The following are the details of the race as I published it at the FACEBOOK’s Event Page:
Assembly & Starting/Finish Area: Barangay Sacrifice Valley, Hermosa, Bataan
Assembly Time: 1:00 AM October 18, 2014
Start Time: 2:00 AM October 18, 2014
LIMITED TO 20 SLOTS ONLY
“BABIES” are discouraged to join this event.
This is a VERY TECHNICAL Mountain Trail Run
Cut-Off Time @ Km 50—–16 Hours
Cut-Off Time @ Km 100 (Finish)—–28 Hours
Trail Route Description:
Paved Road—–2 Kilometers
Dirt Road (Wide)—–8 Kilometers
Single Tract Trail Inside “Virgin Forest”—–35 Kilometers
Single Track Trail (Open With Tall Grasses)—–55 Kilometers
Registration Fee: P 2,500.00
Registration Deadline: October 17, 2014
Registration Procedure: Deposit the amount of Registration Fee to the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Savings Account #0296-0673-22 and send the photocopy of the Deposit Slip to e-mail address: jovie75@hotmail.com.Bring the Deposit Slip to the Starting Line on Race Day for confirmation.
Elevation Profile
The race route is a combination of two 50K trail races that I have organized and directed during the early part of this year. I called them, Playground ALPHA 50K Trail Run and Mt Natib 50K Trail Run (also called as Playground BRAVO).
The Elevation Total Gain for the whole course is 14,192 feet.
In order to have a decent time for the Official Cut-Off Times, at Km #50 and the whole course, I made a “test run” for the whole distance and I was able to register a time of 27:52+ hours with some time spent for “pitstops”, putting some trail markings, and talking to some of the locals along the route. I made 16 hours as the cut-off time at Km #50 and 28 hours as the cut-off time for the whole course.
Ten (10) Runners arrived at the Assembly Area in the evening of Friday; prepared their things; and took some rest before the start time. At exactly 2:30 AM of Saturday, the race started.
Ten (10) Runners At The Starting Line
After the cut-off time of 28 hours had elapsed, only three (3) runners out of the ten (10) starters finished the race.
I made a post about the cut-off times of running events in my post in this blog on May 17, 2011. Until this time, I don’t see any reason why Race Organizers/Directors had to impose cut-off times in their events. For the Marathon Races where most of the city roads are closed from vehicular traffic, six (6) hours is a decent time as a cut-off time in order to relieve the riding public of the inconvenience it would bring if the race is extended up to nine or ten or twelve hours. But on second thought, the cut-off time being imposed is not for the safety of the runners of the event but for the convenience of everybody.
In my post, I made mention of some of the popular ultra races in the world with their prescribed cut-off times. It is obvious that Road Ultras have a shorter cut-off times than those mountain trail races, except for the Badwater Ultra Marathon Race. UTMB’s 166K has a cut-off time of 46 hours; Hardrock 100 which is dubbed as the hardest mountain trail ultra in the USA has a cut-off time of 48 hours; Barkley Marathon has a cut-off time of 60 hours where each loop of 20 miles has a cut-off time of 12 hours; and the most prestigious Western States 100-Mile Endurance Race has a cut-off time of 30 hours.
Each of these ultra races has their reason why the Race Organizer/RD have to impose cut-off times. Moreover, there are intermediate cut-off time in every checkpoint along the route which forces the runner to meet such times, or else, he/she would be disqualified. Such intermediate cut-off times are being strictly enforced as race marshals would strip each runner of their race bib or tag and advised not to be allowed to continue the race.
I would surmise also that such cut-off times are being imposed by the Bureau of Parks and Wildlife which manages or administers safety in these wilderness parks as one of the conditions for the issuance of event permits.
Without any reference on these cut-off times, I would conclude that the Race Directors, who are former ultra runners during their prime age, would be able to “test run” the course by themselves and come up with an arbitrary cut-off time based from their personal capability or finish time results. Or maybe, they invited some of their ultra friends to “test run” the course and get the “mean/average” time of the finishers.
When I thought of organizing the Bataan Death March 102 Ultra Marathon Race, it was a challenge for me to come up with a decent cut-off time for the whole race. After conducting some “50K test runs” with my ultra running friends, I was able to come up with the 18-hour cut-off time, where an average well-trained marathon runner would be able to finish a distance of 50K in 9 hours, which way beyond the 6-hour cut-off time for a marathon (42K) race. This is the reason why one of the qualifications of a BDM 102 participant is a Marathon Finisher.
As for the BDM 160, I just added another 9 hours and another 3 hours for the remaining distance of 58 kilometers where I considered the heat and humidity in the country as the main challenge to finish this event.
When I thought of coming with the first trail ultra marathon race in the country, I would conduct by myself a “test run” on the course by dividing the whole distance of 162 kilometers into two parts. Thus, I came up with 32 hours as the cut-off time for the 1st Taklang Damulag 100-Mile Endurance Race which was maintained for the past 3 years/editions.
As I ran through roads and trails in the country, I made sure that I would “test run” any course/route that I would like to be transformed into an ultra running event for the runners.
