Living up to tradition

The Isport BOTAK Paa-Tibayan Takbo 100-kilometer marathon, the first ultra marathon ever staged in Metro Manila, is set on Sunday. It is described as a milestone in the local running scene, and I guess no one will disagree.

For BOTAK to organize and sponsor the race is, I would say, living up to tradition.

BOTAK shorts and singlets have been standard running wear for serious runners in the 70's and the 80's. Up until 2000, I took pride in wearing my BOTAK instead of the issued running singlet for the Davao Finishers' Marathon. Doing it gave me the feeling of being up there with the best, at least even only in what I wear. I still have two well-worn sets with me, though I don't use them as much on my runs anymore.

More than that, BOTAK founder Cesar Guarin was already an ultra-runner way before ultramarathons became big running events. In 1983, he did the Trans-Pilipinas Run in 39 days, the first Filipino to ever run from Mindanao to Luzon. Two years later, in 1985, he became the first Filipino to run across America, traversing the country from East to West in 87 days.

Being part of the first ever BOTAK Paa-Tibayan Takbo 100-kilometer marathon will undoubtedly be a memorable experience especially for those who only know too well the part that BOTAK running wear has played in Philippine running, those masters and veteran runners who may still be clinging to their own well-worn sets of BOTAK.

Run strong, brothers. Run strong and proud.

Runner

I am tired.

At 53, I am not as fresh as I used to be.

My breathing is heavier. My lungs burn faster than they used to. My heart reaches maximum beat rate earlier.

My legs don't hurt, though. They don't feel rubbery. They just churn, perhaps by instinct, and so I keep on running.

Each running day I ask myself why I still need to do this thing. And yet each day I let my legs just carry me to another 30 minutes, another hour of body battering. Never mind the absence of an answer to my question. Never mind the lingering doubt if I can do this yet again.

In the coldness of the breaking dawn I sweat. In the solitude of my run I find my space, my peace, my self.

I am a runner, and a runner I will always be.

Darn shoelace!

After the euphoria of finishing the 1st Vic Sai Araw ng Dabaw Run 5k race had passed, reality began sinking in.

I had run the race well, I presume. I started off a bit to the back of the pack and still quite confused if I was lined up for the right race as I hardly noticed the 10k runners start off. The announcer was calling on the 5k racers to prepare so I was thinking maybe this wasn't my race yet. But up front I saw runners in my age group lined up, and I thought maybe this was really it. I was trying to make my way to the front when the starting gun went off.

Darn! I had to play catch up early in the race, and that wasn't my style. I am one of those diesel engine-type runners who need to be warmed up in the early part of the run before revving up at mid-race. I tried doing as much catching up as I can while settling into a comfortable pace. I felt good, and I felt I was running well. I was passing people left and right. Then I felt something happening down on my left foot.

You never miss the feeling of a shoelace loosening. You feel your foot slowly beginning to slip and slide in the shoe. You feel your foothold going and your stride breaking. I looked down and saw the loosening knot. I kept on with the pace, but deep inside I knew I would have to stop shortly as the shoe began to feel a lot looser.

A few hundred meters before the uphill leading to the halfway mark and the turnaround point, I did what I hated to do but had to. I stopped to tie back the darn shoelace.

Now, I had to do a lot more catching up. I pushed myself up the hill leading towards the turnaround point passing a couple more runners. I went for a drink, missed the first water-filled plastic bag, successfully grabbed the second one, and remembered to get a plastic straw necklace which indicated I passed the turnaround checkpoint

Putting the plastic straw necklace around my neck with one hand and holding the water-filled plastic bag to my mouth for a short sip after, I braced myself for 2.5 kilometers more of running.

Up ahead I saw the familiar colors of the faster guys in my age group. I guess you just can't avoid marking fellow runners when you see them within chasing distance. I first passed a fellow age-grouper from the Army who was pacing a lady soldier who joined the race. I knew he was running slower than he usually did, but it sort of gave me a sense of achievement, be it kind of pathetic, to be running faster than him.

Farther up ahead I saw my buddy Cris pacing a young female runner from our place. I kept up my pace hoping to catch up to them before we reached the finish line. As we passed Victoria Plaza, I caught up with and passed a young police officer who, with his buddy, went past me in the first half of the race. Sweet vengeance, I thought to myself. Persistence and experience really pays. His buddy was still way up ahead though, and was really quite fast, it would be futile for me to give chase. But Cris was there with Mary Joy, just a few more meters ahead.

As the familiar view of Gaisano Mall loomed ahead, and the corner leading to the short straightway to the finish line came closer, I realized there wouldn't be enough ground left for me to be able to catch up to Cris and Mary Joy. They made the turn and was lost from my sight, but not for long.

I entered the chute shortly after Cris did, not forgetting to press the stop button on my Timex Ironman Triathlon. I glanced at the time on my watch as I walked out of the chute towards the guys handing out water. 23:39.32. Not bad, I thought. Not bad at all.

Postscript:

When I got back to the hotel, I checked on my laptop to compare my time to my previous 5k performances. It was 8+ seconds slower than my 2007 Run For Peace-Davao 5k time of 23:30.55. It was even much slower, by a little more than a minute, than my Araw ng Dabaw 5k time of 22:25.98 last year. And I thought I was running well.

But then, I thought, there was no uphill in that course last year. And I had to retie the darn lace on my left shoe. I wonder what my time would have been if that darn shoelace just stayed knotted.

(Darn! I should have reviewed this.)