Marshal Page

My infinite thanks to my friends who became marshals for the ultra marathon. They were very professional and understanding. Walang mga bayad mga ito!!! They stayed from the start till the end. Most of them are UPM and close friends, they really made this project worth finishing. My hats of to you for doing a good job!!! Proud ako maging UPM hehehehe!!!

It was an honor to finish this run, marshals pa namin mga coach ko sa UPM. From Casper, Bernie, Winston, Denise and Bernz(susunod ka na!!! swim 20km hahahaha). Ang Sarap ng tawa ng lead marshal Romi and Boy(natatawa siguro na mahihirapan kami sa rota hehehe)

We always looked forward to rest stops. From a distance we can see the UPM somewhat partying. Parang gimick na rin talaga!!! It was such a long time since I saw so many UPM present in so many locations. The running team actually feels sad leaving the rest stop since masyadong masaya, plenty of food, drinks, and stories. In this picture Karla batch 98(Batch mate ko!!!! sa UPM, nasan si Carlo???) gives us one of the best snacks!!! melons and oranges bathed in a sea of ice!!! Panalo Talaga!!! Mabuhay Batch 98!!!

(King Salamat!!! Boy Salamat Amazing planning talaga parang adventure race for you guys)

(salamat sa The North Face!!! Ganda ng Jersey ng Marshals!!! Parang Tour de France)


(Kahit saan, nandun sila, they provided us everything we need)

Henry: Bilisan mo diyan Neville! Gutom na kami!

AS the crowds disappear from the Milo Marathon, the runners still need to finish several more kilometers. For me seeing the finish line was an awesome sight. The very marshals that guided us all night was waiting for all of us! It was the best welcome the team could ever had. This run was amazing vecause you could share it with the people you have been with for a very long time!(Henri, George, Karla, Casper, Pen, Nards and the rest maraming salamat)


Mas masaya pa yung mga tao makita ako makatapos than me seeing the finishline. Well maybe because all of them are exhausted and hungry hehehehe. When I crossed the finish line the first thing they gave me was a glass of cold beer!!! Perfect!!!(Bernz salamat, ito talaga gusto ko sa UPM hehehehe, exhausted and dehydrated, BEER PA!!!). It was really that organized, pinapayungan pa ako ni josaw hehehehe(di pa siya pagod after running 60km). To all of you who helped and participated in the run thank you very much.

(Romi at Roel Salamat, Henri next time ka na wala ka pic hehehehe)

The last lines of gratitude are reserve to Romi Garduce, Roel Chan and Henri Nakpil. Without you this wouldn't have been possible and worthwhile. On behalf of the team Maraming Salamat sa inyong lahat!!!

Ultra Marathon part 2

The Milo Marathon begins, Aray masakit na!!!! hehehehe. The first stretch of the Milo Marathon was really difficult. I can't move much and my muscles are already sore. I was no longer smiling since I could see the ambulance at the back waiting for me to call it quits. Running in Roxas boulevard was really tough the overnight running on EDSA pounded my feet and knees. I was real glad Hector was there to pace me and my two marshals were the recipients of my profanity hehehe. I was running and walking the first 10km, I knew I had to devour a lot of food in order to finish this run. I was scoffing down "apat na nilagang saging", one power gel, sports drink, and handful of peanuts. Nearing the start of Buendia something real bad happened, my wing man hector suddenly called it quits. I forced him to run but his face looked like one of the riders of the Tour de France who can't quite catch up with the leaders up the mountains. He basically cracked mentally. He told me nev's i done!!! i can't ask him to go another mile he paced me through the night and he ran already close to 65 km( good accomplishment since his first marathon was this year only). In my head I wanted to scream like Achilles in the movie Troy!!! Hector! Hector! hahahaha.

