On the run in the beautiful island
Posts tagged Cebu City Marathon
“Chariots of Fire” syndrome
May 12th
I saw him just as I was bracing for the steep incline to the bridge at the South Road Properties in the 21-kilometer race in last January’s Cebu City Marathon.
He was wearing a white running shirt—not the singlet issued by race organizers—and listening to music through earbud earphones.
INNER RHYTHM. Music not only takes runners away to a different place in their mind’s eye but also provides them rhythm for their cadence. (CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO FROM THE FLICKR PAGE OF ZAPHGOD)I made a move to pass him when, inexplicably, he suddenly raised his arms in seeming triumph.
I looked back after passing him and saw his eyes closed. He had an expression of someone who just won a race, in his mind’s eye.
I was tempted to bring him back to half-marathon reality, “Dude! We’re not even half-way yet!” but I was too preoccupied computing whether I could break two hours in my first 21K to bother.
Dailymile now has Garmin GPS watch support
Mar 20th
Social training log dailymile has started rolling out its support for Garmin devices and can now retrieve total distance, time and map coordinates from your Forerunner GPS devices.
Dailymile is a website that serves as training log for runners, cyclists and triathletes. What differentiates it from sites like Garmin Connect is that it has a social networking component. It allows you to connect with other runners, cyclists or triathletes. You can view your workouts as well as that of your contacts and people near your location in a Twitter-like stream of entries.
MY DAILYMILE PROFILE PAGE. Dailymile is a cool social training log for runners, cyclists and triathletes. It now supports both Nike+ and Garmin devices. CLICK TO ENLARGE.I used the site for a while in July but stopped visiting it when I discovered Garmin Connect. The site supported Nike+ but didn’t work with the Garmin Forerunner. Since I use a Forerunner 305 to track my runs, I had to manually enter records in dailymile and it was tedious. Without Garmin support, I didn’t have the incentive to continue maintaining my dailymile account. But for so long, the site indicated that Garmin support was “coming soon” so I didn’t delete my account.
A runner’s heart
Jan 14th
In front of the traffic sign that announced a 20 kilometers per hour (kph) speed limit inside the Asiatown IT Park, Aileen Tolentino gave her all.
She covered the last 300 meters to the finish line within the automotive speed limit but at a combustive endgame 18 kph before collapsing at the finish line in a guttural scream.
“Aaahhh!!!” her victory cry a shriek of pain. Tolentino snatched the Cebu City Marathon Women’s 42K crown from Mary Grace delos Santos in the final minute and paid for it with a body racked by cramps.
SHE GAVE HER ALL. Aileen Tolentino collapses after winning the Cebu City Marathon 42K Women’s event. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. (PHOTO BY IGI MAXIMO OF PabolFC.com) The celebration would come later.
Three hours, 15 minutes and 30 seconds from starting her run, Tolentino lay screaming in agony, her head saved from slamming into the pavement by race organizer Meyrick Jacalan. Thirteen seconds later, delos Santos crossed the finish line, buried her face in her hands, and leaned slightly on pacer Elmer Bartolo.
Until that 20 kph traffic sign, you’d have thought the race was delos Santos’s to take.
Delos Santos, the top female runner in Cebu, built an early lead at the South Road Properties, running at least a minute ahead of her long-standing rival. Someone who saw the two runners there said he thought Tolentino was done for, lagging behind a still fresh-looking delos Santos.
But near the Bureau of Internal Revenue office in Banilad, Tolentino already caught up with delos Santos. With their teammates and pacers, the two ran in a pack.
Cebu City Marathon 42K and 21K results now out
Jan 10th
Official race times for the very successful Cebu City Marathon 2010 are now out. The times are based on ChampionChip data.
Kenyan Willy Tanui dominated the 42K race by finishing the race in 2 hours 30 minutes and 57 seconds. Kenyan missionary Simon Losiaboi, who is currently based in Cebu, placed second with a time of 02:30:57. Eric Panique finished as the fastest Filipino by placing third with his time of 02:32:23.
Kenyan David Kipsang was fourth with his time of 02:35:41 while Elmer Sabal placed fifth with a time of 02:37:23.
