Bicolano Penguin: CHALLENGE RUN 2023 & PACK WALK FOR A CAUSE: "Every Dog is a Lion at Home."

"Every dog is a lion at home." There is a saying, at times attributed to the 19th century British publisher H.G. Bohn and at times to a Ukrainian proverb , that is used to suggest that people tend to feel more comfortable, confident, and powerful in their own familiar surroundings.

After watching up close our dog Freedom participate in the Challenge Run 2023 & Pack Walk for a Cause last Aug 20, I guess we can say that this proverb applies to our canine friends too, literally and figuratively. Truly, Freedom was in his elements. He is a dog that is full of energy. He is a dog that loves to run. He does not walk, he runs. Correction, he flies. A 4X4 flying machine. Perhaps it is Freedom's uber athletic bloodline. Freedom is sired by Baron, a Jack Russell Terrier from Lopez, Quezon, who is considered by many as the most prolific ultra marathon running dog in the Philippines, if not in all of Asia.

Perhaps it is because Freedom has nothing better to do than to run as he hates being cooped up in the house majority of the day and most of the night. He hates inactivity, as opposed to our other house pet, Senora Kala, a Persian cat who has mastered the art of lounging 24/7. No wonder, Freedom and Kala are the best of frenemies.

Best of Frenemies: the flying Freedom vs. the lounging Kala.

Whatever it is, Freedom truly enjoyed the Aug 20 event jointly organized by 4 Lions Clubs: Marikina East Lions Club; Pasig Capitol Lions Club; Pasig City Golden Lions Club; and Taguig Global Centennial Lions Club.

Enjoying the festivities of a fun run.

If only dogs can speak the language of humans, Freedom would tell of exuberance abounding in him last Aug 20.

But wait, perhaps, with a bit more empathy, I can get to translate for Freedom. After all, it has been written that dogs use a variety of methods to communicate with humans. They can use their body language, facial expressions, vocalizations, their tails, ears, and eyes to convey their message. They use body language to express a variety of emotions, including happiness, sadness, fear, anxiety, and aggression. Hallelujah, it is possible.

Yup, here is Freedom's perspective, at literally ground level, of his experience joining the Challenge Run 2023 & Pack Walk for a Cause:

Wuf. Wuf. I am Freedom. My name is Freedom because I was given for free. Unlike my mortal combat enemy Kala who is named as such because kalahati sa presyo (50% off) ng binili siya. Last Sunday (Aug 20) early morning dawn of 3am, my slave, err. my master pala, who goes by the nom de plume of Bicolano Penguin (BP) , woke me up. He smelled excited and fresh (he has taken a human bath already) so I figured I be excited too. No luck for me to smell fresh like BP coz my default smell is sweaty and dirty. I am a JRT, not a pampered Pomeranian after all. Having put the darn leash on me, both of us hurriedly boarded the 4 wheeled contraption the humans call a Montero.

Pretty soon, we were cruising on the road. After a while, I sensed the vehicle stopped and BP rolled down the window. I heard a different voice speak which startled me and got me barking incessantly. Then the vehicle moved again and then stopped. BP went down the vehicle. I wanted to alight too but BP closed the door already and I was left inside by myself. Alone. Grrrrrr....Darn I hate being alone in confinement.

After what felt like eternity, BP is back with a piece of white shirt, a piece of paper with a number and a red scarf. Turns out the pinkish (mala rosas) red scarf is for me as BP tied it around my neck. With pink on me, looks like my dog fortunes for the day are looking up.

We got out of the vehicle and we started roaming the place which was called Taguig Lakeshore Hall and parking lot. Many two-legged beings out and the sun is still not out. This is the most number of humans I have seen in my 7 years of existence on planet Earth (that is 6 months in human terms) . What is the conflagration all about? Then live and bouncy music started to crackle out of some speaker sound system. Party time people! After the music, came the angelic voices of two angels. Correction, two ladies steering the program of the event. A few more spoke and then many humans started gathering in front of the two angels. Turns out it is time for Zumba, the foreplay before the big enchilada. Many of the women liked it.

Into the light, the humans gathered, attracted ...

...attracted by the angelic and alluring voices of the 2 emcees for the day: Irma Tia and Guia Buenaventura.

Humans marching and perspiring to the beat of Zumba.

Got some attention from a pair of lovely ladies. Classy women know class when they see one.

After a huge dose of the Latin aerobic fitness activity, the real party was about to start. I could see humans clad in running shirts and running shoes congregating at the starting line. First to go were the 16km runners. Most of the humans entered in the 16kms looked scrawny. Then the 10km runners. And then the 5km runners. This was a bigger number of humans and their dimensions were a bit more rotund than the 16km and 10km humans.

Start of the 5kms race

Start of the 10km race

Start of the 15km race.

