It is the 21st Century and there is a Kingdom that is a an independent and powerful state.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is thriving as an influential country not only in the Middle East but beyond. KSA possess about 18% of the world's proven oil reserves and is the world's biggest oil exporter. This gives the Kingdom significant power and influence on the global stage. With a population of 34 Million, KSA is host to 13 Million citizens of other countries. It is only 2nd to the USA in terms of the size of international migrants it is hosting.
Islam, one of the world's great religions, has Saudi Arabia as its heartland. Historically, the Kingdom has occupied a special place in the Islamic World, for it is towards Makkah and Islam's most sacred shrine, the Ka'abah, located in the Holy Mosque there, that Muslims, 2 billion strong, throughout the world turn devoutly in prayer five times a day.
The Saudi National Day is celebrated on September 23rd every year. It is locally known as Al-Youm-al-Watani. The National Day commemorates the unification of the various tribes, sultanates, minor kingdoms and emirates across large area of the Arabian Peninsula stretching from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. A land area that is 2.15 million square kilometers in size.
This 2020, the Kingdom will celebrate the 90th iteration of its National Day. In the year 1932, the land was finally unified under the banner of Abdulaziz ibn Saud, the founding father of Saudi Arabia who then proceeded to assume the mantle of the Kingdom's first king as well as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. For nearly nine decades since 1932, the title of king has passed from its first ruler, King Adbulaziz to a succession of sons.
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| Ibn Saud's lineage including Kings and prominent Princes. Source: House of Saud website |
As a young man, Ibn Saud led a small band of men to recapture his family's ancient territory of Riyadh from the Rashid tribe in 1902. He went on to build a desert kingdom under the flag of Islamic revival with the conquest of al-Hasa in 1913 and the unification of the Kingdom of Nedj and Hejaz after defeating the forces of Sharif Hussein in 1925. In 1932, by a royal decree, King Abdulaziz, renamed the Kingdom of Nedj and Hejaz to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Although steeped in history, the National Day has only been officially recognized as a national holiday to be celebrated in a festive manner since the year 2005. Previously, only religious holidays were celebrated in Saudi Arabia, namely the Eid al-Fitr and the Eid al-Adha.
There is an estimated one million Filipinos working or living in KSA. Of this million, there is a growing number of Pinoy runners in the Kingdom. They are mainly clustered in the 3 major cities in KSA: Riyadh, the capital city of KSA, which lies in the Central Region; the Red Sea port of Jeddah, which is the most cosmopolitan city in the Kingdom; and Dammam, in the eastern part of KSA, which is in the region where the Saudi Arabian oil was first discovered in commercial quantities in 1938.
This year 2020, these 3 clusters of Pinoy runners in the KSA were unified into the Pinoy Runners Arabia (PRA) . And for one of their first initiatives, PRA has worked with Pinoy Runners Gobal (PRG) to host the KSA National Day Run 2020. To know more about the PRA group and virtual takbo event they are hosting, the Bicolano Penguin got to communicate with its catalyst Remz Pigao-Jacinto. Here are her words:
"Pinoy Runners Arabia was formed early August of this year...It was formed when I thought of hosting a Virtual Run in Pinoy Runners Global which is now the "SAUDI NATIONAL DAY RUN 2020." As the History said, on September 23rd 1932, King Abdulaziz announced the unification of the country as a kingdom. Because of this, I though of uniting all the Pinoy runners around Saudi Arabia: Barangay Riyadh (Kap J.M. Lakay Fernandez); Barangay Jeddah (Kap Eric Garces) and Barangay Dammam (Kap Athan Abrenilla). Together we will promote health and fitness, especially now that the Saudis are changing their attitude towards health and fitness. They are getting into their feet and beginning to embrace sports and exercises.
As of now, we have 70 members from Aug 2020. We are GROWING, all ACTIVE and HEALTHY! Kap Jen Evangelista is my inspiration. I'd like to say thank you to the three kapitans of the 3 barangays...without them, wala po ang Pinoy Runners Arabia."
