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

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