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April 29, 2015

2015 PRO EARTH RUN: Gina's 1st Medal


"Turn right, not left."  I shouted out at my grade school classmate Gina  as  I tried to catch up with her in the Mall of Asia grounds in Pasay City. She was trotting fast along  Diokno Boulevard  and about to turn left Seaside Boulevard. Going left would have her joining the 5-km run  instead of the 3-km run which the two of us registered for. 

April 28, 2015

MEMORIAL RUN FOR COACH TOEL: Running for a Man of Empathy


"We run for many reasons.  We run for our health.  We run to win a finisher medal and a finisher shirt. We run to be happy.  We run to prove others wrong.  Rare is the time that we get to run to express our sympathy.  The memorial run this April 19 in MOA is one such occasion."

April 19, 2015

2015 MAYON 160 ULTRA MARATHON: An Interview With 2 Pioneers

Blogger's Note:   46 started and 37 finished within the cut off time of 32 hours.  This is the statistical story of the very first edition of the Mayon 160-km Ultra Marathon held last April 10-11, 2015.  Numbers don't lie. True but most times, cold numbers maybe not enough to paint a picture of the human struggles and triumphs  needed for the ordinary mortals to accomplish such an extraordinary feat. We are in luck this time for two of the finishers  have agreed to answer questions about their pioneering adventure.  Bob Castilla (Bib No. 1 ) and Ernie Badong (Bib No. 20) finished 6th and 20th place, respectively.  They are batchmates of the Bicolano Penguin (BP)  in the Ateneo de Naga High School Batch 1983 ("83neans"). Both were supported in the 160-km ultra by another batchmate Allen "Por Da Lab" Tolledo.  Both are veterans of more than two dozen ultra marathons in Luzon and Mindanao.  The longest that Bob has conquered is the 2013 West Coast 200-km Single Stage Ultra   while Ernie's longest is the 2013 Bataan Death March 160-km Ultra.   Both proudly donned the row5runnin shirt.  In this interview, they gamely and separately answered the questions about the 2015 Mayon 160 from the BP as well as from fellow row5runner Kevin Moral and fellow 83nean Bitoy Lorico.

April 3, 2015

GOOD FRIDAY: Regaining My "Faith"


With my hospital confinement for almost 2 weeks in March, the Bicolano Penguin has been quite reluctant to resume running.  It was discombobulating for me to have a healthy blood pressure (100/70) prior to my hospitalization and have elevated levels (160/100) upon my hospital discharge. Caution was what my Commander in Chief (CIC) was telling me. 

April 2, 2015

PRO EARTH RUN 2015: Media Briefing


You know that climate change is a veritable reality when even on a Holy Week this year, a super typhoon (Code name "Maysak") is threatening to hit the island of Luzon. It is supposed to be the height of summer time and yet there is a gloomy consciousness about this new normal. Our Planet Earth is indeed fucked up. Pardon my french.