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| Originally from Subic, Remz Pigao-Jacinto takes pride in carrying the flag in meaningful running events like the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 6H Virtual Global Solidarity Run. in August this year. |
The last sentence of Remz pointed to some interesting conversation with the 3 Kaps of PRA and get a little more of a flavor of how running is in the Kingdom. Thus, a message was sent to all 3 to get their insights on a couple of topics/questions: (1) Describe the beauty of running in your part of the KSA; and (2) What are the challenges of running in KSA ?
Kap Eric of Barangay Jeddah shared this:
"The bare and the rocky mountains and the dunes of Saudi Arabia are telling that there is another form of mother nature for us tree huggers. We explore this Arabian playground for many activities like sand dunes run. By the way, 3 years ago, me and my group here in Jeddah wrtie "will you marry me" by running in the sand dunes. Most of the mountains here in Jeddah, there are no trees, only rocks and dry bushes. But, the sunrise here? Amazing. Before covid19, we drive 1.5 hrs away from the city at 3am to see sunrise in the top of the mountain. During Ramadan, there is a "tarawih run." Our brothers and sisters in Muslim faith will do a special prayer and after they pray, we will run 10K/21K (there's a registration fee and some of its proceeds will go to a charity which feed poor people during Ramadan). We have so much amazing activities here in Saudi Arabia. I am blessed that by running I made friends here and hopefully, people who are in the group, we will get to know more and hopefully vaccines will be out soon so we can start our exciting activities again as a group.
Challenges? Well in my opinion, I guess not all Saudis are open yet, seeing new things. Just last Sunday, one Saudi blocked our car on our way out to Dunkin Donuts because she wants to call the police because I was wearing short. But you must show them candid kindness that the world is revolving constantly slowly but surely. Definitely the weather is a problem. The first 50K ultra marathon I joined here I thought I was ready. I did 60K and 80K in the Philippnes and 50K dito nothing, But I was wrong. They started almost 8am and the sun is already gunning our skin with heat. Got delirious but I was happy I finished it. Sure I was second to the last but I am the first solo 50K Filipino finisher in that group."
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| Originally of Los Banos, Barangay Jeddah Kap Eric Garces, enjoying the sand dunes. |
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| Amazing Arabia. Breathless. Rugged. Enduring. |
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| The Barangay Jeddah runners enjoying their desert playground. |
Kap Athan Abrenilla of Barangay Dammam shared his take:
"The beauty of running is to be physically fit and healthy. Running helps release toxins from our body and relieved us from stress and it can also help you to be strong mentally. The challenges in running are weather (humidity) and toxic schedules."
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| Barangay Dammam Kap Athan Abrenilla, originally from Cebu, is proving to be a TikTok sensation. |
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| Group photo of Barangay Dammam runners. |
Kap J.M. Lakay Fernandez of KaTakboJuans - Brgy Riyadh shared this:
"Riyadh is the biggest city in all of KSA. We never run out of running paths - whatever your track mood may be, Riyadh has it! Be it a sandy path, rocky terrain or an oasis in the middle of the hot desert. It is the perfect training ground if you want to upgrade your stamina and your speed. We have 2 major seasons - a super hot summer and a freezing winter. When the season changes, so are the running conditions.
I guess the "beauty" that I just describe previously are also the challenges of running in Riyadh. The hottest summers will make a runner exhausted after a mere 10 minutes of sprint. The coldest of winters will make a runner feel that his blood freezes on the spot (plus the warm bed is more inviting during these days). The altitude (around 600+ meters above sea level) is also a challenge to people living in the lowlands. It takes some adaptation to this place...but once you get used to these conditions, Riyadh will definitely grow with you."
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| Originally from Pangasinan, Barangay Riyadh Kap J.M. Lakay Fernandez has certainly adopted to the seasons of KSA. The Legend of the Payong in the desert. |
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| Runners of KaTakboJuans - Brgy Riyadh showing the vitality of their running community. |
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| Camaraderie and national pride are in abundance for these KaTakboJuans - Brgy Riyadh runners as they tackle the kilometers of the IAU 6H Virtual Global Solidarity Run. |
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