Category: Marathon

Running 42.195 kms. is strenuous. It’s long and painful. It requires patience and diligence. There are episodes when when you want to quit. Along the route, you walk, stop, grimace, checking your cramps and massaging your knees and questioning why, why, why. The marathon requires perseverance — that decision by the brain to fight and to continue. 

Today’s marathon is called Covid-19. We know this pandemic will not disappear in July. Possibly not by Christmas. This is an arduous and lengthy journey and we need to mentally embrace it as if we’re running an endurance race. Much like a marathon. Or, if this corovirus extends past 12 or 18 months, much like an ultramarathon that’s 50K or 100K.

I’ve ran seven marathons. What are a few lessons from running that I can relate with our situation today?

Stay positive. In a 42K run — the distance from the Cebu Provincial Capitol to Carcar — you will experience moments of negativity. (Maybe somewhere in Naga or San Fernando? When I-can’t-do-this thoughts will penetrate your mind?) No matter how hard you train, your legs will tire and your mind will beg you to stop. 

Don’t stop. Walk if you want to. But move forward. The marathon teaches us to keep moving forward, one stride at a time, in the most difficult moments. 

Tell your legs to shut up! It’s all in the mind. It’s not the marathon you must conquer. It’s yourself. Stay positive.

Another lesson: Be with friends. I know this is impossible for many because of the lockdown but if you can find creative ways to talk and bond and laugh and waste time with friends, you’ll survive this ordeal.

It’s like running. An avid runner during his less-busy days, the favorite quotation of Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella runs like this: “If you want to run fast, run alone. But if you want to run far, run with friends.”

This is true. For running and for life. Same with laughter. Here’s a quotation that I like: “Laughing is one of the best exercises. It’s like running inside your brain. You can do it anywhere and it’s even better with friends.”

Third lesson: Pace yourself. The marathon takes a long, long, long time. So will this coronavirus. “You can run a sprint or you can run a marathon but you can’t sprint a marathon.”

Prepare yourself for this prolonged stretch. Save money as you would save energy (in a marathon). Get plenty of daily exercise; at least 60 minutes. Go outdoors and sunbathe.

“Run your own race.” This is my favorite marathon quote and, in life, it’s the same: relax and run at your own pace.  

Final (and most important) lesson: Pray. The last recourse of marathoners who are writhing in pain is to turn to the Lord. Same with us today. In Hebrews 12: 1-2: “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.” 

Here are a few photos from the NYRR RUNCenter

The odds of Mary Joy Tabal winning the country’s first gold medal in Kuala Lumpur were unlikely.

It’s not like she has gotten slower. No. Her performance has improved. When she debuted at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, her 42K time was 3:04:39. Joy placed second. Since then, she has become quicker. In last December’s Milo Marathon in Manila, she clocked 2:47:57. That’s 16 minutes faster than SEAG two years ago. And even better, at the 2016 Ottawa Marathon, she ran a personal best of 2:43:31.

It’s not like Joy doesn’t have financial backing. This is often a huge problem for athletes. With Joy, thanks to the generosity of this gang of brothers named Marco, Andre, Paolo, Chip and Jonel, the 4-foot-11 runner from Brgy. Guba has full support. She has a top coach in Philip Dueñas. She’s able to travel: at the Rio Olympics and for trainings and events in Japan, the U.S., Italy, Canada and Switzerland.

So if it’s not her speed and sponsors, why was the Philippines nearly denied a gold medal yesterday?

Because of the Malaysian organizers. There wasn’t supposed to be a marathon race! Unbelievable to think but of the 38 sports and 404 events listed in the August 19 to 30 games, the 42K run wasn’t originally included. Why? Because of the few participants and massive logistics involved in organizing them. Well, there is some truth to that. In yesterday’s 42K race, there were only 15 male participants (won by Singapore’s Soh Rui Yong) and six women. (As to why very few join, I don’t know.)

Still, the marathon is a must-race race. It’s been part of the SEAG for the last 16 years and it’s an iconic Olympic sport. Thankfully, bombarded with complaints from other national sports associations and from the running community, the marathon was reinstated. In fact, kudos to Malaysia, they invited the general public yesterday by including a 5K and a 15K open-for-all run.

Second reason why Joy almost did not win gold? You know why. It’s spelled PATAFA. Some now call it “pataka” or “ataya!” If it wasn’t for the pressure applied by the Cebuanos through Facebook and the media; if it wasn’t for PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez who fought in behalf of the 28-year-old Joy; if it wasn’t for Motor Ace and Jonel Borromeo convincing the PATAFA president Philip Juico (like Jonel did for Joy for the Olympics), there would be no joyous headline news. 