And now it is the turn of the real stars of the show - the Dogs, all 4 legs of muscle and cuteness. I tried positioning myself at the front of the starting line. To my left was this Shih Tzu. She smelled great and looked cute but too noisy for my taste. Earlier, she arrived at the event, carried in a baby stroller. Figures, she is such a noisy baby. But I wouldn't mind strolling the whole day with this peach. But darn, my master pulled me away from the front as we positioned at the back of the starting pack. Being part of the row5runnin tribe, the BP customarily starts races at the back. The thinking is that by starting at the very back, the row5runner will do the overtaking rather than being overtaken. Let's see if that strategy works in a dog race.

The white Shi Tzu wheeled like a cute babe in a baby stroller.

So, as we waited at the back, I heard confetti popping out signalling the start. In front of me was chaos personified as a handful of dogs got into barking at each other and their handlers tried feverishly to avoid having the dog leaches intertwined with each other (Note to organizer: How come dogs are required to be in a leash in a race while humans are no. No to species profiling). BP and myself expertly skirted the dog leash conundrum a few meters in front of the starting line and we were out on the open road. Ahead of me were a trio of dogs: a Golden Retriever (aka Goldilocks); a Siberian Husky (aka Fashion Show); and a Daschund (aka Sausage).

Goldilocks the Golden Retriever and Sausage the Daschund.

Fashion Show the Siberian Husky and the rest of the canine runners.

Will I overtake them and make all small dogs in general, and JRTs in particular, of the world proud? I got less than 1.5 kms to do it. All bets are off. First on my target to overtake is the wily Sausage. Daschunds have the same short legs as JRTs but have longer bodies, so the laws of physics dictate that Sausage is exerting more energy that I do in tackling this 1.5 km route. But the damn Sausage exhibited admirable perseverance in staving me off from overtaking him in the next 500 meters but at the midpoint U-turn, I was right on his pudgy heels and overtaken Sausage easy at that point. Next up is the Siberian Husky, who because of his great looks and velvety soft fur undercoat just like how fashion supermodel Naomi Campbell wore it, I call Fashion Model. A Siberian Husky is much bigger and taller than poor old JRT me. Fashion Model definitely have longer four legs that I do and he was going to the first 800 meters of the 1.5km course real fast with his long gait. But then the realities of the tropics hit hard the Siberian Husky. High humidity and not-so-cool temperature in the shores of Laguna de Bay started taking its tool on Fashion Show and the poor dog just stopped running and last time I saw him when I overtook him at the 1km mark was his tongue was out. The poor Siberian Husky was overheating. 500 meters to go and the lead dog was about 150 meters ahead of me. Will I have enough energy to power my run to overtake the Golden Retriever who I fondly call Goldilocks? With confidence, I, Freedom the JRT, can answer "Absolutely Yes." But then again in this race, I have my human partner BP and between the 2 of us, the Penguin is definitely the weak link. As much as I tried and tried, I fell short of catching up with Goldilocks as my master the Bicolano Penguin could not keep up with my frenetic pace, thereby scuttling my effort to catch up and overtake with Goldilocks. I watch in horror as Goldilocks crossed the finish line, about 50 meters ahead of poor old me.

Drone shot of the dogs running the 1.5km route along C6 Taguig

A few more seconds, together we crossed the finish line. BP was ecstatic and even poured some refreshing cool water on me as we had a photo together in front of the finish line. I hear him shouting joyfully "Podium Finisher. Podium Finisher." Turns out, finishing second has the honor of a podium finish. Great honor they say and for BP, it is the first time for him, after more than a decade of joining races and fun runs. Kudos to us then. A little dog like me can be a Lion after all.

Cool water that refreshes.

Buoyed by such a blissful feeling, I still had a lot of adrenaline. Looks like the 1.5km pack walk of this Lions Club event is not enough for me. Bitin si ako. So I badgered Bicolano Penguin to going for another lap around the 1.5km route. BP and I ended up running 3 rounds more, giving me a total distance of 6kms for the morning of Aug 20. Had a chance to have a photo with one of the emcees and she smelled good.

After the 1.5km race, another round...

...and another for me and the BP.

A photo with the emcee Irma, a colegiala from the USI HS Batch 1983.

Feeling tired yet contented, an hour later after our run, me and BP are on our way back to our home in Paranaque. On the drive back, I fell asleep. And while sleeping, the lyrics of the iconic Pink song are streaming in my subconscious: .

'Wag kang mabahala

Ikaw ay mahalaga Hindi kita pababayaan Hindi ka naiiba At sana'y paniwalaan Na pipiliin ka araw-araw

Tired, sleeping and dreaming.

Freedom is one talkative dog. Meron pinagmanahan. hehehe...

So that is the perspective of Freedom on the Challenge Run 2023 & Pack Walk for a Cause. A note-worthy and beautiful endeavor indeed of a number of like-minded and active Lions Clubs in the sun-rising part of Metro Manila.

Hobnob with one of the corporate sponsors of the event: Salonpas.

Worth mentioning that proceeds from the Aug 20 event will be utilized to fund the following projects: coastal clean up; mangrove planting; medical mission; and feeding program. These projects are like the cup of team for many runners, like the Bicolano Penguin. So again, kudos to the Lions of the Lions Clubs.