“Respect
the distance.” Bald Runner’s
voice boomed as he uttered these words.
Per the Race Director, this is the key in surviving the Bataan Death
March 102km Ultra which will have its 5th edition this March 2 &
3. Respect the distance and train for this One Hundred Two kilometers of
historic glory. No ifs and buts about
it.
As I hear these
words, I can’t help but squirm on my butt
a few meters away from the good general as he conducted the final briefing at
the Patio inside the AFP Officers Clubhouse in Camp Aguinaldo last night. The room was crowded with BDM veterans,
newbies and supporters and all were wrapped in attention to every word of
wisdom that the Bald Runner was dispensing.
 |
| With the young runners of Team Navy managed by Fards |
 |
| With Seow Kow Ng, an international runner who survived the gruelling Taklang Damulag 100 Mile Trail Run |
The truth about
it, I felt that I had not prepared adequately for this ultra. Injuries and conflict of schedule
hampered my training. The last 2 weeks I was cramming. And more bad news kept coming. Fards got injured in December. Ernie is still recovering from the flogging
his feet endured from the BDM 160K ultra in January. And just a couple of days back, I got a text
from Ed informing me that he sprained his foot on a training run. With my fellow 83neans damaged by injuries, the Bicolano Penguin will be
waddling solo in the 2013 Bataan Death March.
And if I
intended to get some boost from the final briefing, the BDM 102K ultra
statistics were not a source of optimism:
2009 edition - 63
finishers /83 starters
(76%)
2010 edition -104
finishers/123 starters
(84%)
2011 edition - 12
finishers/154 starters
(73%)
2012 edition -160 finishers/223 starters
(72%)
The survival
rate is steadily going down. Will the
2013 edition, with 200+ registrants, reverse the trend in the survival rate?
One source of inspiration though for me at the final briefing last night was
the presence of Ed, Ernie and Fards. Even though they were not running this
weekend at the BDM, they attended and informed me that they would be my support
crew from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga. This they extended despite being in various states of
recovery from their injuries.
The wounded in
body helping the wounded in spirit. Such is the spirit of the Bataan Death March
back then in World War II. Such is the
needed spirit now.
With this kind
of help, how can I disappoint?
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