The reason why PATAFA wouldn’t include Joy in their roster of athletes? Because she wouldn’t train in Manila and with their team. Juico said last June: “Ayaw namin sa kanya, ayaw niya sumunod sa amin. (We don’t want her. She won’t follow us).” Crazy. Imagine if you forced every sportsman to forgo of what’s successful just because you prefer Manila? It’s about the results. And athletics is a numbers game. The scoring is not subjective like gymnastics or figure-skating, it’s time-based. And it’s easy to spot the fastest. Just compare their times! Worse, the Borromeo brothers were spending for all of Joy’s travels at no cost to the Philippine government. How lucky can we get with that arrangement?

Anyway, thank you, Lord, those hurdles were overcome. With Joy, what’s amazing is her humility. She is so buotan, smiling, respectful, and, yes, kugihan. Joy’s win is a victory for running and for Cebu. May this first gold inspire the 497-strong Team Pilipinas.

Mary Joy Tabal (speaking) with Jonel Borromeo (center) and Coach Philip Dueñas (SunStar/Alan Tangcawan)

If there’s one individual to thank for the continued excellence of Mary Joy Tabal, it’s the eldest son of Maxcy and Marivic Borromeo.

Jonel Borromeo was my high school classmate. He’s also the CEO of several Borromeo-owned companies. The Ironman 70.3 races? He’s completed that multiple times.

I asked Jonel for an update on Joy Tabal and here’s what he said: “All is good. I’m glad the ordeal of getting Joy to run in the SEA Games is over.”

We, too, are happy that Cebu’s pride and joy will be competing this August in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Thanks to the negotiating skills of Mr. Borromeo, he was able to convince the PATAFA officials to include the marathon queen in the SEAG roster.

But why did PATAFA give Joy such a difficult time? Wasn’t her inclusion supposedly obvious? Are we not to send our best? Joy is the four-time reigning champion of our nation’s most prestigious road race, the Milo Marathon (champion in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016). Last year, she became the only Filipino marathoner to join the Olympics. And just last month, she won the 21K race in the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon — clocking 1:16:27 to break the Philippine record.

Are these results not good enough for PATAFA? Track and field is one discipline where the results are measurable. You know who’s the fastest. Unlike volleyball or ping-pong or badminton or football where the choice of representative is often subjective, track and field is objective. It’s time-based.

I asked Jonel, whose family and Motorace company sponsors Ms. Tabal, why PATAFA insisted on their way (training and coaching).

“I agree with your thoughts on PATAFA encouraging all athletes to find better ways to improve,” said Jonel. “I think what has to be recognized is that there is not only one way to train an athlete to improve. I believe it is a trial and error process. Once the formula is found then stick with it and build from it.

“In the case of Joy, her training format which suits her is different from other athletes who are under any NSA. And the results of the recent 21K in Ottawa will prove that. Let’s not forget she did bring home the silver in the SEA Games held in Singapore.”

This training program of Joy included a stint in Japan. There, she was introduced to new coaches and new methods of training and she was pushed to her limits. Now, she’s in Tuscany, Italy. She trained there for two months and will train for several more weeks. Part of her intense regimen includes high altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Joy is also at home (literally and figuratively) in Cebu and she thrives here. Why force her to train in Manila? And with the case of Jonel and Motorace spending hundreds of thousands of pesos for Joy’s training, isn’t the government lucky? PATAFA doesn’t have to spend but in return they reap the benefits of the international training of Joy. No expenses. No usage of their coaches and facilities. And in exchange, they have Joy Tabal and her possible gold, silver or bronze medal? Being a businessman, I’d conclude that this is an irresistable deal. PATAFA should be thankful.

The good news si: Cebuanos and running aficionados are relieved that our country’s top marathoner is included in the Southeast Asian Games roster for the Kuala Lumpur event in August.

With her training schedule, I asked Jonel Borromeo, who has supported Joy in her training and international competition, for updates. Here’s Jonel:

“Joy Tabal has been training in Tuscany, Italy for the last 2 months and will be there for another 2 months with the last 3 weeks focused on high altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland. If I’m not mistaken, it’s 2500 meters elevation and super dry air. According to her, the current training is quite different from that of Japan.

“In Japan, programs were focused on her ability to push her limits to her full capacity. In Italy, she is pegged with runners who run much faster than her; the result of that is she realizes she can actually do more. She understands her potential.”

With her training staff, they’re a complete group. “Her support team consists of a head coach, strengthening coach, nutritionist, physiotherapist, psychologist and a doctor who specializes in high level athletes. All are present from start to finish of training.. yes, impressive,” said Jonel Borromeo.

One more person to thank for Joy’s success: her coach Philip Dueñas.

