Since the 3rd week of February this year, Marcelo, the Champion, is NO longer under the care and supervision of Team Bald Runner/PAU. He had been on his own to run in any ultra race that he wants to run into since he was out from the control of PAU.
Marcelo is a good example of an Ultra Champion in the country who could be developed and nurtured for other greater international exposure as seen from his splendid performance in this year’s VIBRAM Hongkong 100K Ultra Trail Run. But due to simple reasons of hard-headedness and for not following instructions from his “handler/manager”, his future for more international exposure is now uncertain and might not happen under the auspices of the National Federation of Ultrarunning, PAU.
I would not mind if another “Good Samaritan” will be able to provide support to Marcelo again.
1. Active and Retired Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other Armed/Uniformed Services of the Government to include the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Coast Guard, and Bureau of Jail Management & Penology (BJMP) are entitled to special discounts in the 2014 BDM Races’ registration fees. This is to include Cadets of Service Academies of the AFP & PNP (Philippine Military Academy & Philippine National Police Academy), provided they are qualified to join the event. The following are the discounted rates:
2014 BDM 102—-P 3,000
2014 BDM 160—-P 5,500
2. Elite runners who registered a finish time of Sub-3 hours for a Marathon Race (42K) for the years 2012 & 2013 will have Special Rates on their 2014 BDM 102 Registration Fee. They have a discounted rate of P 2,000 as Registration Fee. If the elite runner is an active member of the AFP/PNP and other Uniform Services who has a Marathon Time of sub-3 hours, he/she will pay the lower amount of P 2,000.
3. Course Record Holders of past editions of BDM 102 are automatically FREE from paying their registration fee in the said race if they intend to defend or improve their finish times. The same will apply to the Course Record Holder of the past BDM 160 Race.
4. An additional 50 slots will be allocated to these members of the armed/uniformed services; elite runners and course record holders in the 2014 BDM 102 Ultra Marathon Race. This will make a total of 300 runners for the said event. BDM 160 Ultra Race will maintain a maximum of 100 runners.
5. Finally, Senior Citizens can avail of their 20% discount on the registration fees.
(Note: This post is intended for Media Release. If there is anybody who would like to make a NEWS on printed or broadcast media about this post, you are encouraged to use, copy or make this one as your reference. Please SHARE this post to any of the Social Media outlets and platforms. Thank you!)
Simon Sandoval of Makati City, Metro Manila sets a New Course Record for a Local Pinoy Ultra Runner at the 40th Edition of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Race (WS100), considered as the oldest and most prestigious ultra marathon mountain trail race in the world. He finished the race in 27 hours 9 minutes 53 seconds with a ranking of 156th out of 277 finishers in the second hottest edition in the history of the race where the temperature registered triple digits as high as 110 degrees Fahrenheit in the mountain canyons of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Ranges & Western States Trails. Sandoval was the lone representative of the country out of the 22 countries and 40 states in the US that were represented in the said race in this year’s edition.
Simon @ Rucky Chucky Mile #78 (Photo Courtesy of Rick Gaston)
Last year, Jonnifer Lacanlale, a lawyer from the Clark Freeport Authority in Angeles City, was the first representative of the country in the history of this prestigious race when he joined last year with a finish time of 29 hours 50 minutes 33 seconds, landing at 309th place with 316 runners who finished the race. He was later awarded with a Special Recognition Award/Plaque from the Philippine Association of Ultrarunners (PAU) as the First Local Pinoy Runner to have finished the prestigious trail race.
Simon Sandoval performance had greatly improved from Lacanlale’s performance last year due to the advise and guidance of the latter’s lessons learned during the race. Simon and Jonnifer had been together in finishing the Mt Blanc Ultra Marathon Race (UTMB), a 100-mile trail running race around the famous mountain, in France in 2011, passing through the countries of France, Italy and Switzerland.
Sandoval qualified for the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run after his name was picked in the lottery among thousands of qualified applicants. He was among the 417 runners who got into the lottery from qualified applicants throughout the world. A qualified applicant must have finished a 100-mile mountain trail race within the prescribed cut-off time or have finished a 50-mile trail race in less than 11 hours or have registered a finish time in a 100K trail run in less than 15 hours. Sandoval is qualified to run the race as he finished both a 100-mile trail race and registered a finish time of 9 hours in a 50-mile trail race in the United States.
