Tag Archives: Bro. Carlo Bacalla

Joel Garganera: There is no substitute for preparation

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WRITTEN on three acid-free pages of a Moleskine cahier, a small, elegant notebook, was Joel Garganera’s six-week training pledge for the 100-kilometer Singapore Sundown Ultramarathon.

“No more peanuts/nuts until June 25,” starts the pledge written by Michelle So starting on page 5 of her notebook. The pledge was Garganera’s idea; So, a close friend he occasionally paces during runs, wanted it in writing.

“No buffet on my own until June 25. Red meat twice a week. Starting May 11, will run 100K/week. No alcohol except on Pablo John’s birthday and on June 12 after the Phuket marathon. Reduce weight to at least 147 lbs. on race day.”

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Bro. Carlo Bacalla: Running as meditation

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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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University Run or Pilipinas International Marathon?

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(This article was written by Bro. Carlo Bacalla, an ultra-marathoner who placed 17th in this year’s Bataan Death March 102-kilometer ultra-marathon.)

I just recently came back from a meeting in Bangkok and Vientiane (Laos). In Laos I had the chance to see the stadium where the 2009 SEA Games were held. It brought back to mind that bad image of the Philippines sending two separate delegations of athletes from two warring groups named PSC and POC. We know the victims when conflicts exist among our sports officials.

This is my take on the controversy brought about by one sports headline which reads “Two major runs in Cebu in 1 day.” At first I was excited that Pilipinas International Marathon (PIM) is being organized in Cebu. I thought it’s a revival of a famous foot race in Manila in the 80s. I ran 4 times in the Pilipinas Marathon between 1988 to 1992. But it was a standard 42.195 km. I posted my personal best time of 3:45 in one of these races. But my excitement turned sour when I realized it’s a sub-standard 25 km race scheduled on August 15, the same day of the University Run which was announced and posted in the Facebook prior to the PIM.

So where to run when 2 runs happen in 1 day?

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Close Osmeña Blvd. early morning Sundays

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It was serial marathoner Joel Garganera who first raised the proposal. In the middle of one of the weekly Friday night runs that start from the Sun.Star Cebu office, he talked about the need for Cebu City Hall to make the city’s streets friendlier to runners.

Garganera pointed out that not only are Cebu City streets not friendly to runners, they are also generally not safe for children. Look, we don’t even have sidewalks, he gesticulated while running sideways.

KAPAMILYA RUNNERS ON THE ROAD. Close to 2,000 runners joined last Sunday’s 10th dyAB KApamilya Run. Above, the runners occupy one lane of Gorordo Ave. near the UP Cebu College. (PHOTO BY TEDDY ESPINUEVA)

At the end of the run, he proposed a novel idea to get more people off their couches and running on the street: close Osmeña Blvd. for a few hours every Sunday and limit it to walkers, joggers, runners and bikers.

Garganera had wanted to pursue it as part of his political agenda in his failed City Council bid.

During the post-run breakfast in last Sunday’s Kapamilya Run, Garganera raised the idea again and got the support of ultra-runner Bro. Carlo Bacalla. But Garganera was preaching to the converted. What is needed is for the converted to start preaching to those in power.

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