The best Mother's Day ever

MANILA, Philippines - It did not take much prodding for us to run after my mother registered us to join Run for Mom to mark Mothers’ Day last Sunday. My mother Marichu Villanueva is a STAR associate editor and is not exactly a running enthusiast because she has asthma, but she does her own daily 30-minute stationary biking and tae-bo.

With my identical twin brother Giancarlo and his girlfriend, our best friend, four cousins and their mother, we ran the 2.5k event.

The air of excitement at McKinley Hill in The Fort pumped up our adrenalin. There were well-built people wearing sky-blue singlets (5k) and most of them looked athletic and raring to go, and then there were those wearing their bright yellow singlets (2.5k) with some of them being sprinters and others who looked like they were just beginning in the sport.

I expected the route to be challenging because of McKinley’s terrain and I was right. The course has many ups and downs, and very few flat sections. I remember my mom yelling to us youngsters not to leave them behind when we ran ahead of them. I cautioned my mom not to run so much because her asthma might be triggered

Team Pangilinan composed of dad Anthony and kids Ella, Hannah, Benjamin, and Donny

In the end, I decided not to wait for them.  If I did, I wouldn’t be running at all and it would have been “Walk with Mom” instead. Besides, she was with my Tita Rachel, her sister, and it was the perfect opportunity for them to bond, too.

I surprised myself that day.  I thought that I would easily get tired because I used to have asthma too. But I was able to sprint with so much energy and get through those steep hills. Good thing there was Powerade and Wilkin’s water along the course.

My competitive nature also motivated me to complete the run in the shortest possible time.  Whenever somebody overtook me, I would run as fast as I could and try to get past them.

Since I am not really a runner, there was a sense of fulfillment in completing the race by alternately brisk-walking and running. There was even a point when my mom saw me walking on the other side of the course and she teased me. I didn’t want her to think that I was slacking off, so being the obedient son, off I ran again.

With my brother, cousins, and friends, we were able to finish the run in 23 minutes. One of my cousins, Emman, finished way ahead than the rest of us at 16:00.

We waited for our moms at the finish line where we saw Vina Morales and Karylle. We saw Vina much earlier before the race started and when we saw her as she crossed the finish line, my cousins immediately jumped in her direction and asked if she would oblige us with a photo. Vina graciously posed with our group while trying to catch her breath.

STAR corporate communications manager Jay Sarmiento, SM senior AVP for corporate marketing communication Rudy Villar and his kids, STAR VP for advertising Lucien Dytioco, and STAR marketing manager Bimbo Andrade

Speaking of celebrity, my mom appeared to be a celebrity herself when a lot of runners from STAR greeted her during the run.

We waited for a few more minutes and still our moms hadn’t shown up at the finish line. So we just watched other people finish the run, some in very funny fashions. The funniest one was when one of my cousins, James Michael, saw an old man walking past the finish line. “Ano ba yan? Naunahan pa ng matanda sila Mommy!” We had a great laugh over this. Finally, our moms crossed the finish line.  We clapped for them to show how proud we were of them. I was even more proud of my mom because she managed to finish the run without an asthma attack.

It was a very heartwarming and different way of celebrating Mother’s Day. This was probably the best Mother’s Day celebration we’ve had so far with our very busy mom. Not only were we able to exercise, but we also spent quality time with our friends, family, and most importantly, our beloved mothers.