Road to Redemption (Last of 3 parts)

Two weeks before Bataan Death March 160  I was resigned to running the last 58 kilometers of the dark and treacherous Mac Arthur highway alone.

 Then like manna from heaven, God gave me Ken Alonte and his partner of eight years Emmilie Cuizon. 

My pacer Ken Alonte sent to me by the gods of ultramarathon running.

Cebuano ultrarunner and adventure racer Ken Alonte is a veteran of the 2011 edition of BDM 102.  He was registered to run BDM 160 this year with Emilie as his support crew when an opportunity to travel Europe for a month came up.  Ken and Emilie decided to divert their money and logistics for the trip to Europe and  selflessly volunteered as my pacer and support crew instead.  This, despite the fact that prior to BDM, we did not even know each other and were not even friends, yet.

As pacer, Ken had to make sure that we run the last 58 KM’s at 9 minutes per kilometer. He was to be my eyes and ears, as I trekked Mac Arthur highway groggy, sleepy and cranky after having run 102 KMs.  Emilie on the other hand was to assist Eugene who had been driving since KM 0.       

I reached Km 102 in 16 hours 52 minutes - still an hour ahead of schedule, still running strong, still wide awake.  I had Jolly Spaghetti for dinner and lay on Ken’s yoga mat for 15 minutes and stretched.  The race plan called for a 30-minute nap, but I decided to skip the shuteye and take advantage of my lead.

As Ken paced me through the 20KM road leading to Angeles City I knew we were nowhere near 9 minutes per kilometer.  We were running at 7 minutes per kilometer!  It was way too fast!  When we reached Angeles City, I asked Ken why he wasn’t following our race plan.  He said “Kaya mo pa modagan ug kusog even after 102KM, it means kusgan pa ka.  Let’s take advantage of it.  Let’s try to run strong, for as long as we can.”   After that, I decided to put my full faith and not question my pacer, who had full faith in me.

  

The best crew any runner could hope for - MAJ Eugene Cabusao, Ms. EmmilieCuizon and Mr. Ken Alonte

 When we reached Mabalacat,  we met Bro. Carlo Bacalla who had earlier decided to DNF at KM 118 after he could no longer keep food and fluid down. Ken and I promised to finish the race for him.  

 We forged ahead and ran two kilometers before taking minute-long rests in between. Surprisingly, despite our fast clip, I had no cramps and felt no tightness in the quads and hams.  During breaks Emillie fed me , helped me find a clean restroom for the number 2, stretched me and even thoughtfully remembered to put balm on my dry lips to keep them from bleeding.  I had the best crew any runner could hope for.  Eugene, Ken and Emmilie knew exactly what I needed, even before I knew I needed it.

Fatigue finally set in when reached Bamban town and our pace slowed.  It was already light when we reached the Capas-Concepcion junction which signaled the final 16-kilometers to the finish line.  “Pang ilan ako na babae?”,  we asked Baldrunner’s marshall stationed near Mc Donald’s Capas.  “Ikaw pa lang ma’am!”  I was   aghast.  What?  That cannot be.  I knew Keisha Fule and Kelly Lim were both ahead of me.  But this bit of wrong information fired us up as we entered the rolling and undulating road towards the Capas, National Shrine.  At 10K to go before the finishline, we were met by Ungo runner Jinky Yray who was there to cheer on runners informed us that the first female – Keisha Fule crossed the finish line in 23:56:31 and that I was now second after Kelly Lim DNF’ed. 

It was so close.  I cannot pass out now nor get run over by the speeding tricycles.  To guard my second place position, I tasked Eugene and Emilie to trace the road behind us and look for the third female runner.  Was she behind us?  Yes, 6 KM behind.  Was she still strong?  She’s suffering just like you are.  “Just keep running slow and steady.  Don’t drop the ball now, no time for crying, it will sap your energy.”  Eugene would tell me.  Then I told Eugene.  “We’ve been on this same road the year before, but today we’ve turned ourselves from zero to hero.”  For the first time after 28 hours on the road, I took off my shirt and changed into my club colors which proudly proclaimed – “Cebu Ultrarunners Club”.

As Ken and I entered the Capas National Shrine for the victory lap I was choking in my own tears as images of my yearlong sacrifice, self denial, discipline and obsessive training through heat, rain and sleep deprivation came rushing through my head.  


Consummatum est at 28:42:56!  I was second female, but I definitely felt like a champion.  The third female, Emma Alvarez finished in 29:30:42.

