The Simon & Mendel Show

Before Simon Losiaboi there was Mendel Lopez. This 25-year old Geodetic Engineering graduate from University of Southern Philippines was unbeatable and dominated most of the local road races in Cebu, except when he was not racing or away in Manila as part of the training pool for the Philippine athletics team.

Then all of sudden in November last year Simon Losiaboi from Kenya showed up and shook up the status quo of the local running scene. Since then, Lopez has played second best to Losiaboi who then became an instant hit in the local running circuit.

For a while Cebuanos stood in awe and were thrilled at watching the Kenyan with his sinewy legs and long strides win races week after week after week. Except for the Cebu City Marathon where Losiaboi lost to another Kenyan runner, it seemed as if we running mortals were resigned to seeing Losiaboi win all the races. It was as if there was no contest as to who would get the top prize. Without a real challenger, the Simon show became boring.

(Photo from Pabolfc.blogspot. L-R: Elmer Bartolo, Simon Losiaboi and Mendel Lopez)

This until Lopez changed race strategies and started skipping some of the weekend races to make time for more intense training and more importantly, to give his muscles much needed time for recovery, which is just as crucial as racking up the miles.

The first time Lopez beat Losiaboi was by technicality, after Losiaboi who ran using someone else’s race bib was disqualified at the Rotary Run in February. Lopez went home with the winner’s trophy, but to a truly competitive runner this win doesn’t count. It wasn’t on the merits.

Then on March 20, Lopez beat Losiaboi in a face-off at the Mt. Manungal climbathon – a 17-kilometer trail and road run challenge. Lopez clocked 1:07:25; while Losiaboi was light years away at 1:12:45 “Perfect weather condition, perfect body condition, finally beat Kenyan runner Simon Losiaboi fair and square during the Manunggal run!” posted Lopez in his Facebook account.

Then as if to prove that his win at the Manungal climbathon was no fluke, Lopez, in less then 24 hours, again beat Losiaboi at the Run to the Clouds – an 8-kilometer uphill challenge. Lopez was practically unchallenged as he led all the way up the relentless hills of Barangays Busay and Malubog 600 meters above sea level, beating Losiaboi by 2 minutes and 18 seconds – an eternity in competitive road racing standards.

This got local runners buzzing. The local Kenyan running sensation, was not invincible after all!

The real test however, will be when Losiaboi and Lopez face off at the long and flat 21-K course of the Great Lapu-Lapu Run on April 18 and Lopez knows this. “I won’t be racing between now and April 18. Lapu-Lapu will be my next big race. Dili lang ko mag-target ug time. Paningkamutan lang nako nga ako ang mag champion,” Lopez tells the Marathon Foodie.

If we go by personal records, Mendel Lopez’s personal best for 21K is 1:11:11 – a far cry from Simon Losiaboi’s reported personal best of 1:03. But as a proud Cebuano, I’m rooting for our local boy Mendel, statistical and historical data be damned.

Summer Sportscapade

If you’re looking for a race that is more than the usual and an excuse to wear a bikini in Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island on Holy Week and not get sued by Gov. Gwen Garcia, then the Summer Sportscapade is for you.

There will be sprint (750m Swim - 20km Bike - 5km Run) and standard distance (1.5km Swim - 40km Bike - 10km Run) triathlon on March 31; duathlon (2.5km Run - 20km Bike - 2.5km Run) on April 1; and oceanman (200m Run - 200m Swim all x 4 laps) on April 2.

Summer Sportscapade will be held at Mac’s Hideaway Beach Resort on the pristine beaches of Santa Fe . Registration is pegged at P350 for each event but you can opt to join as many as you want by signing up for the race-all-you-can fee at P500 which is payable on or before race day at the race site. Registration deadline is on race day itself.

Citirun

Good luck to all runners joining Citirun at Waterfront Cebu City Hotel. Be safe, race well and seize the road!

front RUNNER

I first heard about front RUNNER magazine from the Editor-In-Chief himself ultra runner Jonel Mendoza during the Cebu City Marathon last January. It is the first and only Filipino full-sized magazine dedicated solely to the great sport of running -- by runners for runners.