Timothy Olson of Ashland, Oregon won the Championship Award in this year’s event for the second year in a row with a time of 15 hours 17 minutes 27 seconds. He holds the Course Record in 14 hours 46 minutes in the last year’s edition. The ladies champion went to Pam Smith of Salem, Oregon finishing the race as 9th Overall with a time of 18 hours 37 minutes 21 seconds. Olson works in a Special Running Store while Smith is a full-time physician.
Timothy Olson & Pam Smith With The WS100 Championship Trophy (Photo Courtesy of IRunFar.com)
Out of the 383 runners who started the race at 5:00 AM of June 29, Saturday, at the 1960 Winter Olympic Games Site in Squaw Valley, California, 277 runners finished the race with 72% Finish Rate. 95 runners finished the race in less than 24 hours and awarded with the WS100 Silver Buckle and the rest of the 185 finishers were awarded with the Bronze Buckle finishing the race within the cut-off time of 30 hours.
Simon Sandoval said, “I really prepared for this race and all my training workouts were specific for the challenges to be expected from this running event. I have to allot ample time for me to familiarize the course as I arrived in the USA few weeks before the race.”
Simon must had been able to acclimatize with the weather and been able to adjust on the altitude and elevation of the course. Runners would climb and descend a total of about 40,000 feet or 12,120 meters through the wilderness of the mountains and into the deep and hot/humid canyons of the historic California Gold Country.
Simon was all smiles when he received his WS 100 Bronze Buckle during the Awarding Ceremony in the presence of his relatives, friends, support crew, and other Pinoy Ultra Runners based in California.
Retired Major General Jovenal D Narcise, President of the Philippine Association of Ultrarunners (PAU) had extended his congratulations to Simon Sandoval for an exemplary performance in the 40th edition of the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run. He said, “The outstanding performance of Simon Sandoval shows that our local Pinoy Ultrarunners are at par with the best ultrarunners in the world. We have to strive some more to send our best local runners and be able to represent our country in this prestigious ultra trail event. With the help and support of the running community and the private sector, our efforts shall be geared towards sending our next Pinoy Ultra Runner who would be able get the much-coveted WS100 “Silver Buckle”.
If there is any significant record-breaking fact in the 40th edition of the race aside from Timothy Olson’s winning the race for the second year in a row and the second highest registered “hottest day in the 40-year history” of the race, it is the performance of the former 1997 Western States 100 Champion Mike Morton, 41 years old, as the New Male Master’s Course Record Holder with a time of 15 hours 45 minutes earning him as the 3rd Overall Finisher in the race.
Mike Morton had been stationed in Subic Bay Naval Base when he was with the US Navy during his younger years as a Naval Diver. He is presently a Master Sargent of the US Special Operations Command based in Florida, USA.
January 25-26, 2014—-2014 Bataan Death March 160K Ultra Marathon Race (BDM 160)
March 1-2, 2014———2014 Bataan Death March 102K Ultra Marathon Race (BDM 102)
Number of Participants To Be Allowed:
***2014 BDM 160 Ultra Marathon Race—-100 Runners
***2014 BDM 102 Ultra Marathon Race—-250 Runners
Registration Procedure For Both BDM 102 & 160 Races:
1. Registration for the 2014 BDM 102 & 160 Ultra Marathon Races starts today, July 1, 2013.
2. Qualified participants may deposit their registration fee/s through Bank Deposit at the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Savings Account # 0296-0673-22 in favor of Jovenal Narcise. The following are the registration fees:
2014 BDM 102 Ultra Marathon Race—-P 3,500
2014 BDM 160 Ultra Marathon Race—-P 6,000
3. Be sure that you are qualified to join the race. For BDM 102 participants, you should have officially finished a Marathon Race (42K) with result on the Internet. For BDM 160 participants, you should have finished any of the past editions of the BDM 102 within the cut-off time of 18 hours.
4. Paid registration fees are NON-TRANSFERRABLE, NON-RECYCLABLE to another running event, & NON-REIMBURSEABLE.
5. Registration will be on a “FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED” basis. Participants will NO longer receive Letter/s of Invitation coming from the Race Director. If you are qualified, just simply deposit your Registration Fee/s; send the photocopy of the deposit slip ONLY to the e-mail address—-jovie75@hotmail.com; and then submit your Medical Clearance or Doctor’s Certificate not later than December 31, 2013. (Note: Do NOT send and display the photocopy of your deposit slip on FACEBOOK or BR’s and BDM Races FB Pages)
6. Once the participant’s deposit slip will be received by the Race Director, the name of the runner will appear on the List Of Registered Runners on the appropriate PAGES (2014 BDM 102 or 2014 BDM 160) on my blog at http://www.baldrunner.com. Such PAGES will be updated on a daily basis.
