Bro. Carlo Bacalla: Running as meditation

NOT only does running keep Bro. Carlo Bacalla physically fit and sound, it also offers him time for long reflections and meditation.

Running, especially among beautiful locales, are “moments to connect with Mother Nature and my Creator,” the Don Bosco brother told runners in Sun.Star Cebu last week.

A PHOTO FOR FACEBOOK. Bro. Carlo Bacalla before running the 102-kilometer Bataan Death March in 14 hours and 38 minutes to finish 17th.

“Running gives me a clear picture of the social conditions of our cities. When I see people sleeping on our sidewalks, when I see children scavenging for food in garbage bins, when I see young girls on skimpy clothes by the roadside, lots of questions come to my mind,” Bacalla said.

While it pains him to see all these, Bacalla said it also reminds him of his mission as a brother and that there are still “so many people to help.”

He said running gives him ample time to think and view things with new perspectives.

Bacalla said his first race was a 10K in 1986 as a “freedom run” with Edsa hero and former president Fidel Ramos. His first marathon was the real Pilipinas International Marathon, a 42-kilometer race that he completed with permission and condition from his superior because he was still in the seminary.

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Transcend limits, ultra-marathoner Jonel Mendoza tells Cebu runners

The mind is a powerful thing, ultra-runner Jonel Mendoza said in an almost conspiratorial whisper that carried across a room full of stunned runners.

If you think it, you can probably do it.

Preparing to run 100 kilometers takes more mental preparation than physical readiness, said Mendoza, ultra-runner and Frontrunner publisher and editor-in-chief.

Jonel MendozaJONEL MENDOZA, ultra-runner and publisher of Frontrunner, talks to the ungo runners in the Sun.Star Cebu newsroom. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. (PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX BADAYOS)

Huwag na tayong magbolahan dito. Hindi ko sasabihing hindi masakit, dahil masakit. Masakit na masakit (Let’s not kid ourselves. I won’t tell you it’s easy because it hurts. It really hurts),” Mendoza told a group of runners gathered at the Sun.Star Cebu central newsroom last Friday. With that, the room fell into stunned silence.

For a newbie runner, it’s hard to take in the idea of running 42 kilometers—the distance from the Capitol to Carcar.

It positively boggles the mind to cover that distance, come back to Capitol and continue running to Talamban in Cebu City, then Mandaue City, then to the old bridge and ending somewhere in Camella Homes in Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City.

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