Among running aficionados here in Cebu, when you say “Sub-2,” you’re referring to running a 21K race in under two hours. It’s nowhere near the world record time of 58 minutes and 23 seconds but it’s not an easy feat. You’ve got to own speedy feet and run at a pace of 5:43 for 21 kms.

There’s another meaning of “sub-2” and it’s a crazy proposition: Running a FULL marathon (42.195 kms.) in under two hours. This means that for those who are happy to record a sub-2 half-marathon, you’ve got finish the same time — at twice the distance!

For decades now, millions of runners around the globe have thought that this achievement would be nearly impossible. But as each year passed, the marathon WR time got faster and faster. The current record, set by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya in 2014 at the Berlin Marathon, stands at 2:02:57. (The last six maraton WR records were recorded in Berlin.. so here’s a tip for those who want to PR: run in the capital city of Germany.)

You might say: shaving off two minutes and 57 seconds isn’t that long. Doesn’t it take us a longer time to shower or do our morning grooming? Yes. But in running, 177 seconds is a lenthy time. Running a sub-2 marathon means that you’ll have to run at a pace of over 21-kph nonstop for two hours. Try stepping on a treadmill and pressing 13-kph speed for several minutes. Only the fastest among us — including Dr. Yong Larrazabal, who did a speedy 3:14 at the Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon — can maintain that speed for 42 kms.

So, the sub-2 marathon will take decades of incremental improvements to achieve, right?

Enter Adidas and Nike. The two sporting giants are attempting to break this target this 2017. For Adidas, they have a shoe named “Adizero Sub2” and later this year, they plan to break this barrier. (There’s a “sub2hrs.com” website that reads: Countdown to the first subhr marathon: No longer a matter of IF but rather WHEN.)

For Nike, you must have read the news. In an event in Italy the other Saturday, the Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge has ran the fastest ever 42K: two hours and 25 seconds. Yup, that’s 2:33 faster than the world record and a mere 26 seconds from recording that most incredible of numbers: 1:59:59.

Eliud Kipchoge is a human being unlike any other. Quite possibly, he will end his career as the greatest long-distance runner in history. He is not only the Olympic (Brazil) gold medalist, he is also the London and Berlin marathon champion and has won seven of his eight marathon races. Nike made the perfect decision in tapping the 32-year-old Kenyan to break the record. But was his record legitimate? More inputs in a future article.

My mom Allen running the streets of Taipei

TAIPEI — This city is teeming with people. If you visit Ximending at night or Taipei Main Station by day, you’ll see thousands upon thousands of fast-moving, on-the-go Taiwanese.

We’ve been here since Wednesday and took the direct EVA Air flight from Cebu. The airline is high-recommended. It’s clean, the leg-room on the Economy Class is spacious (like the Premium Economy seats at Cathay Pacific), and the 3-hour direct flight is speedy. After a quick lunch meal, a few Spotify playlists to listen to and a short nap, you’ve already landed at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. We left at 11 a.m and landed at 2. At the airport, we were met by a local carrying a placard bearing my printed name. Assuming he was Taiwanese, I spoke in English. He answered in Bisaya! It turns out, he’s Wilbert Tan, a former Sacred Hearter who’s the batchmate of my neighbor on this page, Atty. Jingo Quijano, and of Bernard “Ironman-Bionic Man” Sia.

What we like in Taiwan is the weather. With no offense meant for places like Singapore, Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, what sets this nation of 23.5 million apart from the tropical countries is the cool, Hong Kong-like temperature. When we arrived last Wednesday, it was 19C. The next two days, it dropped to 14C.

Perfect conditions for running. Of this sport that has invigorated millions, you won’t believe what we discovered. While our Pages family — 21 of us, led by our parents, Bunny and Allen, and my siblings Charlie, Randy, Cheryl and Michael, plus the children — strolled towards Taipei 101 (acclaimed the world’s tallest building in 2004), guess what sight had my heart pumping double its speed?

The Taipei International Marathon, happening today. Of all the times that our family visited, it was marathon weekend. With Jasmin and Jana, I quickly entered the Race Expo site hoping to join the half-marathon.

“Sorry, registration has long closed,” the staff member said. Unlike Hong Kong (or our very own Cebu Marathon, which kicks off this January 8), Taipei doesn’t offer on-site registration. Too bad. This event is quite huge: they limit the entries to 7,000 runners for the 42K and 18,000 for the 21K. The cutoff time for the marathon is 5:30 and three hours for half that distance.

Nice running form, Mom! Crossing the finish line a day before the marathon

Running is popular in Taiwan. One example is the Nike Running store near Taipei 101 that spans three gigantic floors of nothing but running shoes, running clothing, running gear.