On a personal note, I finished my first 21K in 02:04:59. I aimed for a sub-2 finish but couldn’t pass up witnessing the drama in the race between Aileen Tolentino and Mary Grace delos Santos in the last few kilometers.
Here are the official race times:
The results are searchable, to get your time, go to your category and use the search bar at the lower right portion.
Simon Losiaboi to run first 42K in Cebu City Marathon
Jan 6th
Cebu runners will see a familiar face wearing race bib no. 1 in this Sunday’s Cebu City Marathon—Kenyan missionary Simon Losiaboi.
Losiaboi, who has won all the races in Cebu that he joined since he arrived here late last year, will be running his first full marathon this Sunday. Being the only Cebu-based top Kenyan runner, organizer Meyrick Jacalan of the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC) said they will be assigning race bib no. 1 to Losiaboi.
CEBU CITY MARATHON organizers with Cebu’s top runners (from left): Perl Jacalan, Meyrick Jacalan, Mary Grace delos Santos, Simon Losiaboi, John Pages and CERC president Jesse Taborada. (PHOTOGRAPHED BY MARLEN LIMPAG)Losiaboi told reporters gathered in Mooon Cafe in Ayala Center Cebu yesterday that he is “not really confident” with winning the race because he is not used to the distance. He said he has no target time to finish the race.
Losiaboi said he only trained for the distance in just one month—running on the roads in Cebu and the two Mandaue-Mactan bridges and doing speed work in the Cebu City Sports Center track oval.
Cebu City Marathon rules and regulations released
Jan 5th
Organizers of the Cebu City Marathon have released the rules and regulations on the event, which is just 5 days away.
Among the rules in this Sunday’s event is the prohibition on wheeled vehicles from the race route. Organizer John Pages said in his Sun.Star Cebu column that “the reason for this is simple: Safety. We want to provide runners with as wide a space as possible to run without having to step aside because of a speeding car.”
Pages advised support crew of runners to just station themselves on certain points of the route.
Cebu City Marathon souvenir shirt design now out
Dec 31st
On the last day of registration for the Cebu City Marathon 2010, organizers released the final design of the souvenir shirts that will be sold during the event. Organizers, however, are still deciding on the price of the souvenir shirts. One of the organizers said it would likely be from P200 to P250.
The shirt incorporates in its design the three key landmarks of Cebu City: Magellan’s Cross, Fuente Osmeña and the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño.
Below is the final design of the souvenir shirt. Click on the image to load a larger version of the photograph.
Cebu City Marathon 42K finishers to get mango-shaped medals
Dec 18th
Finishers of the 42K race during the Cebu City Marathon on January 10, 2010 will each get a beautiful mango-shaped finisher’s medal. The medals are crafted by Suarez Bros. Metal Arts Inc., an institution in metalwork in Cebu City.
In the photo below, Cebu City Marathon organizer Meyrick Jacalan, the owner of ASAP (Advertising Services and Promotions), holds the medal that he designed. It’s great work. At first glance, you can immediately connect the medal to Cebu, which takes pride in its export-quality mangoes.
2 hotels offer special rates for Cebu City Marathon runners
Dec 15th
Organizers have been able to negotiate special rates for Cebu City Marathon 2010 runners with Golden Prince Hotel & Suites and Waterfront Hotel & Casino Cebu City.
With the marathon just 26 days away, you should book your hotel room now. Cebu City hotels are typically fully-booked in January because of the Sinulog festivities every third Sunday of the month. If the two hotels are booked or are too pricey for you, there are several other hotels and pension houses in Cebu City.
Cebu City to revive Tri-City Run, use timing chips
Dec 11th
The Cebu City Government will revive the Tri-City Run in next year’s celebration of the Cebu City Charter Day, Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem told CebuRunning last night.
Jakosalem also said the run will use RFID chips to time runners. “I think timing chips are the way to go,” said Jakosalem, chairman of the Cebu City Council’s committee on games, amusements and professional sports.
He said they still have not decided what distances to hold races on but if the Cebu City Marathon on Jan. 10, 2010 is successful, Tri-City Run will have a full 42K route. The Tri-City Marathon got its name from the fact that its route passed the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu. The route of previous stagings of the run covered 25K.
