GLOBAL FRONTLINERS HEROES RUN 2020: Not All Heroes Wear Capes

"For the safety of  frontliners all over the world in this time of the global pandemic."

This is among the prayer intentions we have consistently included in the  prayer of the Holy Rosary by our family every night since the  start of the Enhanced Community Quarantine in Luzon last March 16. Similarly, at the start of April, my eldest sister has requested for a list of all our relatives (from our father's and mother's side) who are currently serving as medical frontliners. The number stands at 32 and in the small confines of her current detention area, she has been praying deeply and sincerely for their safety, as well as for the welfare of the Filipino people. 

No doubt, regardless of religion or race, people around the world have been praying in this time of the Wuhan Virus (aka COVID-19). In the face of an existential threat, the whole of humanity has seemingly come together for something positive (pardon the pun). There is a lot of goodwill in the air. And a ton of that goodwill have been meritoriously   directed at the frontliners.  

We've heard it said time and time again during this pandemic that not all heroes wear capes.     And this phrase is referring to healthcare workers and others who are risking infection with COVID-19 for the good of others. This phrase draws a comparison between a person in the real world and a superhero, with the point being that people in reality can be just as good as the mystified heroes of comics and movies. The phrase itself relies on the idea that most heroes, or at least most superheroes like DC's Superman and  X-Men's Storm, do wear capes.  And the heroes of today's war against the COVID19 are wearing face masks, face shields and PPE clothing. Occasionally, some of them frontliners wear a pair of Altras or Hokas, marking them as disciples of the Gospel of Running. 

Speaking of running of the pinoy kind, there is this Pinoy Runners Global's (PRG)  virtual event called "Global Frontliners COVID-19 Heroes Run." It is scheduled for Aug 14-24, 2020.  Part of PRG's Virtual Takbo series, this event honors the hundreds and thousands of people in the front lines working non-stop with those that are sick and are at risk of getting the Wuhan Virus.  THE REAL HEROES - the  healthcare providers and hospital workers, the first responders, researchers, food and delivery service providers, volunteers and countless others who are working incredibly long hours and putting their own lives at risk. But most of all, we honor those frontliners who have fallen and who have lost their lives in their heroic service during this ongoing Pandemic.  

  

This event is sponsored by Pinoy Runners New Jersey (PRNJ).   Thanks to the initiative of PRG's Rona, the Bicolano Penguin was able to interview one of its team captains - DV del Valle, a  marathoner and a doctor. 

Bicolano Penguin (BP):  What is the rationale for the Global Frontliners Heroes Run?  Why PRNJ decided to host it?

DV del Valle (DV):  Many Pinoys here in New Jersey  (as in most of the USA) are in the healthcare field - Doctors, Nurses, Hospital workers, Respiratory Therapists, Physical Therapists, Social Workers...you name it! You go to any hospital or medical center here, you will surely  find a Pinoy worker, especially as Frontline personnel attending to COVID patients. Many have gotten ill and some have died in their dedication to their line at work. 

When we were offered by the PRG hierarchy to sponsor this run early this month, we had no idea what to call this event. We convened an online meeting with our present Board Members and decided it would be most appropriate to do the event to honor and appreciate these Frontliners. After much back and forth dialogue, the title "Global COVID-19 Frontline Heroes Day Run" came up as final.   To come up with the graphics for the Announcement Ads and Bibs, we all pitched in ideas and shared graphic images in our discussion group chat. We then sent the graphic concept we liked the most to Maner Puyawan, the computer expert of PRG who maintains all their social content. Maner put the final design all together based on our likings.

BP:  When was PRNJ formed?   How was it formed?    

DV:  PRNJ was formed in mid-December (2019) . The story goes like this... We have a good number of Pinoys here in New Jersey who we see and get to meet in the many run events we have attended to in the Tri-State area (which includes New York, Connecticut and New Jersey). On one occasion, my regular running  group here (we call ourselves the Superfriends)  were just talking casually about the situation ... that it would be nice to get our own running club  going so that we can have an official group here to represent us in the PRG umbrella (Pinoy Runners Global).  These wonderful ladies asked  me to initiate this since I have had experiences in the past forming and managing an all-Pinoy basketball group here in NJ (called JSAG). 

