In January, with excitement over the approaching 1st Cebu City Marathon spilling over to profile pages of Facebook users, Ralph was encouraged to run again. He said some of his friends whom he thought could never run a kilometer were starting to run five kilometers, 10K and even 21K.

SHOW ME WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE… Virna Liezl Lim Firmeza (at right) with close friends Emelee Sagun (left), Susan Militante (3rd from left) and Florence Mata (2nd from right). The friends pose with Rening Ylaya and top female runner Mary Grace delos Santos during the Cebu City Marathon. Firmeza was influenced into running by her friends. CLICK TO ENLARGE. (FROM THE FACEBOOK PAGE OF VIRNA FIRMEZA)

It made me think, he said in a Facebook interview, that if they could do it, then I could, too.

The status messages—those short posts announcing to the world what a Facebook user is doing or wearing or eating or even thinking—were the biggest factor, said Ralph.

“They also make it sound so fun, it makes you wanna give it a shot,” he said. Ralph is now a regular runner. He is also a member of the ungo runners, an informal group of runners who run every Friday night. Ungo runners found each other through, where else, but Facebook.

Virna Liezl Lim Firmeza also credits Facebook postings of her runner friends in getting her to run. Among her friends are top amateur runner Florence Mata, who frequently wins a top 10 spot in weekend races, and runners Emelee Sagun and Susan Militante.

She said Florence would keep on posting photos and status messages on running and she felt left out. She said every time she goes out with Florence, Emelee and Susan, they would always talk about running and she saw the changes in their well-being because of the sport.

Firmeza said the influence of her friends got her running and she eventually got hooked.

People have been saying for so long that running is like a virus—it’s spreading among people at a pandemic rate. A study that spanned half-a-century tells us why.

Behavior, whether good or bad, is socially contagious, according to a study of more than 5,000 residents of Framingham, a town in Massachussets.

Social scientist Nicholas Christakis and political scientist James Fowler studied personal records of 5,124 men and women who were part of the Framingham Heart Study that was started in 1948. The still-ongoing study led to the identification of major cardiovascular diseases risk factors and their effects such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, age, gender and psychosocial issues.

What makes the medical records unique is that the researchers took the effort to indicate the participants’ family members, close friends and colleague. From these data, Christakis and Fowler were able to map a network of human relationships and found:

1.) Obesity spreads through social networks like a virus. Having an obese spouse raises the risk of becoming obese by 37 percent, having an obese friend raises it to 171 percent. The study said social networks are better at predicting obesity rather than the presence of so-called “fat genes.”

2.) Smokers quit together. The study found that when smokers quit, their friends were 36 percent likely to follow.

3.) Happiness is contagious offline and on the Internet. A happy friend increases an individual’s probability of being happy by nine percent. In contrast, an extra $5,000 income only raises it by 2 percent. Even friends of friends have a positive influence on one’s happiness, the study said.

Christakis and Fowler also studied Facebook pages of students in one university and found that people who smiled in their profile photos tended to cluster with other people who also smiled. They also found that smiling Facebook members have 15 percent more close friends than their dour peers. (On a personal observation, people wearing skimpy running shorts tend to cluster together, don’t you think? Go check your Facebook contacts now.)

This contagious character of social networks, particularly Facebook, is what’s fueling the current boom in running.

Losiaboi finished the 12K route in a blistering 00:39:15.01. Jobert Carolino finished second a full minute later, clocking 00:40:39.50. Veteran runner Reprinel Banzon completed the top three by finishing third with a time of 00:40:48.58.

DOMINANT. Mary Grace delos Santos sprints with trainer Mosherwin Managil to win the women’s 12K category in the Citygym Citirun held in Waterfront Hotel Cebu City early today. CLICK ON PHOTO TO VIEW LARGER IMAGE (Photo by Max Limpag)

Completing the men’s 12K top 10 are 4th John Philip Duenas (00:41:23.49); 5th Riez Enriquez (00:42:09.84); 6th Paul James Zafico (00:43:52.95); 7th Noel Tillor (00:43:55.39); 8th Alvirg Busa (00:44:39.52); 9th Roger Saldo (00:46:25.97); and 10th Renvie Gabuya (0:48:11:117).