The maiden issue featured Vertek Buenavista (2009 Sea Games Marathon gold medalist) on the cover. I got five copies, three of which I gave out to friends and newbie runners (including Maayong Buntag Kapamilya host and TVPCV senior correspondent Vilma Andales shown above) who wanted to learn more about running and how to do it right. The other two copies are with me. One I've read from cover to cover, the other still in plastic -- running memorabilia for 50 years hence. =)

The March-April issue of front RUNNER is extra special for the Marathon Foodie not just because I'm in it, but because it highlights Cebu as runner's haven. It has an excellent piece written by Cebu Running's main man Max Limpag on the best places to run in Cebu. It also features the 3-1 running method by heart surgeon and marathoner Dr. Peter Mancao, which helped virgin marathoners finish 42.195 kilometers in good form and injury free. The article is written by James Abilla, owner of the Cebu-based "St. James" bottled water company. It also has a glowing review of the Cebu City marathon. All in all front RUNNER dedicated 13 pages and 21 photographs (in full color) to Cebu, the CCM and Cebuano runners.

But the main reason why I like this magazine is it talks about running from the perspective of runners -minus the fluff. It has articles that are actually useful to newbies and veterans alike. Best of all the articles do not employ subliminal marketing, which I find distasteful. You know the kind that gives advice to newbies but is actually pushing a product.

Let's support front RUNNER by getting our own copies at Fully Booked, National Book Store and Book Sale outlets.

"Leave your old self behind"

Never Say Die

Note: For the first time the Marathon Foodie is posting a race recap in two voices. The perspective of the runner and the support crew have been merged to make a comprehensive report. The entries in blue italics were written by Eugene Cabusao who was my "one-man crew" at the BDM.--

Just before midnight of March 6, 2010 the Marathon Foodie along with 142 men and women braved one of the toughest if not the toughest solo running event in the country -- the Bataan Death March 102, an 18-hour ultramarathon covering 102 kilometers from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga.

BDM 102 is a race like no other. No frills, no sound system no lights at the starting area, no water stations, no cash prizes, yet it attracts a cult-following among hardcore runners because it is much more daunting than the standard marathon distance and because it is running at its purest form. The BDM is said to be a true test of person’s character and mental and physical toughness.

I signed up for the challenge just to see how strong I was. I was seduced by the fact that out of 82 who joined the first edition, only five were women and only two of them survived. I said to myself, if only women believed in their physical capacities more, they’d make good endurance runners. I am woman, and knew I could make it.

Since runners are only allowed to participate if they have their own support crew, I recruited my husband Eugene. His role was to make sure I follow my race pace of 6 KM per hour and that my hydration and nutrition intake were on schedule.


Being support crew is not an easy task. Being my first time to do it, I had the usual clumsiness and difficulty adjusting to a new task. To add more difficulty to an already critical job, I did it alone.

I showed up at the starting line backed by two marathon experiences and four months of training. I did two 50K’s and one 66K and trained under the heat of the El Nino sun. I knew I was ready physically. What I didn’t know was if I trained well enough to fight the demons in my head when I reach 70 kilometers and beyond.

The bull horn was sounded at 11:30 PM and all hell broke loose.

Learning from the online journals of those who ran the BDM’s first edition, I tempered my exuberance and stuck to my goal of 6-7 kilometers per hour. I brisk-walked the steep portions of the route especially the zigzag pass in Mariveles -- a deserted uphill road with elevation similar to Busay in pitch black darkness. Without a light, you would either slam into the mountain wall on one side or fall off a cliff as high as 400 meters on the other.

Although I found myself alone for long stretches in the darkened highways and towns that were fast asleep, it never occurred to me to be afraid. When running in the dark you learn to engage all of your senses. I shut my MP3 and listened for any sound of oncoming danger – a truck, a bus, ferocious stray dogs, and drunks along the route.

At night a runner doesn’t feel as thirsty as when running under the heat of the sun. You can get dehydrated and not even know it. So Eugene and I made sure to make hydration stops every two kilometers, whether or not I felt the need to drink or not.

The word "crew" by definition is "a group of people working or associated together in a common activity," which means there's no such thing as a one-man crew.

That meant I had to multi-task in order to perform my mission as support - drive, hand out drinks and food, take pictures, apply liniment and massage Haide's legs, refill water bottle, spray water/pour ice water on her to cool her down. I also had to make sure she's following the race plan and adjust the race plan if there are changes in timing.

