Guimaras and Dinagyang

I  just got back from festival-crazy IloIlo City after assisting Prosport president Boyet Rentoy, manage the Balaan Bukid Half Marathon (actually it was 25.5km) which was held a day before the world-famous Dinagyang Festival.  It was a double treat for the participants who were all praised with the spectacular view and smog  and traffic-free Guimaras, formerly a sub-province of IloIlo and currently the mango capital of the Philippines.  Guimaras is also home to the Trappist monks who produce delicacies such as mango biscocho and guava jelly (probably the best in the country).  The non-stop ascending route was similar to Mt. Patag in Silay City where the Kenyans suffered their first debacle in local racing.  The route in Guimaras is however more difficult since the stones on the trail portion are mostly corals, therefore, very sharp.  Kenyan Douglas Mwiti was in IloIlo but opted not to run since mountain routes are not their forte.  He's currently based in IloIlo and enjoyed the Dinagyang Festival (Boyet said Douglas did not need black soot on his body "kay ati na man daan"). In the absence of elite runners, Jonas Daligdig ruled the men's division in 1 hour 50 minutes with Franklin Valle and Lowe Pablo placing second the third in 1:51 and 1:52 respectively.  In the distaff side Charity Ruiz was unstoppable, clocking 2:44 for the title.  Nenet Naranjo was second in 2:54 while  Diding Boarma salvaged third in 3:02. The race started in Buenavista wharf and ended in Balaan Bukid in Jordan town.  If you don't  know, Guimaras is the hometown of 2012 London Olympian Rene Herrera.  In  response to the clamor of runners for a longer distance, we are organizing a 50K off-road ultramarathon in May.  Watch out for details. 

Palawan ultramarathon

It  was only a dream Boyet and I talked of last year, but it's  now turning into a reality.  On April 13 we will be organizing the first-ever Puerto Princessa Palawan 80km ultramarathon. This will also be a chance for participants to see the world famous St. Paul Underground River.  The race will start in Puerto Princesa and will end in Sabang, the jump off point to the underground river.  We will also hold a 25k run simultaneously with the ultra to give the locals who cannot tackle the entire route a chance to join the race.  Already entered are the Ayala (Makati) Triad Runners and groups from Bacolod, IloIlo and Cebu.

Ilonggos rule football

Ilonggos are arguably the best football players in the country, especially those coming from Barotac Nuevo in IloIlo.  But across the Guimaras strait in Bacolod, another team of Ilonggos from University of St. La Salle beefed by Koreans, were starting to make waves of their own. So when the smoke of the PFF Smart Club Championship cleared last Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, the Ilonggos playing under Ceres-USLS, emerged champions. Ceres defeated the Iranian-flavored Pasargad 1-0 to complete a fairy tale story, since nobody expected Ceres to triumph. PFF President Nonong Araneta and Monica Puentevella (both Ilonggos) were beaming with pride as they presented the awards to the winners "aton Ini!".