Losiaboi just came from two successive defeats Mendel Lopez.

In the women’s 12K, delos Santos finished first with a time of 00:45:37.17. Madelyn Carter was second with a time of 00:49:27.63 while Joeyry Lee finished third by clocking in 00:52:56.95.

Completing the women’s 12K top 10 are 4th Peris Poywo (00:56:32.86); 5th Girlie Rose Baylon (00:58:37.63); 6th Emily Rosas (01:00:13.73); 7th Amale Jopson (01:00:47.91); 8th Ma. Milagros Tanudtanud (01:01:55.47); 9th Michelle Discaya (01:01:59.82); and Florence Mata (01:04:56.19).

Among Citygym clients, Dr. Reynald Ramiro placed first with a time of 01:10:21.36; Milvic Chua was second by clocking in 01:10:57.00 while Michael Paquibot was third with a time of 01:11:35.38.

6K category

Joel Delposo, meanwhile, dominated the men’s 6K category with his 00:21:02.270 time. Roland Montebon was second at 00:21:22.950 while veteran Ruth Banzon placed third by clocking in 00:24:25.120.

Completing the top 10 are 4th Fernando Berbesada (00:25;12.36); 5th Lino Galindo (00:27:01.090); 6th Vinson Mahawan (00:27:11.980); 7th Errold Alipio (00:27:25.610); 8th Florencio Herminio (00:27:40.470); 9th Jose Luis Tiongko (00:29:19.140); and 10th Diomedes Seque (00:30:11.850).

In the women’s category, Mary Joy Tabal topped the 6K race with a time of 00:24:18.130. Aiza Suaybaguio was second with her time of 00:26:21.060 while Marlyn Alin was third with her time of 00:27:33.830.

Completing the 10 best times are 4th Haziel Retavale (00:29:08.960); 5th Gretchen Niere (00:32:12.210); 6th Mary Aimee Aranaydo (00:32:59.350); 7th Lorelie Abella (00:33:09.560); 8th Ma. Lirio Omolon (00:33:38.680); 9th Emeralde Hermocilla (00:34:28.690); and 10th Corrine Nillas (00:34:52.200).

Among its clients, Joe France Cañizares topped the 6K race with his time of 00:32:59.890; Karen Gonzales was second with her time of 00:33:03.130 while Francisco Gomos Jr. was third with his time of 00:36:39.270.

Among Citigym employees, Chadwick Mabanta finished first in the 6K race with a time of 00:35:06.470, Daniel Carino was third with a time of 00:35:59.850 while Arnulfo Abatayo was third with a time of 00:37:41.260.

Robert Daan topped the male 4K race with a time of 00:14:50.55. Jerry Laroya was second at 00:16:12.79 while Gabby Lariosa was third with a time of 00:19:27.84.

In the women’s 4K, Mizraym Capangpangan finished first in 00:26:30.60. Ana Moldes was second with her time of 00:26:45.71 while Jade Garzoa was third with a time of 00:26:56.21.

To view photographs we took of the race, be a fan of the CebuRunning page in Facebook. We uploaded close to 200 photos there.

Some finishers questioned the result reported by the race’s technical staff. The confusion got to a point that a man was named a top 10 finisher in one of the women’s categories.

Race director Joe Deresas blamed yesterday’s snafu on last minute adjustments and changes by registered runners on their race distances.

CLICK TO ENLARGE. Media category winners (from left) Allain Cortes of Sun.Star Cebu (3rd), Ronald Banugon of Bombo Radyo-Cebu (1st), and Max Limpag of Sun.Star Cebu and CebuRunning (2nd). (PHOTO BY SUN.STAR CEBU’S ARNI ACLAO)

The announcing of winners got so drawn-out that even if people were already leaving, winners of some categories were still not determined. The winners of the special categories for media and the Cebu Association of Tour Operators (Cato) took so long to determine because of the chaos in the technical staff’s booth. The Cato winners, in fact, were no longer named, only the numbers were read and very few winners approached the stage to claim the prizes.