(Romi tumakbo ka nga)

I was really demoralized seeing ambulance pass and I heard the top runners are already returning. It dawned on me I was the last runner and i couldn't see the fields of green runners over the horizon. The sun was already up and bearing down on the runners Crap!!!! hahahaha. Swallowed three more bananas and I was off!!! For some strange reason the so-called second wind kicks in. I really felt strong "parang di ako tumakbo the night before". Maybe because its a new day or maybe the weather and the early mornings reminded me of the training runs we had several weeks ago. Maybe its the adrenaline rush I had realizing I was the last man in the marathon. I was really okay, like a brand new runner,. To top things of I drank two cups of Mcdo coffee and i was already an energizer bunny. Full steam ahead!!! I knew that sudden burst of energy wont last long, so i started to sprint the whole stretch of Buednia, desperately trying to catch someone. Finally i saw three runners, they were my carrot in a stick!!! faster you fool. I was flying hehehehehe, ang galing talaga ng kape!!!! At this point I also thought about the purpose of this run. that I shouldn't quit since this run is for cancer patients. the faster and longer i run the more i will inspire people to help. This gave me another boost!!! My suffering in the run is nothing compared to those kids fighting cancer.
Finally i passed two runners and saw the greatest sight of all kalayaan Flyover!!! I saw Beth and Olive!!! Yahooo, they were my proverbial Burning Bush!!!! my kasma na ako!!!, I surprised them and we ran together up to the fort, where my third wind(kung meron ganun) kicked in. Beth and Olive also kicked up the pace sensing the turn around is near. Running once more, the sight of green runners made me realize I was back in the race and was back of the pact!!!! Reaching the second turn around I was feeling good but my legs was saying "psst hinay-hinay lang mahaba pa ito at my kulang ka pang 12km!!!! hehehehehe). Nearing the Libingan ng mga Bayani I saw some of my relatives running and I saw Dani!!!! hahahaha. Magkalapit lang kami?!?(Idol ko talaga ito the first 15km of milo he was just several minutes behind the leaders hahahaha, ang bilis niya). Fatigue soon set in and he started to run slow which is actually a walk for me hehehehe.
Running back to kalayaan flyover I saw Olive brisk walking, still showing off her infectious smile. I said to her "Olive sorry nahatak kita dito!!! hehehehe"(Shes such an amazing person trained only for three weeks for this run). I saw Chi-Chi walking as well yet upbeat however Coach Kiko called it Quits already sayang!!!
Nearing the flyover Roel was there and he gave me the best gift of all, nope its not a North Face Gore-tex jacket worth 10k!!!Even better a bowl of rice and burger steak!!!! I wanted to cry hahahahaha!!! My UPM batch mates Karlo and Carla feed me cold melons!!!! Paradise!!!! I devoured them easily while pushing it down with softdrinks. Salamat talaga!!! Time to run, back in Buendia, I was already tired, I was running and walking accompanied by a 50 or 60 year old man who claims he ran 70 marathons. Wow!!! In the last part of Buendia, I saw the official time, I have several minutes before the race ends. time to hustle, the only part I was running was during stoplights and interesections, nakakahiya kasi pinapahinto mga sasakyan tapos naglalakad ka hehehehe.
In Roxas Boulevard i saw Dani, i ran as fast as i could slap him in the back and said"lets walk to the finish line" hehehehe. This was not a race we just need to finish. We both walked to Quirino, and ran the last 200 meters to the finish line. Wala ng tao and they were already dismantling some of th structures. Yehey Tapos na kami!!!! But wait!!!

We waited for the rest of the team to arrive, Chi-Chi called it quits so it was up to us four to complete the run. We still lack 12 km!!! the night before we screwed up our pace. As team captain i made an executive decision to shorten our run in Quezon city and start making our way to Qurino Grandstand. I was affraid that we might not have enough time, and might miss the start of the marathon. Our team already created and measured the route even before the milo marathon and they also kept other members up to date about the run(Salamat Ninoy, Bunny and the rest). We started running and walking to CCP complex and going around that area. Sikat nanaman si Romi at nakilala siya ng mga tao and nag-pa-picture pa sila hehehehe. After 6km it was time to run back to finish the run. 6km!!! ang haba pa!!! my head hurts, the two girls wore slippers and iced their knees, and devoured bananas and rush sports drink like there's no tomorrow. The sea breeze made things hotter and more difficult to move. Reaching Quirino Grandstand it was finally over!!! Yehey. Our head Marshal Boy Siojo said "Men kulang pa ilang meters!!!" hahahahaha. Ayaw talaga kami patapusin. I can see the UPM members cheering and drinking beer, sabi ko ayan na yun di ba!!!!


