Rey Antoque is presently one of the Coaches of the Elite Team Bald Runner. His credentials as a runner speak for itself. He had been with the Elite Team for the past ten (10) months. What I like with him is that he started to train hard for the Marathon Race at the age of 33 years old, an old age for an elite runner for the Marathon distance.
His performance in Marathon Races in the 1990’s and early 2000’s speaks well of his focused training, dedication, perseverance, and determination.
On his first competition on Marathon Road Racing, Rey placed No. 4 in the 1990 Pilipinas International Marathon with a time of 2:24:06 hours which was considered at that time as the fastest time for a Filipino in a marathon race held in the country. He was 33 years old.
After one year of training for the Marathon distance, he placed #3 Overalll in the 9th PAL Manila International Marathon in 1991 at the age 0f 34 years old.
In 1992, the following year, he won as Champion in the 16th MILO Marathon with a time of 2:28:47 hours at the age of 35 years old. At that time, he won a Cash Prize of P 60,000.
In 1993, he was the 1st Top Filipino and 2nd Overall in the Pilipinas International Marathon where a Belgian runner won as Champion. Rey Antoque improved his time at 2:27:32 hours.
In 1994, he was the Champion in the 12th PAL Manila International Marathon on March 13, 1994 with a time of 2:28:24 hours. He was able to beat and overtook the younger Guiseppe Veletti of Italy who was then 25 years old on the last kilometers of the race. Antoque was then 36 years old.
In 1995, the following year, he was able to defend his title as the Champion in the 13th PAL Manila International Marathon on March 12, 1995 beating again a younger Lucio Danza of Italy (28 years old) who was with Guiseppe Veletti. He registered a time of 2:28:02 hours at the age of 37 years old. He won P 100,000 as the Champion and additional prize of P 50,000 for being the Top Filipino Finisher.
On July 30, 1995, he was the Champion in the 1995 SIJORI (Singapore-Johor Bahru-Riad) International Marathon Race held in Johor, Malaysia with a time of 2:33:16 hours. He won a prize of RM 10,000.
In November 20, 1994, he was the Champion in the 5th 10-Mile YAKULT Run with a time of 1:03:15 hours.
In 1996, he was the Champion in the 9th Annual PUMA Half-Marathon with a time of 1:08:46 hours.
In 2004, he won the Gold Medal in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs in the ASIAN MASTERS Championship held in Bangkok, Thailand.
He shared some of his “training secrets” of which I am going to divulge in this post.
He trains and prepares the whole year only for ONE Marathon Race Event.
He spends and stays in Baguio City at least 6 months during his training. Kennon and Naguilian Roads were his training routes.
He applied what he learned from a Kenyan elite runner—running three (3) times with a distance of 5,000 meters in 15 minutes with 3-5 minutes of rest/interval in between repetitions in his speed workouts at the oval track. I did this speed workout once (in 23 minutes) and I had to rest & recover for two days!
He runs twice a day, morning & afternoon, reaching up to 200+ kilometers mileage per week. His long run workouts exceeded the marathon distance!
He is a disciple of Arthur Lydiard.
(Note: News Clippings Courtesy of Rey Antoque’s Files & Memorabilias)
Bald Runner 
I remember reading about and watching Rey Antoque when I was a child. Now whenever I find out he is also entered in one of the Sunday races, I feel honored to be running “with” (not literally of course–I can’t run WITH him and match his speed) such an accomplished athlete. Hats off to him!!! And to you, Jovie-san, for this very interesting post!
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thanks. this guy is silent and had been running with me during my Antipolo runs. He has a positive attitude.
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Sir Jovie, is 33years old – old already for the elite marathoners? I thought elite runners peak at 30 to 35years old, like Haile Gebrselassie.
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what i meant as an old elite athlete is that he started at an old age to train for a running event. usually, elite athletes start on their younger years as middle distance runners and progressively train for the marathon race on their mid/late 20’s. rey antoque was not a middle distance runner on his 20s but trained hard for a single event–the marathon distance when he was already in his 30s and peaked within a short time.
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I see! Thank you sir, I also hope to “peak” by age 33 to 35 (but not necessarily an elite). I’ll ask for your help and from Coach Salazar.
Thanks for posting this article, it has been educating to learn our own country’s marathon histories. Good thing you safely kept all those newspapers. Please keep these nice posts coming.
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rey is really an exceptionally gifted athlete, having bagged his major awards in his late 30s. imagine what he could have achieved had he started training at a much younger age. I believe that there are more young rey antoques out there, waiting to be polished to perfection.
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you are right! there are so many raw talents in the provinces who live like the Kenyans and have the traits & values to win but it is unfortunate that there is no comprehensive program to train, guide, and develop them.
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reading thru his “training secrets”, rey was such a well-disciplined and determined runner.. no wonder why he has accomplished those awards during his younger years.
thanks for sharing a success story of a humble individual.. very inspiring !!!
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he had that determination to be a champion. up to this time, his positive attitude is very inspiring to the members of the elite team baldrunner.
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Hello BR,
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
See you on Sunday!
Ray Abenojar
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ray, you are right. rey antoque is still within the top 10 in our present races and he did not change his ways in his training.
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It is not when you start running but how serious you run/train to compete on a specific race…
BR, once again you come up with a great article. greencursor has the point and i want to believe that you are looking for those prospect olympians…
see you tomorrow!
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that’s my vision and advocacy, taking some action, even though how small it is, in our quest for that elusive gold olympic medal.
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Nice feature on Rey Antoque Sir Jovie! I remember when I was growing up his name was a mainstay on the sports pages regarding all things running. Nice to see that he is now one of the coaches of your team. I saw one of the recent results and he still has what it takes to crack the top 10 ! Thank you for sharing.
Cheers,
Luis
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luis, this guy is phenomenal. he could still be a great ultramarathon runner!
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Great story BR, inspiring and good to see a present day picture of him, still lean and trim, still running.
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and you’ll be surprised if i tell you that he is still trains/runs with the younger members of the elite Team Bald Runner!
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When training for a full marathon, most runners aim for 32k as their long run. I am not sure who popularized and how this “32K” became as a standard yardstick. At any rate, I am with Mr. Antoque in that to train for a 42.2k one has to train equal to or beyond the distance in order to have that mental if not physical confidence to finish it with a smile on one’s face. Even Jeff Galloway is a proponent of this principle. However, I would not dare say the same for ultras 100k or beyond.
So when asked by runners aiming to run their first 42.2k races this October, I always say run the distance at least a month prior to the event itself.
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we are in the same idea/concept when training for a marathon—nobody is preventing a runner from running the whole distance during the endurance & sharpening phases during a marathon training cycle.
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