Longest race

CEBU, Philippines - When Frontrunner Magazine editor-in chief and a pioneer ultramarathon organizer Jonel Mendoza  told me we are staging a 250- kilometer race from the south to the north, I said "Naa pa ba makatiwas ana?".  At first we were thinking of making it a relay  event only where each runner get to run just 63 kilometers, but Jonel said some runners like my protege Zenchen Lagapa, who would eventually finished second, showed interest, prompting Jonel and I to go ahead with solo category.  We were  surprised that  only a few reacted to the relay forcing us to cancel it.  So it was a date with history last Friday  as 20 runners traveled to Santander town in the South for the start.  We could have gathered more but we had a qualifying standard that he or she must have  finished two 100km ultramarathons.  There were no elite names in the line-up except for Lagapa who finished  third in last year's Hardcore 100 Miles (160km), and Rhoda Oporto, champion in the CUC 100km and this year's Coast to Coast  65km Ultramarathon.  The runners started at 5am as scheduled. Lagapa who was the favorite in the absence of Noel Tillor  and Bayani Alvarez, started fast and was the first to arrive in Ronda together with Wilmar Iglesia.

TOLEDO CUT-OFF

In the first cut-off in Toledo City which was 28 hours or 141km, seven runners failed to make it and  this included Atan Guardo, Edwin Colina, Bryan Kho, Ron Illana, Januarius Padilla,  Benedict Meneses and Davao-based Kathie Villaflor, who cried at the cut-off point. The 13 remaining hardcore runners continued the gruelling run but in the end, only seven made it officially with Joel Cuyos of Lamac, Consolacion, finally savoring his first win  after joining several races from the 10ks to the ultra.  Cuyos clocked 42 hours and 39 minutes to frustrate Lagapa who made a final push but fell short, settling for second in 43:19:30.  Iglesia wound up in 43:19:36.  Rodney Cabahug came in fourth in 46:40:20 with CUC's Tony Galon salvaging  fifth  in 46:58:06.  Randy Rubio and Barry Red completed the "Magnificent Seven",  placing sixth and seventh in 47:02:31 and 47:37:10 respectively.  Oporto was the first female of three participants to arrive but fell short by 12 minutes.  While all  these action was happening, I was in Cebu City all the time resting on doctor's orders.  Fatigue has taken  its toll on my 65 year-old body, but I was in the race in spirit as I monitored the event.  Jonel was texting me all the action, blow by blow.  Meanwhile, Lagapa who proudly boasts that yours truly is his mentor, said his diet of fruits and vegetables really helped.  Legapa, an Iligan-based architect used to be a track and field athlete of CIT.  We would like to thank the Municipality of Santander through Mayor Marilyn Wenceslao for allowing us to  start at  the  Municipal Hall.  Also the City of Toledo and the City of Bogo under Mayor Junie Martinez for the use of the Bogo Sports Complex as our finish line.  Special mention goes to Slavsky Ybañez and City administrator Pepe Lepon.  Thanks also to BE Resort GM  Garry Garcia for pitching in for me in assisting Jonel.

WARRIOR 50K

Registration to the 4th Warrior 50K set on September 29 at BE Resort in Mactan will start next week at A Runner's Circle (ARC) in Raintree Mall, along Ramos St. (FREEMAN)