Two days after BDM 160 I resumed life as I knew it before training for BDM 160.  Went back to writing reports at the Court of Appeals and resumed anchor duties for TV Patrol Central Visayas.  On my first day of airing after a 4-month hiatus, my co-anchor Leo Lastimosa asked me this:  “How could you postpone life in order to give time for an abstract passion like running BDM 160?” 

BDM 160 Finishline @ Capas National Shrine with Race Director retired Army MGEN Jovenal Narcise

It’s hard to explain the reward of running 100 miles, but it’s like this.  It is a fact every runner knows – the miles you run are one of the very few things in life you truly earn on your own merit.  No one else  can give it to you. 

While the pursuit of this hundred-mile journey was obsessive at times and cost me a small fortune, I’d like to think I’ve succeeded in showing that women can be anything they want to be.  I did not postpone life, I’ve enriched my life.  I’m no longer just daughter, wife, lawyer, journalist, soon-to-be-mother, I am also 100-mile road warrior who’s earned one of only 88 BDM silver buckles in the country. 

 In the end my message is simple.  If an average like me can do it, so can you.

Road to Redemption (2nd of 3 parts)

Road to Redemption (2^nd of 3 parts)

50K and beyond is a woman’s game.  There are studies which show that, because of their capacity to store more fat and high tolerance for pain, women survive the ultramarathon distance better than men.

 

Sadly though, men still far outnumber women in ultramarathons, especially in the Philippines.  In the 1^st Bataan Death March 160K in 2011, there were only 4 women out of 59 starters; while the 2012 edition had 6 women out of the 74 starters.

The first exclusive for women 50K ultramarathon happening on March 10, 2012 in the cities of Cebu, Mandue and Lapu-Lapu is designed to correct this disparity by giving more women an opportunity to explore the ultramarathon distance in a race exclusively designed for women. 

Hopefully more and more women will join the much longer distances in the future such as the BDM 102 and BDM 160, the longest and most prestigious road ultramarathon in the country organized by retired Major General Jovenal Narcise also fondly called BR, which is short for Baldrunner.  BR is widely considered as Godfather among ultrarunners and a pioneer in organizing ultramarathons in the country.

Last week, I wrote about how, after being dead last among 74 runners in the BDM 160, I slowly overtook runners by running a conservative pace of 6.5 kilometers per hour.

50K to 102, seizing a spot on the women’s podium

When I checked in with the race marshals at KM 50 in Abucay, Bataan I was ranked 66^th overall and was the 4^th woman to cross.  At KM 50 I took a 15-minute break to eat lunch and monitor my race plan.  I was an hour and fifteen minutes ahead of schedule.  I rested fifteen minutes to eat lunch.

If there’s anything I learned from my first 100-miler is that fancy fuels just won’t do.  If you want to last more than 24-hours of running and walking, you must re-fuel using real food.

Boneless Dangit, Rice, Bread, Spam, Sunblock & Liniment

Unlike my previous nutrition plan which included only engineered food of energy gels, power bars and liquid food which were all expensive but succeeded only in making me hungry and hyperacidic; this year I had a full meal of rice, boneless danggit from Bantayan, luncheon meat and bread, all of which I hand-carried all the way from Cebu and cost me only a fraction of the cost of gels and bars.

After 3 BDM's you learn to edit your supplies to just the essentials.

I resumed running, shuffling along in the same pace and still managed to overtake male runners in the towns of Samal, Orani, and Hermosa, Bataan.  After 10 hours of running and walking I entered Pampanga province through the town of Dinalupihan.  There I paced with Barry Red who was running to honor the memory of his father who recently died at the age of 68 – which was also Barry’s race bib.

We reached KM 80 or the halfway mark in Lubao, Pampanga with only 13 hours elapsed since gun start which meant we had more or less 18 hours to run another 80 kilometers.  We were in high spirits and felt no pain.

 

It was already dark when we reached KM 83 where the road forks towards the town of Guagua.  At KM 84 I spotted what looked like a woman wearing a Fairview Runners Club singlet.  I ran faster to get a closer look.  It was Emma Alvarez.  She was in third place and I have been looking for her since KM 50.  For two kilometers I ran 10 meters behind Emma and her companion and assessed her gait.  Was she slowing down? Yes.  Was I still strong? Yes.  Can I overtake her without ruining my pace and race plan? Maybe.

I decided to take a chance and ran faster than I should to overtake Emma in third place, making extra effort to look relaxed and strong.  The idea was to intimidate the competition and lead her to thinking that while she was feeling tired, I was just beginning to get strong – like I was just getting started.

