Leyte on my mind

August is a red-letter month for me. Three of my siblings celebrated their birthdays while the world will also remember the 35th death anniversary of Elvis PreseLy a “Raffy Uytiepo” impersonator, who died in Memphis on August 16 due to drug overdose. Yes, we will be having lots of activities to mark that date. Did you know that there are more than 20,000 Elvis impersonators worldwide, yours truly included? On the sporting side, August 5 will be a red letter day for Mactan Island when the 70.3 Cobra Ironman fires off at the Shangrila Resort Hotel and Spa. Ironically, our relay team composed of one-legged Rudy Fernandez, one-legged swimmer and Paralympian Arnold Balais and myself, won’t be participating. I was hospitalized last month and was advised not to train for a half-marathon, as the heat will be bad for me and to think that I will be doing the run at the  hottest moment. The same goes for Rudy who who is presently in Mt. Banahaw for some personal reasons. Next year nalang! I’ll just assist Jonel Mendoza to manage the I Shall Return 50k Ultramarathon happening in Tacloban City on August 18. The route will start at the historical Mac Arthur Landing Memorial Park at Palo and then to the scenic San Juanico Bridge and back to Mac Arthur Park for finish. The race organized by Frontrunner Magazine will start at 4:00am and will have a cut-off time of 9 hours. Registration fee is Php 950.00 for solo and Php 750.00 for relay. Finishers as usual will recieve a dri-fit t-shirt and medal. Before I rendezvous with Jonel I’ll be in Maasin City for a trial run on August 12 organized by Mayor Maloney Samaco to promote Maasins’ newly opened zoo.

Seniors Day At SM Consolacion

Sometime last month I informed fellow columnist Bobby Motus regarding my plan to organize a senior citizen event which we called “Baston Marathon”. Much as we would like to organize a marathon, we believe it’s too taxing for seniors. Don’t tell this crap to 75 year- old Rening Ylaya who ran 80 kilometers last year in the Century Properties 100KM Ultramarathon. Rening could have finished the race with just 20 kms to go, but we decided to stop him in Liloan to avoid any untoward incident. But Rening, came back with a vengeance, finishing this year’s Coast to Coast 65Km Ultramarathon in 13:09, although way beyond the cutt-off time of 12 hours. Same goes to sixty year-old veteran mountaineer and founding member of CERC, Dr. Abe Manlawe who has finished 5 ultramarathons. We will be designing the route soon but it will be just around the SM perimeter to make it safe for the participants. Other seniors to watch are Relly Mercado and Jon Consunji. To further entertain the seniors,SM acting marketing manager Jeff Guitche will have said we will have a variety show featuring TV host and brodcaster Sam Costanilla who will do a stand up comedy with Max Andrino while comedian Chocolate will perform some magic tricks. Singer Boyet Lim will render some standars songs. The second half of the show will feature Elvis who will be belting some of the hits including “Don’t Be Cruel”, “Hound Dog”, “ Blue Suede Shoes”, “It’s Now Or Never”, and a lot more. Watch out for details! The following day, a band will play oldies but goodies music that are familiar to the Baby Boomers. So senior citizens mark Sept.8 and 9 on your calendars. See you at SM Consolacion Events Center!