“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.”

“Must run 65K in 9 hours in a training run. No soda and iced tea until race day. No ice cream, halo-halo, chocolate except Gelatissimo sherbet. Bike 2x a week for at least 25K/ride. Reach the half mark of 50K like you just started the race.”

The first page of Joel's training pledge for the Singapore Sundown Ultramarathon. Click on image to enlarge.

Joel signed his training pledge a week after registering for the Singapore Sundown Ultramarathon. CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

Garganera signed the pledge on May 10 at 10:17 a.m. His son, Federico, signed as witness without bothering to read it. It was a week after he signed up for the Singapore Sundown Ultramarathon upon the dare of his friend Brandy Llenos.

Garganera said Llenos called him up to ask how he did during the 65K ultramarathon last May 1 two days after the event. When the former Tinago barangay captain said he wasn’t satisfied with his time, Llenos asked him, “unya mudagan ka 100K?”

“Sige! (Sure),” Garganera said. The next day, registration closed. Garganera said he thought it was a message. Later in the afternoon, registration opened. He said that was another message.

And with that, Garganera, who has now run 17 combined official marathons and ultra-marathons, got serious in his training.

Secret

He told no one of the plan. For a long time, only So and Llenos knew of it. Garganera said that had he failed to finish the run, at least only a few would know. No pressure, he said.

On May 6, So and Garganera talked to hardcore ultra-runner Bro. Carlo Bacalla, a fellow member of the Ungo Runners, about preparing for a 100-kilometer run. Bacalla thought Garganera was preparing for the Cebu Century Run in November from Bogo to Capitol.

“Bro. Carlo thought it was the Bogo 102k Joel was preparing for and found it queer that Joel and I should be asking him for tips that early. Bro. Carlo would say 102k, Joel would say 100k. Bro. Carlo would say the cutoff time was 18 hours, Joel would say, ‘what if 16h ang cutoff (the cutoff time for Singapore)?’ Bro. Carlo would say there’s more than enough time to train, Joel would say, ‘what about kung a month lang or one and a half?” So said.

Bro. Carlo would only know he was running the Singapore ultra-marathon on Facebook, when a concerned Aliko, one of Joel’s daughters, announced on Facebook Garganera’s run on the day of the ultra-marathon.

Strong finish

Garganera said he met most of his pledges and weighed 146 lbs days before the run. So logged his runs on a spreadsheet and would show the pledge to Garganera every time he would stray from his training. “Gi-sion ko na lang ni? (should I tear this up)” So would ask.

Garganera credited his training for his great run, finishing 100 kilometers in 13 hours and one minute and placing 43rd of 321 in the men’s open. The disciplined he learned in following his training schedule helped him in the run despite suffering a bad fall when he slipped a week before the event while going down the steps of his house after a heavy rain.

Garganera said he stuck to his race day plan of doing two kilometers in 15 minutes and then walking. He admitted to starting to follow this plan only after six kilometers because he was too embarrassed to be walking earlier.

Garganera said his experiences preparing for and running Singapore taught him to respect the race distance and prepare well for it. It was “a humbling experience,” he said.

CEBUANO ULTRA-MARATHONERS Napoleon dela Torre (left) and Joel Garganera completed the 100-kilomter Singapore Sundown Ultramarathon. Dela Torre finished the run in 12:34:24 while Garganera crossed the finish line in 13:01:45.

As I said in my column last week on the ungo runners, we call ourselves ungo after that Bisaya word and its double meaning—the noun for that creature of superstition that comes out in the dark and the adjective to mean addict. We are running addicts who run at night.

WE OWN THE NIGHT. Ungo runners prepare to run to the IT Park from the Sun.Star Cebu office.

Since this week is Holy Week and Holy Thursday and Good Friday are two of the five days in the year when there is no work in the Sun.Star Cebu newsroom, we decided to hold the run on a Wednesday. It will also allow ungo runners to go to their Holy Week break refreshed (we get sick if we don’t run)—not that devotion will stop us from running on Good Friday.

For this Wednesday night run, ungo runners will run from Sun.Star Cebu to the Banilad Town Center, where we’ll have coffee and eat our midnight meal. This is a special run for the ungo because two of our runners have just been recently named as editors-in-chief of the two top newspapers in Cebu—Isolde Amante, the new Sun.Star Cebu editor-in-chief, and Michelle So, the new Sun.Star Superbalita editor-in-chief.

The development means three of Cebu’s five editors-in-chief are runners—Cebu Daily News‘ Connie Fernandez also runs—and two of them are ungos.

