PAU Fort Magsaysay 60K Ultra Marathon Challenge: Surviving on 'Ice Water' and Big Charity

Me and Sir Jovie at the Finish Line

I am accused of being wordy. And I am. The original title should have been: PAU Fort Magsaysay 60K Ultra Marathon Challenge: Surviving on 'Ice Water' and Big Charity. And singing some Fleetwood Mac Songs in My Head.

No, Charity is not a person.

I am running out of reasons to say on why I run a race. Words are failing me miserably. I want to channel George Mallory and use the because-it's-there alibi. But I've used that before. So let me chalk it up to experience and camaraderie. Not bad, huh? 


Wait, and then there is my dad who was celebrating his birthday on that day. That explains why I was wearing a Milo singlet for my dad who's a namesake of the famous energy drink.

With some help from the ever generous Team Intensity, getting to Fort Magsaysay was almost hassle-free. The only hassle that presented itself mostly in the race was my lack of sleep. And being undertrained. And I know it's a wrong mentality, but I threw caution to the wind and joined the madness.

As soon as fireworks were set off, off we, a hundred plus runners, scrambled like mice in a maze. Some dashed off while some of us took it slowly conserving lots and lots of energies for the 60 kilometers of pavements to tread. 

The plan was to run/walk with a 6:1 ratio for the first 40 kms. Then, 5:2 on the next 10 and then 4:3 on the last 10 kms. But that didn't happen. 

Blame it on the uphills and the sweltering heat. And the exhaustion. And the hunger. And so on and so forth. Alright, I'll stop the griping.

Route

I started slowly being faithful to the planned walk/ratio up to the 4th kilomer. Then, we faced our first big uphill. Then, there was this downhill so steep that if I lost control I'd probably be rolling like a barrel. The rest of the route is sloping with great views of the lush countryside. From Palayan City in Nueva Ecija to Dingalan, Aurora, our eyes were treated to lots and lots of greens. 

I should also mention that the route is pretty much straight forward with almost an nonexistent room to get lost. But that doesn't apply to me since I have a proclivity for being lost. But luckily, I didn't get lost this time.

Support crew and surviving on ice water and alms

I was adopted by Team Intensity from the onset of the race and was with them til the fourth kilometer. Till I lost them. Or they lost me. Not sure which came first. Then, I got worried from then on. 

Good thing, I was bringing some pesos with me and bought water, softdrinks from numerous sari-sari stores as I see them in the road. 

Ice water. Not sure who thought of calling them ice water or ice tubig. But this is basically water placed in a tube plastic used in making ice, placed in the freezer and are sold before they turn into ice. 

And then there was charity. I was practically begging for water, ice and other provisions. Kindhearted support crew shared with me what should have been for their runners. I remember getting water and Pocari from Jonel Mendoza, Team CB and Team Ungas. A fellow runner named Eric who made me eat his dust shared with me his salt and banana. 


The Walking Rod and I Am Number 26

I was treading on long enough doing a mixture of run and walk but for the most parts, walk until I only had 15kms left. And that's when it happened. My right knee started to hurt that made walking even difficult. I rallied on until I saw a huge stick and picked it up to aid me in my walking. I looked funny but who cares? I threw it away upon seeing the finish line which took forever to appear. Then there was the imprinting on the number 26. When I knew I was finishing 26th, I rallied on so that no one would overtake me. A friend of mine was born on a 26th and got married on the 26th of July. So, thinking about it being a perfect gift for her made me think stronger even when I was on the verge of giving up. And soon enough, crossing the proverbial finish line after being baked under the Nueva Ecija sun for 8 hours and 43 minutes could never be sweeter. I was welcomed by Sir Jovie aka Baldrunner, posed for some pics and rested for a bit.

Soon after, Kharl a member of Team Intensity finished and we had lunch while waiting for the other team members. After a while, Arman and after a longer while, Jeje and Nap arrived. Victory was all around.

Coincidentally, this is my last ultra-race in the Philippines before moving elsewhere. And it could not get any better. 


I did mention about Fleetwood Mac playing in my head. There are two songs. Songbird and Landslide. But between the two, the latter gets me more with the lines 'But time makes me bolder, Children get older. I'm getting older too."


PS. I would have not made it to the finish without the help of the following people:
Arman - for letting me hitch in his auto
Team Intensity (Jeje, Kharl, Nap, Arman and their support crew, Mitch and Malou) for adopting me into their team. Hope to run with them again if I get to visit Manila.
Team Ungas, Team CB (Maridol), Jonel, Eric for generously sharing me their provisions