FRONTRUNNER Philippines

after doing timex21, tko250 is now down to its last 19k.so that means nb21 on sunday will be the last hurrah in the tko charity run.

i can’t say much of the timex run after having read all the nice things almost everyone had to say about how it was conducted and how much it was of a success and expensive to join.

to my mind,this was yet the most expensive road race.after the initial salvo from runners about the high price, eventually, timex still ended as a sellout based on the gate attendance.apparently,the complain first and run later scheme worked in favor of timex in the end.

a point however.i did not find my name in the final list of 21k finishers even though i am pretty sure that i stepped on all 3 checkpoint mats.championchip is not fool-proof .i am living(running)proof.i did it  at 1:48:11.you know it is not an elite caliber time but still, one always finds satisfaction to finish the race at any time.forget it coach rio, i am happy having done the timex21 as it is.

and i made a bet that piolo the runner won’t break 1 hour in his 10k run.man, did i eat my words.for a while when i met piolo and rio on top of kalayan flyover as i was on my way back to the fort,i was very happy to see rio pushing the pace.i was hoping piolo would burn out soon.well, i have some picturtes of him on the way back that showed him tiring but in the end,he beat the hell out of the 10k.and so i lost my bet and i have to deliver the ice cream to the winner.for this,the 10k i mean, piolo has earned my respect.he has a good running form and you should see his rippling leg muscles.pictures of which i shall share with you in the days to come.

but unbowed, i have made another bet for timex next year if ever he runs the 21k which he said he will.i bet that he would do slower than 1:40:00.rio,you know what to do.pace faster early on.i would be glad to share pizza with you after the race.

and before tko comes to a close, may i,in behalf of the beneficiaries,thank the following for their kindness;

bernadette bathan, mesh villanueva, dave de leon, raymond deslate, dr. victoria bach, jerry karundeng, tony mondala and  cherry paraz.

may the good lord bless you and your loved ones.

this as i start a countdown to something that resembles insanity and perhaps will necessitate a visit to the psychiatrist.

102 days to go.

see you at the starting line.

pasig, tko250 at justin.

in truth, i did not have any plans to run the pasig42 when the race schedules came up earlier.i had my other choices being milo and subic.

but as fate would have it, ondoy came and things changed.

had i not ran pasig42, i would have regretted it 42 times and forever bear with sim’s inanites.

when i heard and read about the chaotic race packet distribution and the registered runners pegged at 21,000, i began to have doubts about the success of the race,of its logistics,etc.but as it is, i was ready to do my run for the reasons above.

the race packet distribution aside,pasig42 went well all the way.

there were lots of supplies at the aid stations,the route  was a refreshing change(not exactly the smell though) and the marshals,they were something else.i particularly enjoyed the pasig kapitolyo-shaw area where instead of plastic orange cones, traffic enforcers took over as barriers thus making our running lanes totally free of any vehicles.though the situation near the manila city hall, where we nearly got into a fistfight with an errant and insistent jeepney driver early in the race, was nowhere near pasig’s set up,it was still a good and well-guarded route.i dreaded the guadalupe/pioneer area as this meant passing through edsa but my fears were unfounded as runners were given a traffic-free lane on the road.then there was the c5 stretch. i would say that majority of the route was well-manned and with fully comprehensible road directions.

the newness of the route for me afforded me the chance to run on roads where i would usually be riding instead.i took time to savor the freedom of running the roads.i enjoyed it so much that when i reached the fort area and eventually buendia, i felt downcast knowing i was on familiar running grounds again.it was ironic since i should have been rejoicing having only 12 kilometers to go but i was not really ecstatic.

one unexpected factor i had to deal with was the heat bearing in on me as early as 6:30am.it was getting hotter by the minute that by the time i reached taft avenue,i had a meltdown of sorts.i slowed down almost to a jog and slogged my way to the finish line with a time of 4:23:45 at the same time making sure i stayed well hydrated.

pasig42 will be memorable for me for a number of reasons.

one, i ran for pasig river’s sake.if what i have heard of its past glory were true, i would surely want to see its former allure again.in my own small way, i hope i did my part in its resurrection.

secondly, as part of team hardcore’s ongoing charity run,the tko250, doing pasig42 meant tko has dwindled down to 40k with just two 21s left in the horizon to be completed.

when craig of team logan mentioned that team logan with justin as baton was entered in the 42k team relay,i readily volunteered the hc’s services to do the 1st 4.87k leg from the start to del pan bridge.doing the stroller run was something different.i ran alongside my teammates lester,nico and george.this meant being started off 5 minutes after the start of the 42k solo runners.no problem for us playing catch up.craig told us that it felt different running without him pushing justin for a change.really now craig, it was our honor and pleasure pushing justin if only for a few moments.you could say that justin went hardcore for 5k.way to go justin!

well, for whatever it is worth, pasig42 was the 4th full marathon done in less the a month since the team and its supporters started tko250 last october 11 at the milo42 finals.

one thing i can tell you is that when i did these consecutive 42s,whatever fears and doubts i may have had at the start were all banished and replaced by the sheer and plain joy and love of running itself,pain and discomfort notwithstanding.it comes with the package.i came to love running more and savor every step i make.

