Tag Archives: Rovie Aguilon

‘I’m gonna die but I have to win the race first’

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On the halfway point of her 21-kilometer race during the Mindanao eliminations of the Milo Marathon on Nov. 8, 2008, Mary Grace delos Santos blacked out.

The Zamboanga City native lay sprawled and bloodied on one of the roads of Cagayan de Oro City after a motorcycle, sent flying by a rampaging truck, hit her.

“I don’t know how long I lay there,” delos Santos said, her expression still pained while recalling the point of impact a year later on the tracks of the Cebu City Sports Center, “I blacked out.”

Mary Grace delos Santos at the finish line in Cagayan de Oro CityIRON WOMAN. Mary Grace delos Santos, her face bloodied after getting hit by a motorcycle in a road accident, finishes first in the women’s 21K race in the Mindanao eliminations of the Milo Marathon in 2008. CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE. ( PHOTO FROM SUN.STAR CAGAYAN DE ORO)

She also does not know whether she was between the wheels of the truck or beside them when the vehicle continued to run after the accident.

What she recalls, however, is her fierce determination to finish the race that she was already leading. She got on her feet and started checking her body gingerly for injuries before breaking into a run.

“People were telling me to pull out of the race,” delos Santos said in Bisaya, “but I wanted to continue. I wanted to finish the race. I was determined to finish the race.”

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Rening Ylaya: At 73, going 42

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The names of places come out in a staccato, wheezing whisper barely heard through the disco music booming from large speakers at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) track oval.

“Marawi-Iligan, Cagay-an, Davao, Cagay-an, Manila, Cebu…,” Ireneo “Rening” Ylaya recites like a mantra—in a strained asthmatic’s voice—the places where he ran marathons. He says the names in the order that he ran them, going back to “Marawi-Iligan” when he skips a place and slapping his forehead while apologizing for forgetting. “Tiguwang na lagi (I’m getting old),” he said with a sheepish smile.

Cagayan de Oro? I asked Rening on what was probably the 6th lap of our interview while jogging around the CCSC track oval, where he is a fixture.

rening1 RENING YLAYA. The Cebu City Sports Center fixture keeps telling people, “if an old man like me can do it, how much more young people like you.” (Photo by Marlen Limpag) CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

“Cagay-an de Oro. Didn’t I tell you? It’s the best marathon route I’ve run and I did it in 4:26 (four hours and 26 minutes), my fastest marathon time,” Ylaya said in Bisaya, barely breaking a sweat while I slowed down to catch my breath.

A stocky jogger then passed us, catching Ylaya’s attention. “A couple of years back,” he told me in Bisaya, pointing at the jogger with his chin, “I wouldn’t have let that pass. I would have run him down. Not the top runners, I couldn’t keep up with them, but the regular joggers. I would have never allowed him to overtake.”

He then went ahead a few steps to tap the shoulder of a female brisk walker and tell her, “Lane 5, lane 5. Walkers use lane 5, 6, 7.”

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