Larrazabal just finished the Macau Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon in 3 hours, 49 minutes and 48 seconds. In an interview with reporters last night, Larrazabal said he set out for the Macau marathon last Sunday with the goal of finishing the race in 3:55.

MARATHON COUPLE. Donna Cruz-Larrazabal and Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III recount to reporters their experience in the Macau Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon. (Photo by Max Limpag)

Donna Cruz-Larrazabal, meanwhile, finished her first marathon in style, breaking five hours by coming in at 4:49:47.

Donna, however, said she nearly gave up and was in tears in the last few kilometers. She injured her left foot and it started hurting at the 22-kilometer point. She said she was walking in parts of the race but persevered, telling herself that she should finish before the five-hour cutoff time because “ayaw ko’ng mapahiya.”

Donna later told reporters that had she known that the route would pass the 2.2km Ponte de Sai Van bridge not once but four times, she wouldn’t have signed up for the full marathon.

“It’s not an easy route for a first marathon,” said Donna, who later broke into a laugh when she teased Yong that she beat his time for his first marathon—4:53 in Pasig.

Yong Larrazabal said the Macau race was tough and they passed many runners who were suffering from cramps. As indication of how tough the course was, the winner, Mykhaylo Iveruk of Ukraine, finished in 2:17.

Harthy Satina, Larrazabal’s running partner, conditioning coach, and trainer, said he was very proud of what the two had accomplished. Satina said Donna is the first local showbiz celebrity to finish a full marathon.

With his 8th marathon under the bag, Larrazabal said he will decide next week whether to run the full Cebu City Marathon or just 21k on Jan. 10. Larrazabal is planning to run 33 marathons in his lifetime. He said he and Donna will definitely run in the Cebu City Marathon. Donna said she will be running in the 21K event.

Larrazabal said he is planning to run five more marathons next year, culminating in Singapore where he hopes to run at least a 3:20 to qualify for Boston.

“The goal of every runner is first, to finish the marathon. Then it’s to record a fast time, break four hours. Then it’s to qualify for Boston,” Larrazabal said.

Donna, meanwhile, said she plans to run one marathon a year. She said she wants to join more local races and even pleaded with Yong and Harthy to let her join the regular Sunday runs in Cebu while they were still training for Macau. She wasn’t allowed to race because it would disrupt their training, Yong said.

Donna later said that they’ve agreed she could run future races and that Yong and Harthy would just adjust their long runs to finish with the race.

When asked what running has done to their marriage, Larrazabal said it has strengthened their bond. He said he and Donna have grown closer now that they are both running. He said they now have more things in common and they spend more time with each other because of their shared passion.

Donna said that with running, she no longer goes on a diet. She said she used to to be always eating sparsely and that affected her disposition. “Ngayong ang lakas ko kumain,” she said.

Donna said she used to resent the time Yong spent running and couldn’t understand what he saw in the sport. “Tatakbo ka na naman? I used to tell him,” she said. She said that at one time, when she asked him whether he was going to run again, Yong invited her to run with him. Donna said that’s how she started running in October last year.

She said she started buying expensive shoes and stuff as motivation to keep running because of the amount she had invested in the sport. She said Yong told her to just keep at it for a week or two and then she’d get hooked.

SINGING WHILE RUNNING. Donna, Yong and trainer Harthy Satina. No it wasn’t Donna, a popular singer, who sang while running the Macau Marathon, it was Satina, who Yong said kept singing the Milo theme song. Satina qualified for the Milo Marathon national finals last year. CLICK TO ENLARGE. (Photo by Max Limpag)

And get hooked she did. After that, Donna started to join and win local races. She finished her first 10K in 57 minutes. Her best time for the distance is 48 minutes.

Satina said it was very challenging for Yong to prepare for his marathons because he has a growing family and a thriving medical practice. Larrazabal’s family runs Cebu Doctors’ Hospital and Cebu Doctors’ University. But Satina shares Yong’s confidence of further improving his finishing time.

While preparing for Macau, Larrazabal’s weekly mileage went up to 80 kilometers. He did his Sunday long runs to Danao and was once even nearly run over by a taxi. On Wednesdays and Fridays, they’d then do 15K to 20K in the Cebu City Sports Center. With his schedule, Larrazabal said that at times they’d be the last to leave the sports center.

Larrazabal said he is happy with the running boom in Cebu and is proud to have done his part to promote the sport. He started the Run for Sight monthly runs at a time when there were only a few races in Cebu to provide a venue for runners.

Larrazabal said he encourages his patients to take up the sport. He said that with running, “you feel good. It’s a natural high.”

“Without running, I’ll be burned out with my work. I work better because I run,” Larrazabal said. He performed surgery the day after finishing Macau.

Mykhaylo Iveruk of Ukraine narrowly won yesterday’s marathon in Macau, China with a time of 2:17:45. He was followed by Micah Kipserem Chuma of Kenya, who finished in 2:17:51. Another Kenyan, Jusius Kibet Mebur, was at third place, finishing in 2:17:58.

IN MACAU. (From left) Harthy Satina, Donna Cruz-Larrazabal, and Dr. Yong Larrazabal at the Macau marathon. CLICK TO ENLARGE (Photo from Dr. Yong Larrazabal’s Facebook page)

The revelation, however, was Donna Cruz-Larrazabal, who broke five hours in her first full marathon, finishing in 4:49:47.

The Macau race is the 8th marathon for Yong Larrazabal, who is targeting to finish 33 marathons in his lifetime. Before yesterday, Larrazabal’s best time was 4:19 in the Hong Kong marathon.

Before the race, Yong Larrazabal told Sun.Star Cebu that he was confident of breaking his record “because we’ve had a wonderful training and the route will be flatter. It’s also cooler.”

Larrazabal said that to train for Macau, he and Donna did long runs to Danao City and in the two Mactan-Mandaue bridges. He said they also avoided joining local races to prevent disruption in their training regimen.