KINALAS RUN

"What does one must do to have a taste of this tasty treat?"

Alas for a group of homesick 83neans, the answer is to run for a long distance. 18 kms to be exact from the hills of La Marea, San Pedro, Laguna to the plains of Mambog, Bacoor, Cavite. This they did in the morning hours of October 13.  Thus, was born the Kinalas Run. The first, hopefully, of many to come.

The Kinalas Run is actually the brainchild  of Noel “Ghibz” Guevara. With a series of emails originating from him last October 11, the running 83neans in Manila were mobilized for this adventure. The idea was to run from Ghibz’ La Marea residence to the newly-opened eatery of our Batch 83 classmate Ipe Fabricante in front of Mambog public elementary school. There resided    the promise of tasting  Ipe’s version of kinalas. In addition, the kinalas run was to provide us our long slow distance run for the week as we prepare for the Rizal to Laguna (R2L) ultra two weeks away.  God knows, we haven’t had any long runs together for quite some time already.

Route from La Marea to Mambog

Come 5:30am, an excited full hand of Ateneo de Naga HS Batch 1983 running buddies assembled in front of Ghibz’ house:  Bob, Ernie, Ed, Ghibz and me.  On hand to drive the support vehicle was Orly. Without much ado, the Kinalas Run started. The portion from La Marea to the entrance to Daang Reyna was hilly as it passed thru  Victoria Avenue. Along Daang Reyna, it was flat all the way. But the stretch of Daang Hari was a combo of downhill and uphill. Turning right at Molino Road, it was all flat again but more congested with vehicular traffic. We turned left at Molino Boulevard which was flat and less congested. After more than a kilometer, we turned left at Palico Daanan which was the home stretch.

Speed details from Ghibz’ smart phone

It was now nearing 8am.  All in all, it took us 2 hours and 27 minutes of run and walk to reach the eatery. Ipe’s version of the kinalas did not disappoint. The generous portion of pork meat with the noodles and tasty broth gave such a culinary  delight that we ended up asking for second servings. It was a fun-filled adventure as the pictures would attest:

Ernie, Ed, Ghibz, BP and Bob at the start in La Marea

Gliding along Victoria Avenue

Ernie and Bob making their breakaway just before Daang Reyna

Side by side along Daang Reyna

Speeding it up along Daang Hari

Taking it easy along Molino Boulevard

Ipe’s kinalas and puto combo

Ubos kaagad sa sarap!

Bob and Ernie enjoying Ipe’s kinalas

Chef Ipe and partner Iza

A content running expedition

83nean runners with Ipe and Dan

Our October 13 run was a quest for the kinalas, the acknowledged comfort food among residents of our Camarines Sur. The dictionary defines comfort food as something that is associated with a sense of home and contentment.  In that sense, our Kinalas Run was a source of contentment for us knowing that more and more we are getting ready for the ultra runs we plan later at the end of the month. The Kinalas Run  was a training run that provided us comfort that we can do the R2L.    

"Ghibz, nuarin  ang sunod na kinalas run? Masiramon ang kinalas na gibo ni Ipe."