We were told we need to run one round along the perimeter of Quirino Grandstand crap!!! I started to run!!!! Medyo naiiyak na ako sa pagod. natuwa pa ako kasi si Henri and Romi started to run with me as well. In the final bend, i can see the Seafood Warf!!! it was the finish line 20 meters to go, I saw the UPM made a makeshift finish line. they were all cheering!!!! I sprinted and crossed the finish line with both arms up!!!! Yehey 100km!!! They clapped and cheered and gave me beer. Hahahaha. I was really happy and exhausted. Dani arrived next running the final 20 meters. Gave him a pat on the shoulder and a bottle of beer. Olive arrived with her enigmatic smile, a few minutes after, Beth arrived as well exhausted but delighted. It was finally over!!!
It was an interesting and amazing feeling. When I crossed the finishline there were no crowds, no television cameras, no banners, posters nor structures of the finishline. What i saw was more rewarding than that . What i saw was the UPM marshals, friends, and relatives as well as the people who took part in making this project a succes. All of them sacrificed their time, effort, and sweat just to see the dream of six people come true. It was truly an amazing feeling, to see your friends who helped you all the way waiting patiently in the finish line. Its these very people that made this ultra marathon memorable and worth finishing. No crowds, no fancy affair only a group of friends congratulating you was the best finish line the ultra marathon team could ever receive. Maraming Salamat!!! Start running.

Ultra Marathon Part 1

Race Day, arriving at the UPM Tambayan was such a relief. The whole week before the run I was nervous, getting sick, busy with work and for the most part busy training and organizing the run. So being in the starting line was really awesome for me a 100km from now it will all be over. However the 100km is really long but hey sometimes "the journey is the destination". I was overwhelmed with the support that I saw. "Ang Daming UP mountaineers na nagpakita" either as support crew, marshals or was just there to cheer. I was glad my Batch 98 UPM was there(Salamat Carlo at Karla). The whole tambayan was covered with a sea of yellow jerseys which was the uniform of the marshals. Roel Chan even went further by filling the whole tambayan with banners, and a huge The North Face balloon about two floors tall hehehehe. The reason for doing that is to force us to finish the run hehehehe. Nards slamata sa mga pictures ang galing talaga!!! Buti walang picture yung gumagapang kami hehehehe.


There were several people from the media sector but most of the people were our friends and relatives. It was really an intimate and personal affair. No fanfare only close people cheering us and wishing us well in our journey.It was truly an awesome sight for me. Salamat sa inyong lahat!!! I was also shocked to see that my siblings and parents were there to see me off. Interesting since I never really told them about the run. I just told them babalik ako sunday ng hapon hehehehe. I was happy my brother was there since I wanted to show him how proud I am that his poster designs were printed in posters and t-shirts and other materials. Basta ang daming tao!!!! Ang pogi na unifroms namin!!!!!

Around 7 pm we were already preparing for the run picture taking, talking to people, and organizing the run. After the prayer we proceeded to the starting line. I was so nervous!!! Then after 4 weeks of training, three weeks or organizing, two weeks of meetings, 1 week of being a hypochondriac and being nervous, the run started!!! Yehey!!! Two loops around the academic oval with a relatively slow pace. At this point the manual about ultra marathon I have prepared in my head was thrown out of the window. The pace of the team was difficult to maintain. Mabagal at mabilis, well we can't do anything about this now. So I made an executive decision to set free the runners and run your own pace but we will have compression stops every 10km during or refuel stops.

It was a difficult run for me, the week long stress and the week long worrying and planning caught up to me. The night before the run I was having a mild throat infection, which worsened during the run itself. However I know I am always like this during a race so I really didn't pay much attention. Dani, olive and Beth were running like horses ang bilis talaga nila!!! They were accompanied by other upm runners who were our guest. Also TJ and Robert was present, salamat sa inyo. The UPM yellow marshals made all the difference, they shielded us from the traffic, feed us and entertained us as well. They are really heroes of this event.