I gave encouragement and/or threatened her when needed, and held the malong around her when she needed to piss (which reminds me - you owe me a new pair of Sanuk!!!).

I'm pretty used to multi-tasking, since it's part of my profession, but then again I received training for most of the stuff I have to do in my work. This was a new kind of experience. Doing each task mentioned above quickly and correctly takes more than a few seconds for one person, but doing everything properly alone took a lot of time - valuable time which the runner could have used for running instead of staying at the pit stop.

I reached the only aid station at KM 50 in Abucay town at around 7:30 in the morning. After a quick change of clothes, shoes and hurried breakfast, I put on a brave front and braced myself for the El Nino sun. This was where the real race began. KM 50 and beyond would separate the men from the boys, the posers from the hardcore.

I didn’t think of the double digit distances. This would only make the suffering seem more interminable. Chopping the distance into bite sizes made me less tired and more efficient.

At the beginning of the run, Haide stayed at each stop for about just about half a minute. She could easily make up the time with a burst of speed. This was okay for about the first 50 km, but then she started slowing. We were both adjusting to the new routine because we didn't practice beforehand. A minute might not seem much, but multiply it by the number of stops, it balloons and soon that unnecessary delay will bite you when you need most.

Sure, Haide practiced her long runs and building up endurance, but I didn't practice the myriad tasks I had to do, nor did we practice the sequence of her coming and going, and the price we paid was extra time spent at the pit stop, which could have been used for running and covering more ground.

At first the goal was to run-walk 1KM every 10 minutes. But by noontime I was overheating and could hardly make it past 900 meters. We were 6 kilometers behind schedule and my legs felt twice as heavy. By the time I reached KM 65, I felt I could not go on anymore and begged Eugene to just call the race director and quit even with still more than five hours to go. Then he told me -- "Death before dishonor!"

Haide hit her first wall at KM 65. When she reached the pit stop she just sat by the roadside, started to cry and begged me for a ride. Bare words of encouragement like “kaya mo yan” and “marami pang oras” would not make her get up from the sidewalk and resume the race. She said she needed proof that it wasn’t mathematically impossible to make it to cut-off at her current pace. So I crunched numbers.

Eugene came up with the brilliant idea of chopping the distance further into 500 meter intervals run at 7:00 minutes per kilometer pace followed by a one-minute complete stop at the back of the car. Those sixty seconds of rest was spent for eating bananas and hydrating (10 sec.), massaging the legs and back with liniment (30 sec.) and sponging the head, armpits and groin with ice-cold water (15 sec.). The pit stops had the precision of a real F1 team. We used this strategy until KM 87, just before the road construction in Guagua town. Looking back, I think this strategy was the key to finishing the race.

I think we finally got through the learning curve after about Km 68. The shorter 500-meter distance intervals made her run much faster. Haide found her second wind and we covered lost ground. Had we not made adjustments to the original race pace plan, the wasted minutes could have cost us her finisher's trophy and medal.

The controlled pace at the first 50 kilometers paid off. I had no cramps and the knees still felt strong and stable even after more than 14 hours of running. The only painful parts of my body were my two feet and my abs. I thought I had it in the bag, but then the demons came.

From out of nowhere at KM 97, the pain on my feet seemed to have been magnified a hundred times all of a sudden. It was so unbearable that death seemed the easier choice. I don’t know what came over me but I seriously just wanted to jump off the small bridge just after Bacolor Elementary School. and just end it all here. At least when I'm dead, there was no need to explain why I didn’t make it to the 18-hour cut-off.

This was the lowest point of the race for me. I was so near, but the waning minutes seemed to tick away faster than it should and the distance seemed so interminable.



But then I thought of all those who worked hard to get me this far. I also thought of people back home in Cebu, I didn't want to let them down. It wasn't about wanting to finish anymore. I just desperately wanted to live.

During the Carboloading Party, Sir Jovie warned me that runners become very stubborn as they near the end of the run. I should have listened to him because, at about Km 95, Haide refused to drink liquids, eat food or even stop to be doused with ice water. She started getting bitchy and ordering me to leave her to inform the organizers that she was near the finish. She managed to run the last 7 km without hydrating, but she also ended up frying her brain.

