s most famous celebration in the weekend of Jan. 14 — the Sinulog Festival.
The organizers ensured that there was enough water for the runners in the adequately-spaced hydrating stations, which also provided bananas and ice. However, there seemed to be hardly enough of the Pocari Sweat energy drink.
There were portalets in many places, firetrucks for those needing a cold spray along the SRP, medical teams and people who either sprayed water on our faces and necks or warm liniments on our legs. There was also the comforting presence of pacers with their balloons, the route marshals, and Cebu’s City Traffic Operations Management (CiTOM).
But not everyone was happy with the marathon. Some drivers got angry at having to stop for long periods of time. At one point, a car beating the light in an intersection along Osmena Blvd. almost bumped into me as I was running across the road. His tires screeched to a halt two times as he didn’t seem ready to let the runners pass, much to the consternation of the other runners at the irate driver.
On hindsight, what is it about running that seems to make a person a little bolder, a little more confident each step she makes?
For triathlete Ylang-ylang Jordan, the 42K proved to be a breeze. “My long daily training regimen (various combinations of swim-bike-run) had increased my sense of determination, and improved my endurance.” She said the only other thing she could do was pray, as she dedicated her first full marathon to her mother who just turned 70.
Looking back, Paultom Paras, whom most local runners call “coach,” said he could have trained better. “I was short of my target because I was the support crew for most of our Long Slow Distance (LSD) runs. So I think I only did about 1,080 kms. in the last nine months in preparation for the Cebu Marathon.”
Dr. Vivian Sy, an obstetrician-gynecologist, said she is happy how she performed in her first full marathon inspite of a “fall-out of two weeks from a full 17 weeks of training due to illness — when I had zero mileage,” she said.
“I did 495 kms. for 15 weeks” based on the mahiwagang folder which specified all the distances needed, said Maripol Rotea-Tecson, one of the founders of the Dumaguete Amateur Runners & Striders.
For their training, Joyce Catacutan-Solomon and Dr. Santiago Tiongson said they just focused on the long weekend runs and the usual short Thursday night runs.
“In between, I crosstrained at Pure Muscle gym where I could tag along my two-year-old Maxine,” Joyce recalls. The struggle was on scheduled days when she had to contend with running not wearing the appropriate jersey or else her daughter would see her go, and would want to come along, too.
Dr. Tiongson for his part, recalls: “I regret that in our eagerness to complete the last of our three 32Ks, and in our apprehension over the fast-approaching race day, we forgot the real danger of Sendong.” The DARS was all set to charge storm Sendong to do a long run to Dauin beginning at 4am of Dec. 17. The sound of big branches breaking apart from the trees due to the strong winds prevailed.
Joy Gravador-Quiamco, business manager of UnionBank, said she didn’t really keep track of her training records, and only made sure she did a long run every week and that she made at least two 27Ks before she decided to run 42K.
Jon Pete Catan, a registered nurse, logged in about 149 kms each month for three months. During the Cebu Marathon, he decided not to push himself hard, and only paced 9 minutes/kilometer the entire 42K “because I was so scared to get injured — which could delay my training for a triathlon in seven months”.
“Maybe I did a total of 264 kms in Thursday night runs and weekend runs to prepare for the Cebu marathon…not that much because I almost always missed the LSDs, felt too many body pains, and maybe I was just too lazy to run,” lamented Iris Tirambulo-Armogenia, mother of two.
Dennis Mira also recalls having an injury after a 32K run to Zamboanguita, just a week after running his first full Dumaguete Adventure Marathon in November. “I was sidelined for about a month, so I only got on the road again after Christmas, when I did a 22K. What happened to me in Cebu was pure confidence and guts!”
Others like Richie Al Villagante used the 42K marathon as recovery run, after running 104 kms. in an ultra-marathon in November. He said it takes about two months to fully recover from a 100K ultra.
The wonder story is that of Dr. Remi Grace Aplaon who, because she was injured during cross-training, had to stop training for two months. And so she only got to do her long runs either by herself, or with husband Dr. Daryll Aplaon on Christmas Day, on Dec. 27 on sandy beach, and on New Year’s Day. Yet, among the 188 Cebu Marathon women finishers, Remi finished #78. “At that point, I knew only prayers could have sustained me there,” despite pleas from her orthopedic surgeon- husband to run only 21K.
Dr. Connie Rosario, on the other hand, was hardly absent in the long runs in the entire three-month training program; many men would be “chicked”, even on race day. At many points in the full marathon stretch where she felt like sprinting all the way, she would recall her children’s advice before she left Dumaguete: “Mommy, there’s such a thing as WALK even in a marathon.”
Clint Besario has a story of true grit and determination that he can tell and retell his future grandchildren. Feeling discomfort in his right knee starting on the 12-kilometer mark, the pain got worse until his knee wouldn’t bend anymore. He was praying for strength, and he saw a strip of rubber from a tire interior. He put it to better use by tying one end below his right knee and used the other end to tug at it each time he needed to lift the entire leg to make that step.
Strangely, this also happened to him during the Runrio half marathon in November last year in Bacolod when his knees started to cry out for help. And out of the blue, Clint saw this strip of rubber lying on the road. He used the rubber to help lift his leg to put one foot ahead of the other — afterall, that’s all what it takes to get to the finish line. “When I saw that interior in SRP again, I thought it was funny but I realized, God must have put it there for me to use,” recalls Clint, with a twinkle in his eye.
For Dr. Sheila Marie Loo-Flores, a pediatric hematologist and oncologist, she remembers: “By the time we got to SRP, I could feel pain in my lower extremities; I dropped off from the pacing groups, and I was practically running by myself.” She said she just tried to entertain herself by looking out at the coast or greeting old friends who are also now runners. “My only aim was not to be picked up by the bus.”
The bus was the dreaded Kaoshiung bus that was assigned to pick up runners who were not out of the SRP tunnel after the 5.5-hour cutoff. Eventually, 12 runners had to be picked up after the cut-off, according to Kenneth Casquejo of the Cebu Executive Runners Club, organizers of the Cebu Marathon.
Meanwhile, Sheila’s husband Dr. Simon John Eric Flores, a triathlete and ultra-marathoner, breezed in through the finish line with a respectable time of 4:05:27. He came in first among all Dumaguete runners.
The only agony he must have endured was having to patiently wait for Sheila to cross the finish line almost three hours after he did.
For my husband Alex, who was running 21k, his goal was to shave off his half marathon time at the 2011 Vancouver Marathon. But his plan was tested for his power to endure a difficult situation: “I felt obliged to stop to help a runner I didn’t know, who was having severe cramps. Then I had to walk with him some to allow him to recover.” At that point, he said, the finish time was irrelevant.
Our first full 42K was simply exhilarating. We definitely have our own stories to tell when we’re old and gray; running a marathon being a highly-personal commitment and victory afterwards. For me, it was actually like giving birth to each of my three children: I wanted so bad to be done with it, and when I did, I was kind of sad it was over, I wanted to do it all over again.
And so it was with running at age 47: the 42K stretch through the streets of Cebu and the SRP seemed endless and impossible to finish, but when I did reach the finish line, I had to hold my cheeks tight and close my mouth to stop them from grinning.
The trip back home to Dumaguete after the Cebu Marathon was just as colorful as the runners traded stories of setbacks and breakthroughs along the race route. Eleanor Barrios, 47, who completed her first 21K, said they all looked like an entire busload of disabled persons coming home from a field trip. “Our bodies were sore, our legs were weak, but we were a whole bunch of fulfilled, contented people.”
Now they’re talking about an all-women’s ultra-marathon of 50K in March….
