We are at that
point in the last month of the year 2012 that we take stock of what has
transpired in our running for the past
12 months.
It is time to review if we
have accomplished the 8 objectives for 2012
we enumerated last December 2011 for the running men of Ateneo de Naga
HS Batch 1983 (http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2011/12/2011-lot-to-thank-for-2012-lot-to-look.html#more ).
At first glance,
it would seem that the year of the dragon was not as celestial after all. Out of the 8, less than half were achieved by
the 83neans. They are:
Objective No.
2. In the 2012 Bataan Death March
102km Ultra, we have 4 runners from our batch that survived
this grand daddy of Philippine ultramarathons:
Bob, Fards, Ernie and the Bicolano Penguin. (http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2012/03/2012-bataan-death-march-ultramarathon.html)
Objective No.
3. Bob conquered the BDM 160km ultra in
January 2012, finished 14th in a field of 53 survivors. Later on, last November, Bob placed 4th among 29 participants in the first-ever
West Coast 200km multi-stage ultramarathon.(http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-bdm-160-ultra-extraordinary.html#more) and (http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2012/11/west-coast-200k-ultra-83nean-at-4th.html#more)
Objective No. 6. One 83nean, Bitoy, got to finish a marathon
abroad. He did it at the 2012 Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. His first full mary. (http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2012/12/scms-ang-pagmumulat-ni-bitoy.html#more)
 |
| 2012 collage courtesy of Nicole Castilla |
The rest of the
8 objectives we did not achieve. Batch
83 only had 1 (Bitoy) new marathoner in 2012, not 4 (Objective 1) but we did
have 3 new ultra runners (Ernie, Ed and Ghibz) for the year. We did not join anymore the 2012 Mayon Trail
Run (Objective 4) as the current organizers are proving to be unreliable. None
of the 83neans got to run a marathon in the Visayas or Mindanao (Objective
5). No new funds raised from running
(Objective 7). We were 8 kms short of
saying that we had a bootleg ultra in
Bicol (Objective 8) this 2012.
This is not to
say that the year 2012 was a lost one.
We are not losers after all.
There are a lot
of special and priceless running blessings to be thankful for in 2012.
A big thing for
us 83neans in 2012 is that for the first time,
running shirts were provided to us by Bitoy and A Runners Circle
(Manila). These shirts we now use as
uniforms of the runnin8 m3n for others. (http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2012/09/penafrancia-marathon-2012-run-for-ina.html#more)
Chief too is the
fact that the 83neans got a whole page article in the leading running magazine
in the Philippines – frontRUNNER. (http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2012/12/frontrunner-magazine-vol-3-issue-5-2012.html#more)
The Bicolano
Penguin running blog celebrated its 1st birthday and the party was a
lovely bootleg marathon along the virginal Tiwi-Sangay Road in early November. (http://www.bicolanopenguin.blogspot.com/2012/11/1st-bicolano-penguin-anniversary-run.html#more)
And certainly, the runners of Ateneo de Naga HS Batch
1983 continued to
inspire and help others take up the passion of running in 2012. Fards made it his personal crusade to recruit fellow navy
officers to go for long distance running. His squad of recruits is mushrooming into a squadron. Ernie was quite instrumental in guiding Bitoy
in his marathon adventure. And for me, I
have enjoyed the bliss of pacing first timers at the TBR Dream Marathon early this year. The Bicolano Penguin is at it again as I get
to help the Wandering Jouster accomplish her marathon dreams. And there are a handful of runners at First
Balfour eagerly awaiting their chance to bag that first full mary next
year.
We get high on
running. We get high on helping. Runner’s high and helper’s high in 2012. We
plan to have a double of both in 2013.
Life is good.
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