When I reached KM 100 with 40 minutes to spare I told myself this was the biggest race of my life and I had to finish it in style, running on empty I raced the last 2 KM at 6:45 - 7:15 MPK. I reached the finishline in 17:40:08 and ranked 88th out of 104 finishers.

I immediately collapsed from heat exhaustion after touching the tape.

After her dramatic finish, she collapsed and had to be dragged over to a shed. She started asking for help in finding a taxi so she could go home (she must have thought she was still in Cebu). When asked if she was with anyone, she said no. She didn't even recognize me! She was suffering from heat exhaustion.

After removing some of her running clothes and shoes, about 15 minutes of rest, water, a bottle of Gatorade, several wet towels to cool her off and a protein drink (Recoverite) that Bards Bathan and Mesh Villanueva gave her, Haide started asking if she was going to be able to receive her finisher's medal. That meant she was feeling better and back her former self. I realize that I should not have left her at Km 96. I could have stayed all the way to KM 101 and still make it ahead of her at the finish line.

When I woke up, I didn’t even know where I was. I thought I was in a school sports fest and the two ladies who kept asking me to drink water and Gatorade (whom I later realized were Bards and Mesh) were school nurses. I kept seeing the letters BDM all around me and couldn’t recall what it was. BDM. BDM. Why was it so familiar? I saw Eugene and asked him where I was and what day it was.

It was only when I saw my dust covered legs and swollen feet did I realize that I must have run and finished a road race called the BDM 102.

After the dust has settled only 104 survived 9 of whom were women. The only other Cebu-based runner at BDM 102, Bro. Carlo Bacalla of Don Bosco also survived at 14:38 placing 17th.

It’s been days after the BDM and I still can't believe I did it. I put my BDM trophy and medal on my office table where I can see it everyday, to remind me just how strong and weak I can be.

I needed a while to write. Running the BDM has shaken me to the core, its effect too profound for words and too personal to share in this blog.

I don’t know about the others, but the BDM took so much out of me and it feels as if a part of me died and got left behind that tortuous route, only to be replaced with something that is hopefully a much better version of the old. (Think: the old Nike Free “Reincarnate. Leave your old self behind.” ad)

Or maybe I’m just shell-shocked.

It is when you’re dying from inexplicable pain that you feel truly alive. Now that the blisters are gone, I will probably do it again.

Self-doubt saddled Haide while she was out there running, but I had no doubt in my mind that she would make it. She has nerves of steel and she’s stronger than even most men. I’m truly proud of her.


Post Script:

I share my BDM success with Eugene. There was no way I could have made it without him. He was on top of everything and anticipated all my needs even before I knew I needed it. No one could have done it better. It was pure labor of love.

Thank you too to all the support crew that helped me in the last 7 kilometers, especially to Sam the Running Ninja and his support team from Takbo.ph.

I’m forever grateful to Bards Bathan, Mesh Villanueva and Ray Abenojar of T2 Running. They revived me when I passed out and took care of me until I could be on my feet again.

To Jonel Mendoza who selflessly shared his resources and made sure we had a place to stay in Mariveles and whose guidance made me make all the right moves at the BDM. I can only hope to repay him by paying it forward and teaching and guiding others run their first BDM.

Finally, to the Bald Runner, without whom there would be no BDM. I understand now why this race is run like a guerilla war – meaning no corporate sponsors. The BDM is sui generis – a class of its own. Commercializing the BDM would surely leave a bad taste in the mouth. It is first and foremost a tribute to the men (and some women residents who died helping the POW’s) who perished 68 years ago. They will never be forgotten.

Photo Credits:

Ray Abenojar, Elaine Mirabueno Botabora, Estan Cabigas, Eugene Cabusao, Brando Losaria. Thank you for sharing your photos and for memorializing this life-changing event.

First Marathon, a climbathon and a running clinic

How do you choose your first marathon?

This was the question posed by Angeli Cardinez who gave birth last year and is looking for ways to lose the baby fat. Angeli was inspired by Donna Cruz-Larrazabal’s (Marathon Mom) article about how she trained hard and finished her first two marathons despite having to raise children, running a household and being the wife of famous eye doctor and runner Yong Larrazabal.

