My XTerra Trail Run

The night before the scheduled gun start, I had this mixed feeling of excitement, anxiety and nervousness mainly because its my first time to do an organized run. It took me some time to fall asleep but still I woke up a little past 3am of Saturday. Ay sus, excited gani.

After the usual morning rituals, some bananas and eggs, we grabbed some power bars and off we went to Amara at 4:30am with family and in-laws for the cheering squad. I was worried all night of the thought that I will be left behind by the pack and asked my son Emil to escort me, but when I saw that there were guys much heavier than me entered in my category, I felt at ease.

First to go was the 21K at 6am, followed by the 10K 15mins after. Our 5K answered the gun at 6:30. Tension was lessened by race director Guy Concepcion who gave me an encouraging tap on the shoulder and event announcer Jaime Garchitorena who never got winded with his non-stop use of the microphone. Yup, that was money well spent on a damn good host.

I chose to be at the back, with the group of runners from the Maritime Police who were in their light blue shirts and navy shorts, and see who walks first. From the starting line, some already faltered, yup, even from the men in blue, before they reached the guardhouse, a distance of maybe 300 meters. Surprise, surprise, I’m still running.

I pushed myself to the first water station less than a kilometer from the start and drank two cups of Gatorade. I walked several meters with a few other runners then in a short while saw Noy Jopson and other real runners followed by Fred Uytengsu coming our way. We’re not even half way and these guys are about to finish already. I murmured to myself, “nganong ni enter man jud tawon ka oy.”

The road, if you call it that, was lined both sides with the good people of Barangay Catarman acknowledging the runners and it made my run-walk-walk experience memorable. And being a resident of Liloan, there were a good number from the crowd who knew and cheered for me.

I neared the technical part of the course and there was Boying Rodriguez egging me “gamay na lang kuwang”. It’s downhill to the “graveyard” trail but I enjoyed it the most. Since it is single track, I can’t overtake the ladies ahead of me who were having their sweet time taking advantage of the scenery and snapping pictures now and then. I had no complaints though. I was not in for the win anyway.

Included with the sights and sounds of nature was the distinct smell of you-know-what. There was thick vegetation on both sides of the trail and it is very conducive for people who are alienated with sanitation to sit and dump their load at their own convenience. The hazards of adventure racing.

Before reaching the Spanish-era Bantayan sa Hari, we have to negotiate a cliff that if you slip, its a 20-foot drop to the sea. On the left side of the rocky trail, there were two deep holes ready to swallow the reckless. Marshalls assisted and guided us to preserve our sore limbs.

Climbing the trail back up to the Parola, Kenyan runner Josphat Kiptanui from the 10K category blew past us, closely followed by Mendel Lopez. From the lighthouse, it was all downhill to the finish line and I could not believe myself that I completed 5K in 38 minutes. Were it not for the click-happy ladies, I could have cut off at least two more minutes from my time.   I checked on the times of the finishers on the XTerra website but could not find my name and bib number.   Emil finished 12mins ahead of me with an official time of 0:26:38”43.

If Xterra finds its way back in Cebu next year, I most definitely will do it again and might upgrade to 10K. I felt the game of trail running and its freakin’ great fun.

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One of the biggest joy for a parent is to see their children make good in school and graduate. I had my misadventures during my college days and if you add up all the years that I did my scholastic experimentations, either I could have finished a medical course or became a man of the cloth. Imagine calling me Doctor or Monsignor. Puede ra pud.

Much to my parents’ relief, I finally graduated. I can’t say how they felt during that day, but I think I now know the feeling.   Today, my son Emil will graduate from college and my daughter Ana likewise tomorrow, from high school.

Especially for the high school graduates, challenges will be greater, tasks will be harder, temptations too good to resist. Keep in mind that success don’t come easy. You have to work for it, fight for it. Have the right frame of mind, dedication, perseverance and most of all faith and trust in the Almighty, and before you know it, it is mission accomplished. We parents can only do so much. Its really all up to you. Congratulations Emil and Ana, and to all the graduates of Class 2011-2012.

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