On the run in the beautiful island
Max Limpag
Max Limpag is an editor of Sun.Star Cebu, a blogger and a newbie runner. His technology blog Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments was awarded the best technology blog in the first Philippine Blog Awards.
Posts by Max Limpag
Building an interactive map for safe running in Cebu
Jul 30th
As part of our focus on safety in CebuRunning.com, we are building an interactive map that will contain safety information that concerns runners. Although I will maintain the map, I intend to seek the help of members of Cebu’s vibrant running community in keeping it updated with crucial information.
The map, with the permanent address www.ceburunning.com/runsafe, will contain such data as areas where runners are robbed or attacked. It will also indicate which parts of Cebu runners should avoid for being unsafe, especially at night.
To view the data, click on the icons on the map.
Only Pinoy to swim across Gibraltar Straits to speak in Friday night run
Jul 29th
THE only Filipino to do a transcontinental swim by swimming crossing the Gibraltar Straits will speak about building endurance in Friday night’s weekly run from the Sun.Star Cebu office on P. del Rosario St. to the Asiatown IT Park.
Sebastian Lacson, Aboitiz Equity Ventures chief reputations officer, swam from Tarifa, Spain to Punta Marroqui, Morocco on Oct. 6, 1996 in 5 hours and 19 minutes. Gibraltar Straits separates Europe from Africa and connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean Sea.
BASTI LACSON. The Aboitz Equity Ventures chief reputations officer after crossing the Gibraltar Straits in 1996.Lacson is a former captain of the Ateneo Blue Eagles.
When he was studying for a master’s degree in Barcelona, he joined a full marathon and finished it in 3 hours and 56 minutes.
“Towards the end of my master’s someone mentioned a swim across the Strait of Gibraltar. I set my sights on that, swam like a maniac for six months, and finally felt I was ready for the swim. I swam from Tarifa, Spain to Punta Marroqui, Morocco in October 6, 1996 in 5:19 minutes. This was a real ordeal, conquering physical and mental stress at the same time,” he said.
Lacson, who was 25 that time, finished the swim with two others, Spaniards Gonzalo Ceballos and Pedro Vernis.
Aboitiz is organizing the first Aboitiz Race to Reduce Challenge 2010 on Aug. 22 at the South Road Properties. Lacson will be talking about the race. He will also discuss building endurance as an athlete and share his experiences in endurance sports.
Here’s the regular ungo run route. The red line indicates the intermediate ungo runners’ route, an 8-kilometer stretch that includes an uphill jaunt to Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. The blue line indicates the beginners’ route, which is about 5 and 1/2 kilometers.
View Friday night run in a larger map
Above all else, safety
Jul 28th
In a different world, the disembodied hand of my mother would have emerged from the phone receiver to pinch my ear.
“Nasobrahan na ka ug dagan (you’re running too much),” she said in a testy voice that still couldn’t hide her concern.
RUN SAFE. To run safe at night, choose well-lit roads or run with a large group. If you want to to try running at night, join the weekly ungo run every Friday at 10 p.m. from the Sun.Star Cebu office to the It Park.She had known through Facebook that I was nursing a fever and called me up on a Friday, the day that I organize a weekly run from Sun.Star Cebu to the IT Park, to tell me I should scale down on my running.
“Mangaligsan gani mo (you’ll be run over),” a teenager said with a laugh after taking a drag of cigarette and blowing a puff of smoke at the sidewalk while watching scores of runners in one of the Friday night runs that I organize from the Sun.Star Cebu office to the IT Park.
Recent incidents have raised questions on the safety of the fastest growing sport in the country. Fatalities have been reported in the Milo Marathon in Manila and a recent night run in Mandaue City.
Friends express worry on the risks of running on the road, especially at night. They express their concern with a tone appropriate to someone trying to stop a person from pulling out his own fingernails.
Not to trivialize the risks but more people actually die of illnesses caused by a sedentary lifestyle than by running-related accidents or illnesses.
5th University Run offers personalized race bibs for first 500 registrants
Jul 22nd
The first 500 registrants to the Cebu Doctors’ University’s (CDU) flagship race, the University Run, on August 15 will get personalized race bibs, organizers announced in a press conference Tuesday night.
This is the first time that a race in Cebu, even possibly in the country, will allow registrants to specify what is printed in their race bibs.
PERSONALIZED RACE BIB. Organizer Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III with a sample of the personalized race bib that will be assigned to the first 500 registrants of the 5th University Run on August 15. CLICK TO ENLARGE IMAGE (PHOTO BY MAX LIMPAG)Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III, a marathoner who has been recognized by the Sportswriters Association of Cebu for his contribution to running, said the first 500 people to register for the run can specify what combination of letters and numerals would be printed in their race bibs. Larrazabal said the bib has room for 6 letters or digits.
He said that in races abroad, personalized race bibs are only reserved for elite runners.
If you still haven’t registered, however, you should do it now because there were already about 100 registrants on Tuesday night. Registration fee is P250 but students need only to pay P200. Registration areas are in Larrazabal’s Center for Sight clinic in Cebu Doctors’ Hospital, Nike Athletic Club in the Banilad Town Center and CDU.
The race distances are 3K, 5K and 10K. There are separate categories for students and CDU alumni.
Semantics
Jul 21st
Organizers of the Pilipinas International Marathon (PIM) are standing their ground. Not only are they not going to reschedule their event, which, admittedly, is understandable, they insist that a 25-kilometer race, by Patafa diktat, is a marathon. Pataka (nonsense).
“It is already accepted worldwide, even by the International Association of Marathons; they also accepted that they can use marathon as their ‘lingo’ if it goes beyond 21K and there is a 25K marathon,” International Pharmaceuticals Inc. advertising manager Tito Dela Merced was quoted as saying in a Sun.Star Cebu report on Saturday.
