In a different world, the disembodied hand of my mother would have emerged from the phone receiver to pinch my ear.
“Nasobrahan na ka ug dagan (you’re running too much),” she said in a testy voice that still couldn’t hide her concern.
RUN SAFE. To run safe at night, choose well-lit roads or run with a large group. If you want to to try running at night, join the weekly ungo run every Friday at 10 p.m. from the Sun.Star Cebu office to the It Park.She had known through Facebook that I was nursing a fever and called me up on a Friday, the day that I organize a weekly run from Sun.Star Cebu to the IT Park, to tell me I should scale down on my running.
“Mangaligsan gani mo (you’ll be run over),” a teenager said with a laugh after taking a drag of cigarette and blowing a puff of smoke at the sidewalk while watching scores of runners in one of the Friday night runs that I organize from the Sun.Star Cebu office to the IT Park.
Recent incidents have raised questions on the safety of the fastest growing sport in the country. Fatalities have been reported in the Milo Marathon in Manila and a recent night run in Mandaue City.
Friends express worry on the risks of running on the road, especially at night. They express their concern with a tone appropriate to someone trying to stop a person from pulling out his own fingernails.
Not to trivialize the risks but more people actually die of illnesses caused by a sedentary lifestyle than by running-related accidents or illnesses.