So, I challenged them (Leah, Jay L, Daphne, Jen, Lulu) to contact all the Pinoy Runners they knew state-wide to get their involvement in this daring endeavor. Leah and Jay spoke highly of a dynamo runner they knew from North Jersey - si Erenea. So they contacted her and invited her to come join us  and she gladly obliged to do so! I personally knew an MD colleague and another good friend, both avid runners from Jersey City  and told them of our plans. Doc Winston and Rina V  willingly showed their interest and immediately joined in.  Another MD colleague from the Cherry Hill area, Doc Buddy one day (during that time frame) posted here in FB a run he just did in Philadelphia. So I immediately contacted him and invited him to join our growing group of running enthusiasts. He brought along Paul Liay  who was a noted distance runner in their area - South Jersey. The ladies (Jay L, Leah, et al) were all from Central Jersey, so we decided they would represent this area. As for me, I am the main coordinator for a small group of Pinoy Runners here in the Jersey Shore, called Running mates. 

So, with a core group of Pinoys representing most of NJ, albeit small, we decided to call an inaugural meeting on Dec 14 on one chilly Winter day. We get together impromptu on my office here in Old Bridge township and got to see and meet each other for the first time.

In this meeting, we decided to lay the groundwork for our organization..we were to call it Pinoy Runners of New Jersy or PRNJ which would be composed of 5 regional chapters:  North Jersey, Jersey City, Central Jersey, South Jersey/Cherry Hill and Jersey Shore. We then discussed many things we needed to do in order to get our newly-formed org to be a legal entity representing Pinoy Runners here in NJ.  We talked about drafting a Constitution & By-Laws (which has now been finalized),  election of  our first set of officers, activities we should embark upon, opening a bank account etc etc.  

To get things going, we set about organizing Group Practice Runs to be rotated amongst the 5 Regional Chapters. We have been doing this since Jan on a weekly basis but had to stop in early March due to the ongoing pandemic. We resumed our group runs just last month with the Jersey Shore Group as sponsors and had our first Summer Barbecue Party. It was a well-attended event. Just yesterday Jersey City was the host of our latest group run and we did it in tandem with a 5K Virtual Run handled by the Handang Tumulong Foundation, Inc. (HTFI) of which Doc Winston is the current President. Many signed up for this worthy fundraiser cause and it was indeed fun. The next group run will be on Sept to be sponsored by Erenea and her North Jersey co-runners.  

BP:  How many members are part of PRNJ?   

DV: Currently we have 20 committed Board Members.  They were all invited individually (by me)  to be a founding member of our newly formed organization. The invitation outlined the duties and responsibilities of being a PRNJ Board Member. It was a stringent set of guidelines. My rationale for doing the invitation like so - the founding members must be willing to work HARD, to SACRIFICE their time to help out in the activities of our org, to put their priorities in serving PRNJ...all this on a voluntary basis. Most accepted right away; some of those invited begged-out. So out of about 35 individuals invited, 20 came out as the magic number.     

Group photo of the founding members of PRNJ in Dec 2019. Notice they already have a PRNJ shirt on their inaugural meeting.  Talk about prepared.  

Honor thy flag; Help thy countrymen. PRNJ runners participating in a 5km fun run this weekend in support of HTFI, a foundation dedicated to raise "ready" funds to help in a heartbeat, those affected by devastating natural calamities. 

PRNJ's DV Del Valle nearing the finish line of the 2013 New Jersey Novodisc Marathon. He has been running full marys since 2009. 

An informative  interview with the leadership of PRNJ. There is an abundance of medical frontliners in this group and it shows in the genesis of the PRNJ. The meticulous planning, the attention to detail  and the diligence in the preparations. These are all hallmarks in the field of healthcare. Truly inspiring and truly moving. 

Moving to go run in the Global Frontliners Heroes Run 2020.   

This PRG Virtual Takbo  is a multi-distance running event offering 5kms, 10kms, 21kms, 32kms and 42kms.   With 5 choices, the BP inadvertently picked 32 kms. The choice was made because last weekend, I already had the 42 kms in the International Beer Day Run. Decided to tone it down a bit this weekend.  

Turns out the 32 directly matches the number of relatives we have who are medical frontliners. Respect  for the bloodline.  Here are some of them:

Mother and Son.  First cousin Manay Rosa is a Medical Officer with the DILG while her son Mau is a Medical Technologist with the DOH.