The debate on the use of the term might be getting tiresome but it is necessary. Standards are important for any sport. They are the foundation for records on which we gauge performances. A key component of any set of standards is the correct usage of technical terms.
Energizer Night Race finish times now out
Jul 14th
Race times for all runners who joined the Energizer Night Race last Saturday have been released by organizers. To view your time, check out the spreadsheet below. Click on the appropriate category at the bottom of the screen.
Know when to finish another day
Jul 14th
Death marred an enjoyable Energizer night run last Saturday that gathered about 2,500 people in Mandaue City.
Alexander Landera, a 19-year-old member of the Danao Runners’ Club who was accepted to his school’s varsity running team just last week, passed out at the finish line of his first-ever fun run and was taken to the Mandaue City District Hospital.
LIKE A SPRINKLE OF FIREFLIES. Runners wearing Energizer headlamps light up Mandaue City’s streets in the first-ever Energizer Night Run. Runners described the run as unique and enjoyable. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. (PHOTO BY NORWIN DETALLA)There, he regained consciousness, started jogging in place and asked for his shoes. He then reportedly asked people where the finish line was before running into the emergency room’s glass door, breaking it and severely injuring his arm. He then jumped out of the window before people could restrain him and take him back into the hospital, where he died reportedly of loss of blood.
Details aren’t clear yet as to what caused Landera to faint but what happened raised the need to educate people to listen to their body and not push too hard.
Yes, people cheer the podium finishers but they also cheer, and even reserve the loudest applause to those who finish last.
Dr. Peter Mancao, a heart surgeon who espouses recreational running, says runners should immediately stop when experiencing what he describes as warning signs: being out of breath and feeling chest pains, headache and vertigo.
Why I’m joining the CDU University Run
Jul 7th
Dr. Yong Larrazabal’s disappointment was palpable during our phone conversation.
The eye surgeon and marathoner had purposely announced in advance in Facebook the date for Cebu Doctors’ University’s flagship running event, the University Run, to inform other race organizers and avoid another conflict in race schedules.
CDU RUN. Dr. Yong Larrazabal helped make running a mainstream sport in Cebu City with his annual University Run and monthly Run for Sight. Click on photo to enlarge image. (FOTO TAKEN FROM RUN FOR SIGHT’S FACEBOOK PAGE)The run, which serves as opening of CDU’s Intramurals, was scheduled way ahead, when activities in the school’s academic calendar were determined.
University Run organizers coordinated schedules with other race directors to make sure that they would not hold their runs on the same day. But late last week, the buzz started spreading among runners in Facebook—another race has been scheduled on Aug. 15, the date of the 5th CDU University Run.
It’s a 25K international “marathon,” an oxymoron that should serve as warning. Runners know that you only use the word marathon to describe a race that is 42.195 kilometers long. There are no shorter “marathons.”
The Pilipinas 25K International Marathon is backed by International Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IPI) and organized by Joe Deresas, an affable man who was in charge of two of the most problematic races I’ve joined.
Citom wants to make Cebu City roads safe for runners, cyclists: Jakosalem
Jun 30th
Meyrick Jacalan was emphatic: Cebu City has a huge potential to be a sports tourism hub similar to what CamSur has become.
We have more hotels and we’re accessible because we have more flights coming and we have shipping services, he said. He recounted the complaints by triathletes on the difficulty of bringing their gear to CamSur for competitions.
But first, he said, pausing to take a sip from his cup of coffee that had been cleared of the dollop of whipped cream placed there by mistake, let’s make our city’s streets safe for runners and bikers.
SAFER ROADS. Cebu City Marathon organizers Meyrick Jacalan (left) and John Pages (center) of the Cebu Executive Runners Club with outgoing Cebu City Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem, who has been named Cebu City Traffic Operations Management chairman. Jakosalem said Citom wants to make Cebu City’s roads safer for runners and cyclists. CLICK TO ENLARGEJacalan, one of the core organizers responsible for the hugely successful staging of the Cebu City Marathon, said Cebu City’s streets aren’t friendly to bikers, runners and even pedestrians.
“Motorists should be taught to share the road with bikers and runners. As a start, we can teach drivers to give importance to runners,” he said, “What’s a few minutes of inconvenience on a Sunday morning to the benefits of a community adopting a healthy lifestyle?”
Local government support
Jacalan said the support of the local government unit is crucial to the success of turning Cebu into a sports tourism hub. He said it’s something Cebu City can offer, citing City Hall’s key role in the success of the Cebu City Marathon.
With the way things are developing at the Cebu City Hall, it looks like things are looking up for the local running scene.
Mary Grace delos Santos places 2nd in Kuala Lumpur
Jun 28th
Top Cebu-based runner Mary Grace delos Santos placed second in the half-marathon women’s open in last Sunday’s Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon in Malaysia.
Delos Santos, who has dominated Cebu races ever since she relocated here from Zamboanga, finished her 21K run in 1:26:13, 3 minutes behind the winner, Kenyan Eunice Nyawira Muchiri, who finished with a time of 1:23:20.
MARY GRACE IN KL. Top Cebu-based runner Mary Grace delos Santos at the starting line of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon. (CONTRIBUTED FOTO)Delos Santos finished ahead of Malaysian Noor Amelia Bt. Musa (1:28:58), Kenyan Jepleting Maiyo (1:29:30), Kenyan Irine Jeptoo Kipchumba (1:29:49) and German Janna Hinz (1:32:03).
Delos Santos’ trip to Kuala Lumpur was sponsored by specialty running store Runnr, which has been supporting her. Runnr founder Roberto “Toby” Claudio, Jr. first met delos Santos when he went to the store to show it to Cebu reporters and bloggers during last year’s soft opening.