The marathon distance is the same. It’s always 26 miles and 385 yards in the English system and 42.195 in the metric system. But deciding where to run your first full mary can be as crucial as training for the marathon itself. Choosing which course to make a marathon debut in is as important as hours spent on the road.

For the first-time marathoner, choosing the right course can be as overwhelming as the distance itself, simply because there are lots of options available to the newbie marathoner, especially those with travel money to spare.

The Marathon Foodie says a newbie marathoner should only stick to these three factors in weighing her options: 1.) Do I go local or abroad? 2.) How much time for training do I have between now and my target marathon? 3.) What kind of training ground do I have in the next 3 to 4 months before my target marathon?

Many newbie runners like to mix traveling and running a marathon. Like hitting two birds with one stone, the runner has run a marathon whilst discovering a new and exciting destination.

Gail Kislevitz, a veteran of 20 marathons and author of First Marathons, a book of personal accounts says this may not be a good idea. "Traveling adds another level of stress to an already difficult event. The number one thing people do is underestimate what it takes to run a marathon. Running the miles is not enough. When choosing a marathon, keep in mind how and where you are doing your training, and try to simulate what you’ll find on the course. The ideal situation is to pick a marathon close by where you can train on the actual course."

Apart from a familiarity with the race course, running in your own turf also allows you to harness your own local fan base that can provide you with material and moral support when you need it most at the crucial points of the full marathon (from 25KM till the finish line.) Sure, big city marathons like New York and Chicago have their big crowds, but there’s nothing like seeing the familiar faces of your family, friends and loved ones along the race route and when you cross that marathon finishline for the first time.

Before the Cebu City Marathon, runners aiming to run a full marathon for the fist time had to race in Metro Manila or Subic . If you’re a runner based in Cebu or the nearby provinces looking for a marathon debut, I suggest you make the Cebu City Marathon in January 2011 your goal. It is home, so logistics and hotel accommodations need not be a problem, the roads are familiar and the cut-off time of seven hours is generous enough even for the slowest of runners. More importantly, the CCM has proved itself to be an excellently managed race making your marathon debut as pleasant an experience as possible, despite the inevitable muscle pain that marathon running brings.

And speaking of cut-off time, the more generous it is, the better for the first time marathoner whose first and primary goal should only be to finish the full marathon regardless of time. The oldest running event in the country which is the Milo marathon has a cut-off time of 5:00 for the full marathon, so the Manila eliminations set this July 4 may not be the wisest choice for a full marathon debut, unless of course you are as gifted as Marathon Mom Donna Cruz- Larrazabal, who finished her first full marathon in 4:48:45 in Macau, which like Milo has cut-off time of five hours.

Mt. Manungal Climbathon

The Municipality of Balamban will commemorate the 53^rd death anniversary of President Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. with a climbathon at Mt. Manungal on March 20. 2010.

The climbathon is open to all professional runners and weekend warriors. The race starts at the Welcome Arch of the Municipality of Balamban at the Transcentral Highway all the way to the crash site in Mt. Manunggal . The race distance is 17KM for the men’s open and 13KM for the women’s category and executive division. The race route consists of a mix of concrete roads, dirt roads and mountain trails. So it might be a good idea to leave the racing flats at home and wear all-terrain shoes for the climbathon.

Balamban dumptrucks will be picking up trekkers as early as 5Am in JY square in Cebu City on March 20. There will also be a pickup point in Balamban for local trekkers. These same dumptrucks will be ferrying trekkers on Sunday back to Cebu City and Balamban. For inquiries you may call 3332190 or 4650455 local 115.

The Marathon Foodie has one observation. Women runners have been running far longer distances since the 1960’s. In this age of gender equality, why do women have to race the shorter distance of 13KM in the climbathon while the men race all of 17KM?

Free Running Clinic

Take advantage of Runnr Academy ’s free running clinic on “Optimal Running Technique” with three-time Philippine National Triathlon champion Arland Macasieb at Ayala Center Cebu’s Active Zone on March 5 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and March 6 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Macasieb will discuss common running errors among recreational runners; the attributes of elite runners; correct running posture; Running tools, drills and skills for speed.