Jella is the wife of my nephew Jon Igoy and she is a nurse at the Arizona Heart Hospital in Phoenix.

My cousin Dennis Magistrado is a Physiotherapy Assistant in a long term care facility in Ontario.

Christopher is the husband of my niece Melissa de Lima and he is a nurse in Virginia Beach. 

There are many frontliners among our friends and classmates  plus the local running community is teeming with them as well. As a way of tribute, we share their photos:

LCA grade School classmate Melchie Florece-Penaflor is a registered Medical Technologist working for the DOH.  She is currently assigned to the Rural Health Unit of the Sangay LGU in Cam Sur.   

LCA grade school classmate Dr. Bherl Basinal-Balita is with a couple of hospitals in Metro Manila. Doing UltraSound is considered high risk procedure considering close contact with patient for more than 15 minutes 

Ateneo high school classmate Randy Villegas works as an Emergency Patient Care Technician in St. Peter's University Hospital in New Jersey.  

LCA grade school classmate Dr. Annelyn V. Mendoza is the municipal health officer of Bato, Cam Sur. 

Growing up in the same parish in Iriga City in the late 70s and early 80s, Dr Eric is  now a doctor with a clinic in downtown Barcelona.

The founder  of Milaor Running Team,  Engr. William Menes (in red shirt) is the Incicent Management Team  commander of the Milaor LGU in Cam Sur. Effectively, he is the head of the local IATF in Milaor. 

Team Subo's Doods Gigantoca  (in blue shirt) distributing food supplies, with the assistance of a fellow ultra runner , to frontliners in the Port of Legazpi City, Albay.  Doods is a frontliner himself working with the regional office of the DILG. 

The capable race director of Asog 360 Ultra, RUNconada's Cyrus Nacario is a nurse with the Department of Health assigned to the town of Caramoan, Cam Sur.  

RUNconada's John Fortuna and Jonas Nacario are nurses in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Dona Josefa Hospital Foundation in Iriga City. 

Joggernaut's Peter Christopher Illanza is an Emergency Room Nurse at the Bicol Medical Center in Naga City. 

Row5runner Dr. Gilbert Balid is connected with a several  hospitals in Albay and Cam Sur.

Team Oragon Ultra Runners' Rovi Ferrer is a Nurse at the medical ward in Bicol Medical Center. 

And among our PRG leadership, there are many who are frontliners in this extraordinary time of the virus. Without a doubt, the admirable zest they apply in their passion for running they also deploy in their important vocation of helping save lives   

 

A trio of lovely and hardworking Caregivers among our PRG leaders: Brgy Dallas' Maribel Fuentes Yu; PR Netherland Kap Els de Guzman; and PRG Moderator Rona Janowitz.  

Kap Kate Echavez Mancao of St Paul, Minnesota is a nurse in a Healthpartners Hospital.  

  

PRNJ's Team Captain Dr. DV del Valle at work in JFK-Johnson Medical Center in Edison, NJ.   

  

For the many runners out there, we honor our modern-day heroes with a run. Some may run longer some may run more.  Like many Pinoy Runners, the Bicolano Penguin is giving its best to run many kilometers in honor of those who are working beyond the call of duty, sometimes at the loss of their precious lives, to protect us all  from the Wuhan Virus and to heal those who are afflicted. 

Honoring the Frontliners with all 5 distances available at the Global Frontliners Heroes Run 2020. Feeling inspired and motivated. 

But beyond the physical, the BP feels it is right also to offer a poem for all our heroes in this war against the Covid-19. Why poetry?  In the words of book editor Alice Osborn , it is important because it helps understand and appreciate the world around us. The poem's strength lies in its ability to shed a "sideways" light on the world, so the truth sneaks up on you. No question about it.  Poetry teaches us how to live. A poem bares open the vulnerabilities of human beings so we can all relate to each other a little better. 

And for all the Global Frontliners, we offer the poem "Invictus"   by William Ernest Henley. This is a poem that inspired world leaders like Winston Churchill  and Nelson Mandela  in their times of great despair and need. May its timeless and universal theme of resilience and indomitability in the face of hardship and near-certain defeat, resonate in many of us and our heroes that don't wear capes.