Cycling? It’s absolutely big here. Taiwan is known as “The Bicycle Kingdom” and a huge number of bicycle components are stamped, “Made in Taiwan.” They’re led by Giant, the world’s largest bike company, which grosses over $2 billion and churns out an estimated 6.6 million bicycles per year (compared to the 3,800 they sold on their first year in 1972).

Apart from bike manufacturing, bike-riding is also popular in Taiwan. Giant helped launch the YouBike sharing format. Aside from Taipei, it’s found in 10 other cities here, including Taichung — the city that Jasmin and I visited a few times before (and we love even more than Taipei).

YouBike’s concept is simple: You visit one of many stations, you hop on a bike and drop it off in the nearest station of your destination.

Biking is good for the health of a nation’s citizens and it’s good for Mother Earth. Their website reads: “In the hope that by equipping a urban bike lane network with a bike station service, encouraging citizens to use low-pollution and low-energy-consumption Bike Sharing as short-distance transit vehicles and reducing and replacing personal possession and use of motor vehicles, traffic congestion, environmental pollution and energy loss in the city will be improved.”

How I wish we can do this. Our problem is the lack of bike-lanes. Here in Taipei, like in many parts of the world where pedaling is encouraged (especially in Europe), there are dedicated bike lanes. In Cebu, how can we adopt this bike-sharing concept when we don’t even have proper pedestrian lanes?

It’s audacious. It’s unimaginable and absurd. I’m talking about the quest to break one of humankind’s most enduring and seemingly-unbreakable of feats: running 42.195 kms. in under 120 minutes.

The marathon world record today stands at 2:02:57. That was set three Septembers ago at the 2014 Berlin Marathon. The current record holder is from Kenya and his name is Dennis Kimetto.

I’ve joined a few marathons myself and running 42K is backbreaking, toilsome and you can’t sprint fullspeed the entire stretch because it’s too far. How lengthy is a marathon? It’s the distance from the Provincial Capitol to Carcar. That’s a long, long, long, long, long way to travel using only your God-given feet.

How fast is the WR time of 2:02:57? It’s sprinting at a pace of 2 minutes and 54 seconds per kilometer. It’s like stepping on a treadmill and setting the speed beyond 20 kph! (A 10 kph speed is fast enough; imagine running at twice that pace — for two hours nonstop.)

Now, the question: Is it difficult to cut three minutes off that world record mark? Absolutely. Through the years, the WR has been broken repeatedly, but only by increments of a few seconds. Consider that in 1999, the fastest marathon was clocked at 2:05:38 by Khalid Khannouchi. This means that with the present record, only 2 minutes and 41 seconds was reduced in the last 17 years. That’s an average yearly reduction of only 9.5 seconds.

Which brings me to the Nike Project dubbed Breaking2. In a Runner’s World article entitled, “Nike’s Audacious Plan: Break the 2-Hour Marathon Barrier in 2017,” the sporting footwear giant wants to break the record next year.

“After more than two years of research, preparation and testing, three top distance runners—Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, and Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea—have officially started their Nike-backed build-up toward a sub-two-hour attempt sometime in the spring, the exact timing and location of which have yet to be finalized,” wrote Alex Hutchison in the Dec. 12 article from www.runnersworld.com. “Their goal is to run 1:59:59 or faster, a pace of 4:34 per mile for 26.2 miles.”

This goal is bold and stunning. “Nike’s announcement will undoubtedly raise eyebrows,” said the article. “Just two years ago, in a data-driven investigation of what it would take to run a marathon in less than two hours, I concluded that the barrier would be broken in 2075. That admittedly pessimistic prediction was based on the assumption that the record would continue to be shaved down by small margins, in keeping with previous trends.”

Nike is undaunted by this long-term prediction. They’re in a hurry and they plan to break the record very soon. Percentage-wise, the goal to carve three minutes doesn’t seem much, until you compute that it’s 2.5 percent. That’s substantial in a race where every second counts.

There are five key areas that Nike is focusing on. First, the athlete selection. From a pool that started with hundreds of runners, they selected three of the world’s best, testing each athlete to find out if they had what it takes for the record attempt.

Two, course and environment. Nike plans to control the course (not to be done in a regular road race), the time of the year and the conditions. “As our sub-two-hour feature noted, just getting the drafting right could shave 100 seconds off an elite marathon time, according to wind-tunnel estimates,” Hutchinson said. The final three areas: training, nutrition/hydration and equipment. (I strongly recommend you read the full article at www.runnersworld.com.)

“‘The sub-two-hour marathon is one of those epic barriers that people bust through,’ Nike’s VP of Footwear Innovation, Tony Bignell, told us. ‘It’s like breaking 10 seconds for the 100 meters or 4 minutes for the mile. At the end of the day, we just want to show it can be done. We want to show that it’s within the capability of human physiology.’”

Can it be done? As Nike says: Just do it.