For this Wednesday night run, I’m considering two routes. The first one will pass Osmena Blvd., Fuente Osmena, Gen. Maxilom Ave., Ayala Business Park then to Juan Luna Ave. then to Banilad. This is the longer route, about 7 kilometers.

Here’s an interactive map of the route:

View Wednesday Night Ungo Run Route 1 in a larger map

The second one will pass the New Imus Road then to the Ayala access road then to the Cebu Business Park, Juan Luna Ave. then to Banilad. This route is about 6.5 kilometers.

Here’s an interactive map of the route:

View Wednesday Night Ungo Run Route 2 in a larger map

In either route, we’ll have a water stop in the Petron gas station and convenience store on Juan Luna Ave. This will allow runners to refuel while waiting for fellow ungo runners who choose to enjoy the night scenery and take their time.

We are also accepting volunteers to be marshals in the night run. Joe France Canizares and Cadjing Pelicano typically take care of the lead pack, Kenneth Casquejo serves as sweeper while I’ll be a running marshal going from one pack to the next.

Which route should we take? Leave comments below.

John Pages, the person responsible for my addiction to running, sent me a coffee brewing set because he wanted me to try preparing one using a French Press. I brewed one cup as soon as I woke up yesterday morning and proceeded to suit up to run for work.

My day had already been planned: I was to run to work, write my column piece on Joel Garganera, perform my news desk duties, meet with the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) staff for lunch to discuss a fun run they were planning, and run back home at night.

I had formulated my lead for the Garganera column piece in my head but I felt something was amiss. I felt I knew Garganera based on the several occasions that I interviewed him, many times while on the run, but I was anxious I was incapable of doing justice to his story.

I had suspected Joel to be a kindred spirit—that, like me, he was, as author Christopher Solomon put it, running his demons hard until he “left them heaving by the roadside.”

There is a mystical air when Joel talks about the marathon. He seemed to be a changed man. Sun.Star Running Club muse Michelle So, in our talks, kept saying fondly, “santos na gyud ka, Joel. Dili na ko kaila nimo.” (You’ve become a saint, Joel. I no longer know you.)

IN LILOAN. I finally arrive at the Liloan municipal hall in the first half of my unplanned marathon this morning.

Joel, in our talks, credited all these changes to running.

To tell his story, I felt I needed nothing less than to grok Joel Garganera.

I kissed my wife—and injured running partner—Marlen and left our house intending to run about 15 kilometers—20 kilometers at most, depending on the route—to work.

But while walking toward our subdivision’s gate, I realized I wasn’t ready to write my column piece. I needed a long run to think. I decided, on a whim, to attempt running a full marathon. I knew I’d suffer through it. It was fool-hardy because I did a 21-kilometer long run just last Sunday.

But I told myself, at least I’d know, by experience, what Joel meant when he talked about his marathon experiences.

Still, while I kept saying to myself I would attempt the full 42-kilometer distance, I was still vacillating until I passed the beautiful Cansaga Bay Bridge.

“Free your mind,” Kevin Nelson said in The Runner’s Book of Daily Inspiration, “and your feet will follow.”

On Cansaga Bay Bridge, I decided, what the hell, I would run all the way to the Liloan municipal hall. It was spontaneous and crazy but exciting.

While running, I kept asking people, “noy, asa na man ko? Asa ang padung munisipyo?” (Where am I? How do I get to the town hall?)

There’s a certain satisfaction with unplanned runs, with not knowing where you’d end up or how you’d get there.

When I reached the Liloan town hall, I rested for a while and checked how I felt. At that point, I felt I still had enough in me to run to the Sun.Star office and complete my first marathon.

The way back was hell. It was hot because I started late, at 6 a.m. I kept telling myself, “you should have started at 4 a.m.”

Here’s the GPS record of my run.

But on the way, I was rewarded by the kindness of strangers—the Consolacion carenderia store owner who allowed me in her house so that I could splash myself with water. “Dili ka mapasmo ana dong?” she said with genuine concern; the store owner in Mandaue who did the same thing.

On kilometer 38, I fully understood Michelle So and started speaking Spanish, “No mas, no mas.” I had to force myself to complete the last two kilometers (if I didn’t, I’d have to prematurely submit my Garganera column.)

Did my long run work?

No.

If only it were as simple as that, no? I still wasn’t satisfied with my column piece. But at least I got another week’s reprieve.

I ran, unplanned and unprepared, 42.2 kilometers this morning. This time last year, the idea would have been absurd to someone like me, who couldn’t run 1 kilometer then. As I wrote this column, I felt I could run forever. Believe me, we are born to run.

See you on the road.