XTerra III

Cebu will again witness professional and elite tri-athletes outwit and outperform each other in an open water swim and in an off-road and more often off-trail bicycling and running.

For three consecutive years, Liloan will be hosting the 2013 XTerra World Tour Philippine Off-Road Triathlon Championship Weekend beginning tomorrow with a lite and full triathlon at the Seafront Beach Resort.  On Sunday, participants will swarm the hills and mountains of Liloan for the trail run.  Athletes of this multi-sport discipline, both foreign and domestic, will do battle in this ultimate test of endurance.

I had planned to do the trail run on Sunday but decided otherwise.  For more than a month, I haven’t indulged in activities even remotely resembling running and I won’t compromise my body and age in being foolhardy, knowing fully well that the race route is much harder than the two previous stagings, which was at the posh residential cloister of the wealthy specie, the Amara.

The previous race route was scenic with a touch of the ordinary and blended with opulence.  The athletes were treated to spectacular views of the Mactan Channel and neighboring islands to the east and the mountain ranges of Cebu to the west.  So scenic that some participants did stop and pose for several Facebook moments.  I did the 5k trail run that time and although it was something like a 70% walk, it was well worth it.

Just imagine, along with natural barriers on the track, you also have to be careful not to run over ducks and chickens, outsprint dogs, and jump over occasional naive goats.  Then there are the impatient tricycle and motorcycle drivers with twisted senses of humor, who, while laughing all the way, try to reroute you to the ditches.  And how about kids on BMX bikes trying to out-pedal athletes on six-figure MTBs.  Oh yeah, XTerra is more fun in Liloan.

This time around, the race route is much harder, and some say it’s scary, but have its own raw beauty.  Believe me, I’m familiar with the site as together with some friends, during my younger and very much single days, had crisscrossed the mountainous area on our bikes.  Yes, it sure is difficult and could be disastrous if you’re not cautious.  There will be single tracks on the side of a cliff, really steep downhills and uphills.  The good thing is that you get to ride over paved, cemented or asphalted roads which makes pedalling a bit lighter.  Oh, by the way, you may also encounter livestock along the way, with their corresponding masters.

My joining and winning of three runs also boosted my familiarity of the area.  These runs I did with a different set of people required us to go to places we thought never existed.  It was the expensive kind of run done every three years on the 2nd Monday of May.

I had moved on to another vocation and retired from this kind of endeavor.  Some friends call me “retarded” from politics, and since I have a bit of extra time, I’m in the process of rekindling my forgotten affair with my old-school mountain bike.

Quite frankly, I still could not find the exact logic or a next-to-credible explanation on why a guy would go against the waves and everything beneath the waters for about 800 meters, hop on a bike and pedal for maybe 20 kilometers on a supposed track where even cows and carabaos fear to tread.

If by some chance you survive the ordeal on your mountain bike and your butt is not feeling like a multicab had parked on it overnight, there’s another 10 kilometer run on more or less the same hilly, rocky and shrub-filled trail.

For armchair athletes like me and the majority of mankind, this sorrowful penance disguised as a sport is pure agony.  For the select few who cherish and relish abuse on their joints and all else related to their anatomies, it is blissful torture.  Now tell me, how can body pain induced by an almost perpetual motion be ecstasy?

My son Emil could now be part of this select congregation of torture-mongers as he had been practicing the past two months for this event.  Sure, swimming a cheap sport, running can be a bit expensive if you indulge in good equipment but when the bikes do enter the mix, you have to reach deep inside your pockets.  The bike he got is so scandalously pricey in direct proportion to my earning capacity that I felt weak after Emil brought it home.  Ever had the feeling of letting go but not really wanting to?  One big consolation is that we got THE Noy Jopson to personally assist us in our needs.

If your wallet is thicker than the Old and New Testament combined, head to The Brick located at J Center Mall.  They have high end, drool-inducing bikes with some priced like an entry level Kia.  I guarantee you, the moment you get out of the store, you seriously will consider breaking your bank.  By the way, this is a free plug, Noy.  Discount?

To the XTerra Warriors, welcome to the Liloan, the home of rosquillos and masi.   Special mention goes to the tri team of Dash Suelo, Alexis Ganzon, Renold Dutchilla and the rest of the delegation from Iloilo City.  See you tomorrow, peeps.

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