We eventually reached the Fort, curious onlookers were wondering "sino ito" and why the heck it was so traffic, and why do we have thirty bikers hahahaha. I was actually happy to hear one person saying"Yan yung 100km Run for Your Life" hehehehehe. From the fort we made our way to EDSA, when I struggled with my pace, I was falling behind, I'm not really sure why. Luckily I have my good friend hector from Nike who paced me like a domestique in the Tour De France. Halfway in EDSA I was shocked to see that Roel Chan was also running, hehehehehe, na -bore daw sa car. Yan ang brand manager!!!! The best talaga.

Reaching the People Power Monument we started to regroup and i told them the gameplan. The marshals were so helpful they iced us gave us water and food. The event was really well organized, we have ample drinks courtesy of Rush!!! Luckily it was Rush because it was the same energy drink we were using during our training runs. After making a short pits stop we started to run again to reach Quezon Avenue. The team was still upbeat, the pace was high and we were still organized. Hmmmm, at this point I was wondering what will happen to the milo marathon. Karla at Carlo Corpuz the best talaga yung melon at ice hehehehe. The other marshals also enourgaed us and keep our morale high, Wee at Alpha salamat na kinakamusta niyo ako lagi hehehehe, Bernie, Casper and George salamat sa pag-asikaso, Romi at Henri tumakbo nga kayo!!! Winston salamat sa tubig at Rush, Clyte and the rest of the TNF people salamat sa pictures hehehehe. (Mamaya ko na pasalamatan yung iba)

While running i was eating hamburgers from mcdo and siopao hehehehe. For some strange reason I don't want to eat energy bars, and fruits, nagsawa na!!! hehehe. That quarter pounder was really something gave me the energy to push. The team already finished an ultra-marathon meaning we already went beyond the 42km mark. Runing in Manila I was glad to see more UPM(Kats, Roldan ata, Mike 3k, sorry di ko matandaan yung iba) they really gave me additional boost. Touch!!! ako hehehehe.

In Quirino grandstand we were minutes away from the milo marathon. We changed uniforms, I took a semi-bath to remove all of the salts. We attached out numbers and walked towards the starting line. There I meet some friends and asking kung what kilometer are we? 2 minutes to the start of marathon and I was so worried. I truly believe this was the most difficult part since the heat was there and this was a marathon race. I told the team, okay lang di niyo tapusin marathon basta maging top place kayo ten kilometer race hahahahahahaha.

At 430AM the marathon started!!! Lord Help me!!!! Romi sira ulo ka talaga!!!! hahahahaha.

Recovery

Ill write a report on the run in the mean time visit the upm website. The only thing I can write about now is recovery hehehehe. Posted above is the log in my Nike+ and Nano. The batteries of my Nano ran out and my workout was semi saved, so I just decided to take a picture and post it and Ill just find out a way to post it at Nike(sorry Roel hehehehe). The batteries died at 97KM nakakainis!!!! hahahaha.

According to my nano I burned 9,000 calories hahahaha. Thats the Recommended Daily Allowance of a normal person in 4 days. Well this means I can eat a lot. After the run I devoured some pasta and some supplements, which I later found out that I am allergic hehehe. After which I went straight to bed. Today upon waking up, I noticed the adrenalin is gone and I was a mortal again no longer an ultra-man hahahaha parang Japanese superhero. Early morning I devoured one can of spam, eggs, three cups of rice and a bowl of fruits. I went to work struggling going down stairs hehehehe. At around 10AM I was eating again a bowl of Katsudon from the cafeteria.

After class I devoured 5 waffle dogs hahahahaha. I know there is a scientific way to recover like using mixtures coming from popular brands like power bar specifically designed for recovery. But too expensive and I would prefer lechon kawali better hahahaha. Before I went home I dropped by at my relatives restaurant known as "Combi" in maginhawa Q.C. which they have good and affordable meals. I ordered three rice bowls. Chicken, meatballs and liempo. Hahahaha.

