For the Bull Runner Sun Life Dream Marathon 2020 , there were 13 First Balfour employees who registered. Of the total, 10 were able to actually start and finish the 42km running event at the Clark Parade Grounds in Pampanga. All 10 were requested by the Bicolano Penguin to answer 3 questions related to their first experience of a full marathon. With a finish time of 7:30:43, Emil Teodoro (Bib# 0965) is the last of the 10 First Balfour runners to finish the 2020 edition of TBR. The young civil engineer from UP Diliman attributes this to a lack of training. Based up north in Fairview QC while most of his TBR 2020 batchmates in First Balfour are from the South of Metro Manila, Emil was not able to regularly join the group training in Filinvest Alabang. But he tried his best to make up for lost time by doing solo runs in his alma mater of UP Diliman as the Feb 16 D-Day approached. Emil is an achiever, a composed one at that with wisdom more mature than his young age, as witnessed by the words he uses to elaborate on the saying "Life is a marathon, not a race." Here are Emil's reply to the 3 questions:
1. Why join the TBR Dream Marathon?
I joined the TBR because our company HR forced me to. Hahaha...just kidding! A lot of my officemates/friends were finishers of the TBR Dream Marathon before. They highly encouraged me to join the TBR. I also decided to join to push myself to the limits. I rarely run or jog before the TBR.
2. What was the experience like training and running your first full marathon?
Honestly, I haven't trained as much as I should've. The longest distance I have ran before the TBR was 25kms (short by 5kms, according to the recommended 30kms). But still, the few days and nights that I have trained with my firends, officemates and mentors, were fun and challenging, yet exhausting.
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| Back at his alma mater UP Diliman, Emil training with fellow First Balfour dreamers being led by Iya of 2014 Batch . |
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| Emil to the left of the Bull Runner Jaymie with the rest of the First Balfour delegation just before the start of the TBR Dream Marathon 2020. |
As for the marathon, I think that without my friends and pacers, I wouldn't have finished the race. I was already thinking of giving up at around the 35km mark. My legs were slowing down while my heart was beating faster every time I ran. "This is the longest 7kms of my life!" I told Ma'am Richelle, as she paced me through the last leg of the marathon. She was already telling me that I wouldn't reach the cut-off time if I kep my slow pace. Lucky her, my phone just died and my smart watch was acting up. I couldn't check the time and verify what she said. Hahaha.. When I was at the last 200 meters, everyone was already approaching me and telling me to run faster so we already could have our lunch (since I was the last one LOL).
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| With the finish line in sight, Emil soldiers on with First Balfour pacer Manuel. |
3. Would you recommend the TBR Dream Marathon to your loved ones and friends?
I would definitely ecommend the TBR to others, since running a full marathon is a very different experience. It literally made me understand the saying "Life is a marathon, not a race."
As cliche as it may sound, the saying "Life is a marathon, not a race." was made clearer to me during the TBR. It does not really matter if you finish below 4 hrs or just a hair under 8hrs. That was my motivation during the last leg of the race (aside from the promise of Kapampangan Sisig after the race). We're all still winners.
One of my loved ones told me just before the race, "Run your pace. Galingan." This is what I will probably hold on to the rest of my journey. I won't rush the process. I won't compare my progress to what other people are achieving. I will run my pace.
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| A jubilant finish, no matter the time. |
Photo credit: Ramon Rivera III Photography TBR Dream Marathon
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