I never changed on how I would come up with the “cut-off” time for my races. I would “test run” the course and whatever time I would register as my finish time, such time will be considered as the official cut-off time for the ultra event. Considering my present age to run through the course, I think it would be fair that my finish time will be the target time for the younger runners.
It should be noted that Intermediate Cut-Off Time is the time that a runner would leave the Checkpoint.
So, what is my message in this post? It simply means that a well-trained ultra runner could easily finish my ultra races within the prescribed cut-off times. These cut-off times (intermediate and whole course) will be one’s measurement or gauge if proper training and preparation had been made prior to the event. If one could not meet such cut-off times, it simply means that one lacks the proper training for the event.
At The Finish Line: “Test Run” For The 1st ANTELOOP 100K Trail Run
Let us stop bragging ourselves to have finished a race even if you have finished way beyond the cut-off time. Let us stop giving any “finisher’s loot” for these kind of finishers. A TRUE & OFFICIAL FINISHER is one who finishes the race within the prescribed cut-off time for the event.
This survey and recon cover the portion from Tadian, Mountain Province To Banaue, Ifugao. It was my first time to travel along this route and the road was a paved one from Aluling Bridge to the Poblacion of Tadian, Mt Province. The vehicular traffic was limited to delivery trucks and some local jeepneys and motorcycles. Along the way, I was able to take some pictures of areas which I thought to be “markers” or “reminders” along the route.
I was able to stop in one of the eateries along the way and after my lunch, I was able to talk to the owner of the restaurant. Walther Cayabas of the Backstreet Eatery was so kind enough to give me information which was told by his forefathers about General Aguinaldo’s trek to the Cordilleras. He said that the road in front of their place/eatery was part of the “Old Spanish Trail” and he was able to point to me a part of the untouched (unpaved) portion of the said trail which is located few meters from the road. I promised to Walther that I will be back for the actual trek and I will make his eatery as one of my “pitstops”. The food served were cheap and delicious with the local mountain rice served with the meal.
Having known from my book that General Aguinaldo passed along Sagada, Mountain Province, I focused my attention on the road on the directional signs leading to the said town. After a few minutes of driving, I was able to reach the crossing of Sagada and the road that goes to Bontoc, Mountain Province.
Stairs Towards Tadian Municipal HallBackstreet Eatery In Tadian, Mountain ProvinceConversation With Walther CayabasA Village Along The Route Before SagadaRoad Intersection To SagadaAt Sagada Tourism Center
I was not impressed about Sagada. I felt that the place is too commercialized already for the tourists. I went to the Tourism Center and started to ask some information with the staff at the Center. Nobody knows among the staff about the history or story if General Aguinaldo had ever set his foot in the town. The staff is even asking me a Tourism Fee of P 35.00 for being there in the place. The tourism guide and list of fees for us to visit their tourism destinations were very expensive. The least that I could do was to have my picture taken with the Tourism Map of the Town. For me, first impression and appearance of the Tourism Center gave me the impression that this place is too commercialized without giving attention to the amenities of a customer-friendly Tourism Center. It only took me 20 minutes to stay in the said town. Hopefully, those road constructions along the road from the Bontoc Highway Intersection are all ready and done.
After those muddy road constructions along the Rev. Staunton Road, I was back on my way to paved road going to Bontoc, the Capital Town of Mountain Province. The following pictures are the things that I saw along the road:
Tourism Markers Along The RoadBay-yo Rice Terraces
It was time to have a refill on my gas when I reached Bontoc but unfortunately, as the gasoline boy was about to open my gas tank, there was a “brownout”! But looking on my Fuel Gauge, I decided to continue the trip hoping that I will be able to reach Banaue with few liters on my gasoline tank to spare.
Bondoc Municipal Hall
On impulse, I went to visit the Municipal Library of Bontoc. The staff thereat are very nice and accommodating. But sad to say, they don’t have any information or reference material on the historic event that happened or that depicts the travel and stay of General Aguinaldo in the place and its environs. The staff gave me the name and address of a well-respected “historian” in the place but it would be better if I would be able to talk to him with more time on another day. I made a promise to be back to talk with this local “historian” on my next visit to the place.
Banaue Tourism Center
It was a slow ride from Bontoc to Banaue as I enjoyed every scenery along the way. But it was cut short when I entered the boundary of Ifugao Province as it became cloudy and footy along the road. As I entered Banaue, it started to rain hard while driving my car slowly every bend, incline and decline on the road. I could only see road signs, the rain and the flowing water on the road as I entered the town of Ifugao. As my Fuel Gauge blinked with the yellow light, telling me that my Fuel Tank is about to be empty, I had to immediately take a stop on the first gasoline station on the road which is located two kilometers before reaching the center of the town. I was glad that the town had electricity! It was still raining hard when I finally reached the Tourism Center of the town of Banaue, Ifugao.
The distance from Cervantes, Ilocos Sur to Bontoc, Mountain Province is 56 Kilometers.
The distance from Bontoc, Mountain Province to Banaue, Ifugao is 48 Kilometers.
Bald Runner 
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