but as in anything that is close to a fairy tale comes an ube tale my friend overheard over breakfast after pasig42.

here’s how the exchange between 2 dogs went;

askal 1:  “alam mo pare,ang dali lang mandaya sa karera.ang ginawa ko dito ,nagregister ako sa 10k at 42k.sa 10k ako tumakbo pero pagdating malapit sa finish line,pinalitan ko ng 42k bib ang 10k bib ko tapos pasok sa finish line as 42k runner.ganda ng oras ko”.

askal 2: “napakadali lang talaga.di na kailangan sumakay pa.ganyan din style ko.”after saying this, askal 2 puts his finger infront of his lips as if he had any shame left about cheating in the race.

shame on you two.

di pa kayo nabilaukan sana sa kinain niyong fried chicken.

style niyo,bulok.

p.s. true to form, flordeliza donos,all the way from baguio, topped the 10k women’s category honestly.

2nd BATAAN DEATH MARCH 102K ULTRAMARATHON.

march 6-7,2010.

take courage and test your self-perceived limits.

it is going to be a blast.

we’d love to see you flash the victor’s smile at the finish line.

102 kilometers.one day.

please join us.

see you at the starting line.

flordeliza donos finally  got her due after 11 days in limbo.

well,as in most fairy tales,after tangling with her own version of wolves and wicked stepmothers ,she came out triumphant in the end and laughing her way out of the bank with 10,000 smackeroos in hand.deservedly,no doubt.

she wishes to let you all guys know that she is thankful for your fighting and supportive words.on a personal note, i also thank you all for rallying behind flordeliza’s cause by posting your comments and suggestions.

aside from finally having her reward,another good thing came out of her ordeal.a good friend,who wishes to remain unnamed, has offered to have her cleft palate be operated on.i hope flordeliza accepts this offer.

the lesson she learned?trust no dated checks.

lastly, flordeliza wants to know if there are takers for a bet that she will end up topping the pim 10k distaff side on sunday november 8.

any takers?

a hearty post-race tapsilog meal would make for a perfect happy ending especially IF…..

the loser pays up on time.

NO checks, cash only for the breakfast accepted.

just when i thought that i have read all that everybody had to say about their sad sim experiences, here comes a horror tale that takes the cake.

rosario “che” alberto, she of baguio’s cool city running club, sought my help to bring to everyone’s attention and most importantly to whoever is stalling on things,the plight of one of her top lady runners.

flordeliza donos,22,  is a working and self-supporting student from the university of baguio. she is no pushover for a runner.she won the recent milo, qcim and sim 10k races.she is  an elite runner as you can see.

she had no problems finishing and getting her prizes for milo and qcim.

it is at sim(again!) that shit took place.

you see, during the sim awarding ceremonies, some smart ass either wrongly gave to someone else or  misplaced her winner’s trophy.she was promised that the trophy would be sent to her in baguio.that  was 11 days ago.no problem with the case of the missing trophy.the reality is that she can’t buy anything with the trophy.she can wait for that,she said.

little did she know that her misfortunes were just starting.

she was then awarded a personal check under ucpb check number 57665 dated october 25,2009 in the amount of ten thousand pesos(10,000.00).this represented her prize for topping the sim 10k women’s leg.that was what she came for and what she needed the most being the self-supporting student that she is.

she went back to baguio with high hopes of encashing her take at baguio’s local ucpb branch. tuesday,october 27,she went but to her horror the check was not honored for lack of funds.she then sought her coach’s and  che’s advice.they went chris sports store(their registration center) in sm baguio to asked for a number they could call.they got it.the number given was 0928 600 9930.they called and sent a text message on october 28 and was assured that the check was funded.here was their exact text message sent to che on october 28 at 3:10 pm; “ALL CHECKS WERE FUNDED YESTERDAY AS REPORTED DIDNT RECEIVE FROM BANK TODAY.KINDLY CHECK TOMORROW MORNING.RE TROPHY,WE WILL JUST HAVE ANOTHER 1 MADE SEND IT TO HER.KINDLY FURNISH US MAILING.” but no luck at the bank when they went back,unfunded still.

november 3, the baguio people called the same number again.this time, the one who answered said this was the wrong number!but when che and company sent a text message, the one on the other end said and assured that the said check was funded.so they went to the bank but still,the check was unfunded!

flordeliza donos is at a lost.all she wants is her fair share for which she worked very hard for.she spent money and time to get to subic and back to baguio.she wants to run the pim 10k come sunday.but she has been given more zigzag-like answers than kennon road has.but this,this sim check is getting stale and stinking for 10 days now.

which makes me wonder,how are the kenyan winners with their own collections?

all flordeliza donos did was run the race and now wants to get her take for an honest day’s work.

flordeliza donos has cleft palate making it difficult for her to express herself verbally to the sim people and that makes it necessary for her to ask her coach, che and myself to take up the cudgels for her.

is this is what is supposed to be an international caliber foot race? heaven forbid.

what has flordeliza donos done to deserve this?