Category Archives: Feature

Remembering Melinda Ponce

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SHE died with her running clothes on.

That phrase got stuck in my mind after I called up Sun.Star reporter Davinci Maru Sunday to tell him that one of the victims of the massacre he was covering was an ultra-runner held in high regard by the local running community.

News had spread of Melinda Ponce’s gruesome killing through a shocked running community early Sunday morning. I woke up to find 18 text messages and seven missed calls – a portent of urgent, breaking news.

Run For Melinda

Runners have scheduled a run in Cebu and Manila to honor ultra-runner Melinda Ponce, who was killed last Sunday.

The text messages bore the same horrible news: ultra-runner Melinda Ponce was killed with her child.

The reality, however, was even more terrible. Melinda was killed with three of her children and her helper by her husband, who then shot himself. Melinda and the kids were shot in the head, Maru told me.

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3 stories, 1 ‘fun run’

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AT KM 50 in last Sunday’s Warrior 53K Ultramarathon, Jojo Militante told his wife to give up and get in the car, thinking she was nearing exhaustion and about to collapse.

SUSAN Militante's friends carried this poster to motivate the first-time ultramarathoner to finish last Sunday's 53K run.

SUSAN Militante's friends carried this poster to motivate the first-time ultramarathoner to finish last Sunday's 53K run.

“Is he nuts?” Susan Militante said in a Facebook interview. I could almost hear Susan saying “Wa siya mabuang (has he gone mad)?” Susan quickly told Jojo to go ahead and prepare her slippers at the finish line. The 42-year-old mother of two boys was running her first ultramarathon two years after getting hooked on running.

Her close friend Abby Ponce, an ultra-runner, led her support crew, Team Abbylicious, and saw her through to the end. The team was named thus because it was the same group, Susan among them, that supported Abby during her first ultra last May 1. The team carried a poster of Susan running with a statement that’s truly her: “50K? Ayaw ko hadloka!”

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Doc Willie Estepa: From heavy smoker, drinker to ultra-runner

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In late October of 2009, Toledo Assistant City Veterinarian Wilfredo “Willie” Estepa applied for the renewal of his driver’s license at the Land Transportation Office. He sat on a bench at the LTO lounge along with several people waiting for their names to be called.

All of a sudden, he felt dizzy, weak and nauseous. He also started feeling tingling pains on his neck. A friend saw him nearly fall from the bench and quickly brought him to the hospital, which was located just a few blocks away. Estepa said he was too weak to respond and thank the friend.

Estepa had suffered a mild stroke, his years of excesses finally catching up with him.
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Doc Tata: when I run, I go to work happier

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AMONG the estimated 34,000 runners who braved the rains in Manila last Sunday was a doctor from Cebu running her first 42-kilometer race.

Dr. Cecillie “Tata” Milan, resident obstetrician/gynecologist of Cebu Puericulture Center And Maternity House, Inc., prayed for drizzle during the Milo Marathon but said she “didn’t expect it to rain from start to finish.”

Two years after getting encouraged by a friend and colleague, Dr. Benjamin Balaoro, to register for a 5K race in the Milo Marathon Cebu Leg, Milan was running her first full marathon.

Balaoro had encouraged her by saying “that a certain doctor has been running for awhile now and that if she can do it, we can also do it. I rose up to the challenge, even if I could barely finish one round at the oval.”

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Plaza of Mayor Rama’s childhood

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UNTIL recently, the only reason you’d be running in Plaza Independencia was for your life. Or to chase a snatcher.

But go there today and you’ll find a changed place.

When I was still new to Cebu 15 years ago, I used to dread being downtown. Friends who had been here for years would tell me never to bring anything valuable there. In my mind’s eye, a robber lurked at every street corner.

Plaza Independencia was in that list of you-know-where—places you don’t ever want to find yourself in. “ Tulison ka diha, du (you’ll get robbed there)” was the serious warning of a hometown acquaintance who gesticulated, twisting an imaginary knife.

Mayor Michael Rama hosts the Ungo Runners at the Plaza Independencia.

Mayor Michael Rama hosts the Ungo Runners at the newly-renovated Plaza Independencia. (PHOTO BY RAMIE IGAÑA)

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