“dig deep!” said attorney jon, the fat ass “pasimuno”/head honcho for the past 2 editions of the fat ass fun run. this was around 12 midnight or so of january 9 (or 18 hours into running and walking for me) as i was recording my nth loop at the clark parade grounds while he was chugging away at his nth bottle of ice-cold beer with the admin crew. ” you are just one loop behind the leader, albert.” i was trying to keep my sanity at this point. there were no hallucinations yet.
2am, january 8 and i rose from bed to get ready for the hitch-hike ride to clark.
430am and we hit ground zero. it was cold and the fat ass crew was starting to set up. a few familiar faces started coming in. it was still 2 hours to start so i deemed it wise to grab a few winks.
at 630 am of january 8, i started my first foray into the 24-hour endurance run that makes me a virgin again. as always, i had a plan but what worried me the most was all the pain that would descend upon me after doing 24 hours on my feet. nevertheless, i started out with the “usual suspects” and as always, the first few minutes were filled with laughter and light banter among the participants. true to form, silence ensued and everyone wore their race faces in about an hour when sweat started to show its form.
so hamster-like i went each and every loop of 2.2 kilometers and dutifully recorded my loop times without bothering to check how many i had done. i was following my run and walk plan and hoping that i’d be sane enough after the first 6 hours.
12 noon came and we had to do the the clockwise direction this time. nothing much changed except there were fewer runners along the loop this time as others were either taking their lunch or were done with their own 6-hour category. korean dudes though kept coming in droves while doing just about everything in the area. the sun was out on a cloudless day and shone mightily on my hairless head, so what to do? bring out the ice cubes. jeff, isko and abet were gorging on lechon! why i passed on taking a bite puzzles me now.
the sun came and went, rose and set on me and so did the ritual of going just round and round went on until it was 6pm, same day. it was the first time i glanced at how many loops i had done so far-35 loops in 12 hours. the 12-hour category runners were done and packing up and friends gave me their left over supplies(arman,charlie and camilla-thanks for the ride too!). the periphery of the route looked like a huge camping ground with many runners pitching tents. and not a few were having a good time. i’d be lying if did not admit to being tempted to sit down and raise a bottle or two with my friends (docT and team boring!), but you know there was a race to do.
and so as time was ticking away, i suddenly felt a sense of renewed energy and just kept blasting away. i knew i was doing good but did not realize i was among the leaders until jon said so.
at around 10pm, things got back to “normal” for me – meaning, i started to slow down again to my pre-race plan of 7:30 minutes per kilometer.
on the other side of the oval, there were benches and it was not surprising to see korean lovebirds sharing sweet nothings (even if i could not understand a thing except saranghameda bo!) and locals strolling the late night away. what a romantic time and place and the weather was perfect. i was sure it was not hallucination on my part, it was for real.
as the night wore on and as i did the reverse direction for the 4th and last time, my body started to feel the effects of sleeplessness for 18 hours. i tried not to mind it but every loop started to be an agony. i was still sticking to my race plan but covering each loop became longer.it was cold and i could hear nothing from the far end except the rustling of the acacia leaves and some local group of friends and koreans hanging around. why, someone even greeted me good luck.
i was ready to call it a race after doing 52 loops. i took a seat in paolo’s chair while he was doing his thing (thanks for the ride back paolo) and tried my darndest best to munch on the spaghetti his assistant offered. i bet it tastes better under ‘normal’ conditions, no?).
but i could not sleep a wink. after about 20 minutes, i took off again but it was clear that i could not run anymore. my left outer knee was locked,well sort of. none of my first aid tricks would make it feel better – not ice, not stretching, not even with my favorite 70’s music band, the vst and company’s hits, blasting away in the stillness and silence of the midnight. i could barely move forward. i feared injury, but i felt i was good for a few loops more, so i went for 3 more loops – all done walking ( limping to be exact).
the last loop, my 55th, was done with francis and boni who told us that it is unusually cold(always) in front of the clark museum becaue of some unseen friendlies. good thing i wasn’t passing that way anymore. not until next year.
i finally put up the white flag with 2 and a half hours left. i congratulated albert who was still pounding the grounds so far away from the reach of other pursuers.i took off my shoes, changed into dry clothes, drank my supplements, settled in the comforts of paolo’s car and called it a day. it was around 4am, january 9.
when i woke up, the sun was barely out and it was cold. there were about 30 minutes left in the race and a few runners were up and decided to do some extras. jael nailed 3 loops more. me, i could barely move my left knee.
i waited for the finish and the results. mine was 55 loops or 121 kilometers in 24 hours. my last loop was recorded with 2:34:00 hours to go on the race clock. well, not bad for a 46-year old fellow, i thought.
awarding came and it was fun all over again. almost everyone looked funny with either puffy eyes or black rings around their eyes. the sun was up and so were we. full of life again as if nothing happened.
i did a 28 hour-race in 2010, but fat ass was surely an ass-kicking, frills-free, fun thing to do. it was a good way to start the new running year.
congratulations to jon and don, albert, red and the ladies and the rest of the fat ass crew. i hope you had a good sleep yourselves by now.
i finally slumped to bed and slept normally at around 10am, january 9.
it was my longest day and race, yet. sure, the traces of doing it is evident as i share my virginal experience-throbbing knee pain, a little limp here and there, tight ankles and sore leg muscles or maybe these are just signs of old age, master’s pains, jon? but hey, i found the strength to keep my blog come to life again after a long hiatus.
ah, the joys and rewards of running. beery good.
salamat po kay jeff abenina for the picture
FRONTRUNNER Philippines 
