First Filipina Skyrunner is a Cebuana

Sky running is not a sport for the weak-hearted, nor is it advisable for those with weak knees and weak lungs. One can be a running or jogging enthusiast but it does not necessarily equate to becoming a sky runner. Sky running involves a discipline for tenacity and steel-like stamina. Either you have all of the above or end up falling off the cliff.

Marlita Arias is a Cebuana, the first Filipina ever to have made it to one of the world's highest peak (Mount Kinabalu). Arias made it to the top twice, not once, with clock time of four hours on the first attempt in 2004 and three hours in 2005.

It was a feat that would have earned the country distinction and repute it so greatly deserved but all this time Marlita's win was never mentioned in any local or national daily. In a country easily deceived with illusion generated by network-backed climbs, true athletes like Marlita are not given a sporting chance of recognition despite etching a record in climbathon or sky running.

Mount Kinabalu is not the kind of peak that runners want to call 'friendly.' One of the world's highest and inhospitable peaks with an elevation of 13,435 feet, Kinabalu is known for its rugged, heavily eroded terraces with jagged rocks and scarred gullies. To finish the climbathon, racers or sky runners must reach the summit in two hours or less before making the descent. Racers who reach the peak in excess of two hours are disqualified from finishing the race. Distance from the finish line to the summit is 8.72 kilometers.

Marlita reached the summit in an ascent of less than two hours and qualified for the win in making the descent brandishing the Philippine flag to the finish line. She finished 16th in 2004 and made it to the top ten that is, 9th in 2005. Marlita recalls how she had to go through a thick jungle that was part of the race trail. The last part of the climb is reportedly on naked granite rock.

Given the high altitude, some people may suffer from altitude sickness and should return immediately to the bottom of the mountain as breathing becomes increasingly difficult.

A typical descent from the summit is quick but is often equally painful as the ascent where knee joints, ankle joints and toes tend to hurt and cause discomfort as climbers descend 3,000 meters or 9,850 feet in five hours.

Quite persistence.

In training for the race, this first Filipina climbathon-winner developed speed, technique and endurance at the sports center oval grounds while going through trial runs at the lower-altitude, friendly and scenic mountains of Guadalupe. Climbing for the win, Marlita went through her regimen with quite persistent resolve.

This drive and desire would have been anything but realistic knowing that Marlita suffered asthma as a growing child. Marlita did not quite imagine she could run fast until her sprinting and marathon forte caught attention when she won races as a student at Siliman University. She later transferred to a university here and joined races in Cebu.

Marlita said she no longer recalls how many races she won. But each race prepared her for the biggest feat of all - the Mount Kinabalu Climbathon.

So how does Marlita see herself in the future after all the wins? Still running - whether in the sky or land, the mountains or on the tracks. Only that she stopped running for the prize. This time, what fuels her running energy is keeping fit, sheer enjoyment and fulfillment. Nothing beats the touch of the finish line tape.