Long before we moved to Dumaguete from New York, my wife and I would spend our vacations here in July. So you can see why I never got the chance to run the iconic Cebu City Marathon that is held every January.
When we finally retired and moved here in 2020, the pandemic happened, and all races, including the prestigious CCM, were canceled for the next two years.
So when the Cebu Marathon 2023 was announced last year, I got very excited that I registered right away to secure my entry. With my Achtung Larga-Biya team, we started our training, and focused on an 18-week (four-and-a-half months) training plan that I developed solely to conquer the Cebu Marathon in good time.
Fast forward on race weekend last week, I packed my things, and drove to Cebu City two days before the Sunday race. A big contingent of more than 50 runners represented the Dumaguete running community.
The registration and packet pick up at SM Seaside along SRP was like a big reunion of seasoned sprinters, endurance runners, and novices, all in one space. There was camaraderie that only runners can relate to. Old running community friends reunited after two years, and meeting new ones, reminiscing a common ground, knowing that once again, we would be running the same roads on race day from start to finish.
Race morning was not just an ordinary Sunday morning. On the street outside SM Seaside, more than 8,000 runners filled the starting line after midnight, waiting for the gun to go off at 2 in the morning for the 42-kilometer runners, followed by the 21-kilometer runners at 3 in the morning, the 10-kilometer runners at 4 in the morning, and the 5-kilometer fun runners at 5 in the morning.
This year’s race course had a new feature: negotiating the newly-built 8.9-kilometer bridge, the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEx) — the country’s longest thus far.
Since it was my first time running the Cebu marathon, I didn’t have any comparison as to the difficulty level traversing the expressway linking Cebu and Cordova; except that I had been warned how painful it would be to run the steep uphill at 69 meters above sealevel, and run back the vertiginous downhill profile.
The race started on time without a glitch. The elites went off like bats out of hell at the front line, led by Kenyan runner Erick Chipsiror, the eventual winner of the 42K race.
The rest of the field followed, including another local runner Shiela Chavez, a 42K debutante, and yours truly.
Our plan was to run conservatively, taking 30- second brisk-walking breaks every two kilometers in between. That way we could conserve our energy until we get to the Cebu-Cordova Bridge. We ran through City streets, with some roads open to vehicles on the opposite direction. Volunteers kept the runners safe, directing drivers to stop at some intersections. Every now and then, costumed dancers lined along the route commemorating the Sinulog festival, an upcoming feast of the Sto. Niño which was being celebrated in Cebu City that weekend. There were also marching bands and percussions keeping the beat for the runners, and keeping us entertained. There were also water stops every two kilometers to keep the runners hydrated.
At about the 18K mark into the race, we were greeted by a spectacular view of the bridge, waiting for us to run across it. It was perhaps the best chance to take a selfie, and at the same time, take a breather for the steep climb to the top. With each stride of slow and steady pace passing runners who had started walking, or those who had to take longer walk breaks, we reached the top.
Looking down the long winding downhill portion, we took advantage of the elevation loss to make up for the time deficit caused by the steep uphill.
By then, the 21K and 42K runners were already sharing the roads on the same route. As we continued to run farther down to the end of the bridge, we reached the turning point that would lead us back to cross the bridge again with a total of 14 kilometers.
It dawned on us that our 30-second walk breaks every two kilometers was not providing us sufficient recovery time, so we ditched the plan, and shortened it to a one-kilometer interval. It probably took us longer than a one-minute recovery walk until we crested again for the second time.
Alas, it was downhill again! By this time, we couldn’t hold the pace we had from the first downhill. It was the payback from the long uphill. Our reserved energy was slowly diminishing due to fatigue, but we kept moving forward with every stride count.
We got to the bottom of the bridge with 10 kilometers to go. The half-marathon runners were being directed to make a right turn to the finish line, while the 42K runners continued on for another five kilometers of flat road upto the turning point, and then back to the finish line.
The field had already thinned out, with each kilometer seemingly getting longer than it really was, as more of us started to feel the painful effect of the climb to CCLEX. We continued on to waddle on every stride, and at some point, cramping legs slowly crept in. Even the beat of the drums from the band playing couldn’t do the job of helping keep the pace.
I could not blame it on the weather either because the sky was overcast with a slight drizzle — which was favorable to the runners. I couldn’t imagine running the course on a bright hot sunny day. There would have been more casualties, let alone some runners were already walking slowly, like on their death march to the finish line.
Shiela and I managed to keep our stride at a slow but steady pace in the last five kilometers. The pain that I felt from cramping didn’t matter anymore. I just had to toughen up, and get to the finish line faster than walking.
The final 500-meter span was filled with mixed emotions of pain and gratitude, knowing that very soon, it would be over. We came up a little short than our planned finishing time but still fully satisfied that I finally ran the Cebu Marathon; while Shiela got her previous medal to her first-ever 42K marathon on very good time.
Most of the local runners who diligently followed my training schedule, not surprisingly, performed well, and achieved their Personal Best, running faster than their previous marathon times.
In all my 32 running years mostly outside the Philippines, and dozens of marathons under my belt, I would rate the level of difficulty of the Cebu Marathon in the Top; not just because of the terrain, especially the elevation gain and loss at the CCLEx, but mainly because of the negative effect of lack of nutrition that was badly needed throughout such a course.
I have ran dozens of 42Ks, including the prestigious New York City Marathon and the Boston Marathon, but I have never experienced this lack of nutrition supplied to thousands of runners especially in a warm climate like the Philippines.
Yes, there was plenty of water at each water stop stationed every two kilometers, but just that, water and nothing else! One station at midpoint of the race was giving away bananas, cut up in bite size. Another station at the CCLEx as offering tiny slices of watermelons. Another station at around Km. 32 was offering an electrolyte drink. That’s it!
Running a full marathon of 42 kilometers (which is like running from Dumaguete south to Zamboanguita and back to Dumaguete in five hours), whether fast or slow, depletes anyone’s energy levels at a high rate due to sweat loss, especially in a humid country like ours.
This is where electrolyte drinks such as fresh buko water or Pocari Sweat, one of the major sponsors of the Cebu Marathon, is badly needed to replace the electrolyte loss, and prevent severe cramping. Not just electrolytes, but runners also need to eat bananas to replace the lowering of potassium levels during the long run. Unfortunately, bananas during the Marathon was in short supply.
I hope the organizers of the Cebu Marathon are made aware of these problems during the race, and would willingly make the adjustments for next year’s Marathon.
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Author’s email: Ironmandario@gmail.com