I finally arrived home and was really sleepy. I felt like an anaconda already full and ready to rest and stretch out in the sun. Next thing you know it was dinner time, four chickens and mother of all recovery pizza!!!! Hahahahaha. I know there is a better way to recovering from the ultra. But at this point I would rather want something tasty to eat. I'm already exhausted eating bananas, energy bars and energy drinks hehehehe. I want lechon and beer hahahahaha. Don't worry my sister who is a food technician is taking care of me. hehehehe.

This is one of the things I was really looking forward too. Eating a lot!!!! Thinking about my run in Buendia during the milo marathon, made me devour two shawarma. hehehehe. As of now I have to sign out and start sleeping just have to finish this buffalo wings. Hello Tuesday kainan ulit!!! Hmmm saan kaya tomorrow, I want a Mongolian all you can it hehehehehe. My next blog will talk about the run. Time to eat again.

Initial Thank You

As of now I have yet to find time to write about the ultra marathon yesterday. There are so many things to talk about so many things to say. Most of all so many people "na gusto kung pasalamatan". To begin with Romi Garduce for introducing and believing that I can make an a fool of myself. Henry Nakpil for being dragged in this project and making it happen. Roel Chan brand manager of The North Face which made this project possible. His skills and resources made this run very memorable as well as exciting. Boy Siojo who organized the marshals and made everything safe and secure. To Kythe foundation for allowing us to be part of your advocacy and cause. To the UP Mountaineers without you, this wouldn't have been memorable(ill name all of you in my next blog maraming salamat talaga). I'm really proud to be part of this organization. The UPM marshals really made a difference and without them di ko magagawa itong run. Also those people who cheered the runners and giving us encouragement and support (eto na muna masakit pa ulo ko hehehehe)

To the runners thank you, Dani, Beth, Olive, Chi-chi, Kiko, Hector, Bob A, Josaw, Peter, Tj, Robert and the rest. Thanks for making it a successful run. I'm really proud you were there to take part in this event.

To all my friends and family members who also took part and supported this event. Ill have a much longer acceptance speech next time, my mind is not functioning properly all of a sudden. Time to sleep.

Ito na lang muna

Yahoooo!!!!!!

I'm mentally exhausted and I have yet to prepare for work tomorrow. All I can say is what an incredible feeling. More to come.

Too find out more on what happened from our run, ill post comprehensive account. But here is a preview.


http://upmountaineers.blogspot.com/

Thanks for all the support!!!

Kainan na!!!

Uniforms!?! This is Serious!!!

Last night, Me, Chi-Chi, Beth and Danny arrived in Studio 7 of ABS-CBN to be interviewed on News Central to promote the 100km run for Your life (this is really my Rubicon river). Accompanying us was the extraordinary brand manager of North Face Philippines Mr. Roel Chan (Salamat Roel, Ken and Clyte). It’s really interesting and worthwhile to work with these people who also became good friends of ours. They were professionals and they really looked after the needs of professional and would be athletes like us. They provided us with ideas as well as man power to organize this run. Well they were no stranger to these types of events anyway they have a long history of supporting athletes in achieving their goals. Tatapusin namin ito maski huli kami hehehehe, para matuloy yung ibang projects hehehehe. Basta ang masasabi ko “Never Stop Exploring” hehehehehe. On to our program, fantastic uniforms pala, mukha talaga kaming team hehehehe. “Ang Po-Pogi!!!”. This was also the first time I personally talked to Chi-Chi who just arrived in Manila yesterday morning, hehehehe mas mukha siyang trained kaysa sa aming lahat hehehehe. We were all freezing ang lamig sa studio 7. Vince Rodriguez who needs no introduction was there to assist us and encourage us with our run. Thanks Vince sama ka na!!!!
Finally it was our turn; the team looked real cool with star trek like uniforms(ngiti naman danny). Female extraordinaire Tricia Chongbian introduced us and asked about the Run. The team took turns answering the questions such as when will the run be, can anyone join, the route, how can they donate, and how was this conceptualize. I think the team did well and we definitely sent our message to support the run to help Kythe and its projects to help children with cancer. We need more help so I hope people will donate more to Kythe. Eventually we thanked Vince and Tricia for the time and we were off to plan our run. Malapit na!!!!