Macasieb is an exercise physiologist and holds a masters degree on exercise sciences from the Montclair State University . He was the Philippine National Triathlon champion in 2001, 2005 and 2006. He is also a 6-time Ironman finisher.

Seize the road!

(Email: haide.acuna@gmail.com)

Running in March

The race calendar for the month of March provides the most varied choices for runners in terms of route, course distance and degree of difficulty. Except for March 14, when all the world will stand still to watch the Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey fight, runners will be kept busy with one road race every Sunday of March.

Quota International 12 K Classic

This run organized by the Quota International Cebu South and directed by Raffy Uytiepo will start and end at The Terraces in Ayala. To cover the 12K distance, runners will traverse San Jose Dela Montana, Salinas Drive, Gorordo Avenue, Escario Street, Capitol, Fuente, B. Rodriguez Street (Espina Village) then down to Osmena Boulevard where runners will turn around at corner R.R. Landon Street on the way back to Cebu Business Park via Gen. Maxilom Avenue and Gorordo Avenue.

This route has been done countless times before. In fact, the route is so familiar that runners can run this route “with their eyes closed” and still know where the exact point the road will rise in Escario St. and Mango Avenue. Race director Raffy Uytiepo increased the distances in order to challenge runners used to the usual 5K and 10K runs.

Run to the Clouds

(Click poster to enlarge)

But if you’re really up for a new challenge and willing to run more than the usual and defy your limits, then Run to the Clouds, which will be held on March 21 at 6 AM may just be the kind of road race you’re looking for.

This race organized by Sugbu Triathlon promises to be "doable enough for beginners and challenging enough for seasoned runners". This 8KM foot race will start at the foot of Nivel Hills just outside The Outpost and end at the Zipline in Barangay Malubog. It’s never been done before, so it may be a bit daunting at first, but I promise you, it really gets better as you go up towards the finish line.

The first-time the Marathon Foodie road-tested the Run to the Clouds race route I made the mistake of running the first 2K at my usual 10K road racing pace of 6 minutes per kilometer. By the time I reached KM 5, I was only brisk walking and could not run up the hills. On my second attempt, I figured that the key to finishing the Run to the Clouds route is to start slowly. Think negative split. Brisk-walk the first two kilometers in Nivel Hills and two of the steepest inclines at Château de Busay and La Tegola.

But boy oh boy there’s nothing like running in Busay. The spectacular birds-eye view of Metro Cebu on your right and the rolling hills covered with rows and rows of cut-flowers towards your left side are the real rewards for braving this race route. Plus, it is never hot and humid up there even if you’re running way past seven in the morning. The cool mountain air will make you say -- “El Nino who?”.

After the race, all registered runners will be treated to a bowl of Arroz Caldo. A shuttle bus will make multiple trips and take the runners back to J.Y. Square.

For more details and to view the race route interactive map visit www.sugbutriathlon.com.

Citi Run
(Click poster to enlarge)

With 4KM, 6KM and 12KM as race distances I’ve fondly nicknamed Citi Run as the B-Complex vitamins run. The race route is very similar to the Quota International 12K challenge, except that this race will start and end at the Waterfront Hotel in Lahug.

I’ve really high expectations from the organizers of this run simply because it’s organized by Waterfront Hotel and Citigym, which is the only 24/7 gym in Cebu. To boost the fun factor of this race (as if running isn’t fun enough) post-race activities include raffle, games, and photo sessions at the Citi Run photo wall.

Citi Run is directed by Joel Baring.

Runners' Central

Registration for all these races is on-going at Runnr in Ayala Center Cebu. You can pick one out of the three or even run all three of them, just make sure to make course-specific training.

Rules

By this time, you must have heard about the disqualification of local Kenyan star Simon Losiaboi from winning the top prize during last Sunday’s Rotary Run. I fully support the organizers adherence to the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) Competition Rules in settling disputes like this, even if the race was not exactly IAAF sanctioned and even if it was primarily a fun run. Adherence to rules ensures orderliness even in running a fun run. And these rules are not merely for elite runners like Simon. Defying these rules have consequences even for ordinary running mortals like us. What are they? That’s for another column, another day. In the meantime, set your running goals, train well and run injury free.

Seize the road!