The chaos in yesterday’s race was a sharp contrast to the highly efficient and professional way Barangay Lahug’s Running MAD 2 race was managed. I think Running MAD 2 is among the best races of the year. In that race, the top finishers were told of their ranking as soon as they reached the finish line. Organizers, led by Tinago Barangay Councilor Joel Garganera, Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann delos Santos and Raffy Uytiepo, immediately awarded prizes as soon as the top 10 runners of a certain category was finished.

As expected yesterday, Kenyan missionary Simon Losiaboi extended his dominance of Cebu City races with another win in the 10K division. Losiaboi blazed through the route that started at the Asiatown IT Park and followed Gov. M Cuenco Ave. until the intersection on ML Quezon Ave. in Cabancalan in just 29 minutes and 53 seconds.

Mendel Lopez placed second to Losiaboi with a time of 30:16. Erstwhile top male runner Elmer Bartolo settled for third with a time of 31:56. Among the top 10 male finishers was trainer Mosherwin Managil, who finished 6th in his first competitive race. In previous races, Managil usually serves as pacer for the runners that he trains, including Cebu City’s top woman runner, Mary Grace de los Santos.

De los Santos again topped the women’s 10K event, finishing the race in 36:35. Madelyn Carter was again in second place, finishing the route in 38:00. Aiza Diola placed third. Among the top 10 women finishers were Anna Neric (9th) and Florence Mata (10th).

Joel Delposo topped the men’s 5K event while Joy Tabal topped the women’s 5K.

In the men’s media division, Ronald Banugon of Bombo Radyo-Cebu finished first, I was second while my colleague Allain Cortes was third. The other winners were (4th) Raffy Osumo, The Freeman; (5th) William Rama, Sun.Star Cebu; (6th) Rico Navarro, The Freeman; (7th) Rene Martel, Sun.Star Cebu; (8th) Francis June Ygot, Sun.Star Network Exchange.

The women’s media division, on the other hand, was an unmitigated disaster.

Not only did the organizers fail to rank the finishers, they never even had records of their participation. The emcee had to call the women media runners to the stage and by then, only two had stayed behind. The emcee then asked the runners, to widespread laughter, “kinsa may na-una ug human ninyo?” (Who finished first?).

Sun.Star Network Exchange managing editor and CebuRunning contributor Marlen Limpag topped the women’s media category while Sun.Star Cebu central newsroom library assistant Hanz Llerin finished second. The other winners were no longer named nor awarded. Marlen, in fact, had to ask for her medal because the emcee did not award it to them.

The screwup was unfortunate because the run held a lot of promise. The registration fee wasn’t that expensive at just P180, inclusive of a singlet, which was actually of good quality—one of the best race singlets given to runners this year. The medals they gave the winners were also of very good quality.

The water stations also had ample supply (at least in my experience—but then again, the media category was only 5K). The run was also well-attended with about 1,500 people joining it of the 2,000 or so who registered. That was a very good number considering there was another run held at the same time.

What really distinguished yesterday’s run was the number of raffle prizes offered to runners—certificates for overnight stays in Cebu’s top resorts and hotels as well as round trip tickets to domestic and international destinations. No other fun run this year can compare to the prizes offered yesterday.

But all those things were for naught because of two fatal failings—the chaos in the naming of winners and the shorter-than-announced route distances.

CLICK TO ENLARGE. Sun.Star Cebu runners with John Pages (standing, left), Simon Losiaboi, and Joel Garganera (standing, 4th from left). (PHOTO BY SUN.STAR CEBU’S ARNI ACLAO)

The 5K and 10K races were short by at least half-a-kilometer based on Garmin GPS data. This isn’t nitpicking. Having correct distances for your race routes is very important because most runners use it to check whether they have gone faster. Most runners do not use a GPS device to check distances and just assume that the organizers got the distance right. Many, I’m sure, thought they went faster yesterday because they did not know that the route was shorter.

With the tools available to plot race routes, like Google Maps, which we wrote about earlier, there’s no excuse to get the distances wrong.

Yesterday’s fun run held promise but ended as among this year’s worse. Only the great fun, good quality singlets, and great company saved it from being a total disaster.