Photo credit: J. Avellanosa Photography

The gambit worked.  When I overtook Jonel Mendoza at KM 95 he confirmed that I was 3^rd among the women with Keisha Fule and Kelly Lim (of Singapore) in 1^st and 2^nd place respectively.  Emma Alvarez was 3 kilometers behind.  I reached KM 102 at 16 hours 52 minutes, a good thirty minutes better than my previous personal record in the 102 distance which was 17 hours and 22 minutes.

From KM 102 to 160, runners are allowed to have pacers to keep them safe throughout the long and dusty northbound trek along Mac Arthur Highway.  Ken Alonte, another Cebu based veteran of BDM 102 paced me through this critical stretch of the race and pushed me like I’ve never been pushed before, ensuring my second place finish the country’s longest and most prestigious road ultramarathon.

Road to Redemption (1st of 3 parts)

Photo Credit: Team USB

The starting line of the 2012 Bataan Death March 160K Ultramarathon was filled with the usual suspects – hardened ultrarunners from all over the country including visiting runners from the United States and Singapore, the hyperactive support crew from running teams rooting for the warriors and then there were the BDM 160 repeaters (like me) who were out on a mission to redeem ourselves after missing the 30-hour cut-off in the first edition last year.

Amidst all the starting line chatter, I sat quietly in a corner and mentally reviewed my race plan.  There wasn’t a hint of nervousness, not a sliver of doubt in my mind that, this time, the stars were all aligned and I would finish the race.

I was more nervous about leading the Philippine national anthem before the race than the actual race itself.  I was ready and could not wait for the race to be over and done with.

It wasn’t just bravado.  It was real confidence I felt which comes from knowing you’ve trained well and could not have done anything more to get any better.

It’s also the kind of confidence that comes from knowing that my whole town was rooting me. (At least it felt as if the whole of Cebu was rooting for me when I read all the well wishes on Facebook, twitter and those sent via SMS in the days leading to the big day.)

This year, my support crew included my husband Eugene Cabusao as chief; ultrarunner Ken Alonte as my pacer from 102 to 160; and swimmer and triathlete EmillieCuizon as assistant.  This assembly of  three very generous, experienced and dedicated crew will prove crucial in my secret goal to land in the podium in my final attempt at the 100-mile distance.


I didn’t just want to finish 100 miles in 30 hours or less.  I wanted my BDM 160 to end in a blaze of glory.

First 50K, run smart, not fast

There were 73 starters including six female runners.  There was one runner who missed the gunstart by 30 minutes but was allowed to catch up making it 74 contenders for the elusive silver buckle – a coveted memento for official finishers of BDM 160 along with the trophy replica of the death march kilometer post and a medal showing your actual ranking.  If you miss the cut-off, you get the medal and trophy, but no silver buckle.  If you miss the cut-off, you’re also not listed in the official list of finishers.  It’s as if you’re 160-kilometer trek did not happen.

Since July 2011, I trained to run BDM 160 at an 8-minute per kilometer pace.  On race day, I made this target more conservative by running 9 minutes per kilometer or only 6.5 kilometers per hour. 

I was dead last from KM 21 to 36.  The military ambulance provided by Race Director retired MGEN Jovie Narcise was at my heels for most of the way as if mocking me for my slow pace. 

At first, it bothered me that I was last in a pack of 73, but I dug deep and remembered what the Bible had to say about those first being last and those last being first.  I repeated it over and over in my head, trying to convince myself that to run slow means running fast when it matters in the final stretch of the 100-mile race.  By the time I reached KM 36, I knew the Bible was right.

Photo Credit: Michael Red.  At KM 50 Checkpoint

I found my target in Major Teresa Gangan at KM 40.  She was at her pitstop, obviously struggling from the heat and from having run too fast at the start.  I said hello and inquired if she's OK.  She said she signed up at the last minute and was under-trained and was now slowing down.  I told her I was the last runner and that she should speed up a little bit if she doesn’t want to end up last.  She sped-up but couldn’t keep up.  I was no longer dead last.  Lesson number one:  run smart and never get sucked on someone else’s program.  It destroys your pace and your mental game. 

I arrived at KM 50 at number 66 at 7 hours 47 minutes from gun start.

We were six females at the start.   Ellen Abigail Castillo dropped out at KM 23 and Major Gangan was now two kilometers behind me.  This meant there were three other women in front of me. I only needed to overtake one more female runner in order to seriously gun for a podium finish.  I shuffled along, still at 6.5-kilometers per hour and waited for my next target to appear.