7. Once the number of runners for each race will be filled up—250 runners for BDM 102 & 100 runners for BDM 160, the REGISTRATION WILL BE CLOSED.
8. If you are intending to join the 2014 BDM Grand Slam, you have to register for both races and don’t expect the Race Director to give you a special treatment/accommodation with regards to instruction #7.
9. Simply write your Name and Shirt Size on the Deposit Slip before sending it to the e-mail address of the Race Director.
10. Schedule of “Test Runs” for the 2014 BDM Races:
January 18, 2014—-1st “Test Run” For BDM 102/Night Run (From BDM Km 00-50)
February 2, 2014—-2nd “Test Run” For BDM 102/Day Run (From BDM Km 50-102)
December 21, 2013—“Test Run” For BDM 160/Night Run (From BDM 102-160)
11. Good luck and train harder. As an advance information, there will be strict implementation of cut-off times on selected checkpoints along the route.
For the past weeks, I have been outside of Metro Manila traveling from one airport to another. I usually take Cebu Pacific and PAL Express flights as I could get promotional prices for these local flight carriers. By taking these carriers, one has to use the new Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3.
Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (Google Pictures)
Let me tell my readers my observations about the airports that I’ve used in my travels to the Visayas and Mindanao for the past weeks.
On the first week of this month, May, I went to Bacolod City to coordinate with the conduct of the 1st Negros Occidental 73K Ultra Marathon Race among the Provincial Government and the AFP units in the area. Since I was using the Cebu Pacific flight, I had to check-in at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 for its first flight for the day, arriving thereat at 4:30 AM. I usually take a taxi ride from my place in Manila to the airport.
Long Line of Passengers Before The Entrance of the Terminal (Google Pictures)
The usual sight is always there—long lines of passengers trying to enter the airport even if there are two entrances at the Departure Area where the X-ray machines & metal detectors are located. I think there is something WRONG here. Why do you have to place an X-Ray machine & metal detectors for the passengers and baggage just at the entrance of the airport? In my trips abroad, I don’t see any X-Ray machines/Metal Detectors for passengers and baggage right at the entrance of the terminal/airport. Most of these X-Ray machines are located inside the airport or at the terminal’s lobby or sometimes, each of the airlines have their own X-Ray machine and personnel operating such equipment.
The air conditioning system inside the airport/terminal was not working. I thought it was just a temporary situation when I went to Bacolod City but on my next trip to Mindanao after one week, the air conditional system was still not working. For a new airport, it is surprising why its air conditioning system is not working. I really don’t know the reason why the airport authority and its management are allowing this thing to happen. It is summer time and it is annoying to be perspiring inside the airport while standing in line in front of the check-in personnel. Are they minimizing the cost of electricity? Is the management incompetent that they don’t care about the welfare of their customers?
I am glad that the bus that ferries passengers from the terminal to the plane are air-conditioned ones as it gives comfort to the passengers once they leave the terminal.
I am not complaining if there is NO free Wi-Fi in the airport. I am still the conservative type of passenger waiting for boarding at the airport reading a book or a magazine. You can count with your fingers among hundreds of passengers at the boarding area on those passengers reading a “printed” book (hardbound or paperback). What you see now are passengers using their SmartPhones to take pictures and update their Facebook account/s. Some just simply play games on their phones and iPad/Mini-iPads but sometimes I could see people who read books on their iBooks & Nooks!
In Bacolod City, the new airport in Silay, Negros Occidental is very nice but it is very far from Bacolod City. I have only one complaint though. The air conditioning system was not working at the arrival area. Since my “contact” in the area was able to fetch me with a vehicle, I was not able to experience what it is like to commute from the Silay Airport to Bacolod City. I hope there are vans, UV Express, and taxis available at the airport for the tourists and other arriving passengers.
New Bacolod-Silay Airport (Google Pictures)
In Kalibo Airport, there is no change since I had my last trip here five (5) years ago. With additional international and local flights, the boarding area and the air conditioning system are still the same and I could hardly feel the cold air with the jam-packed passengers waiting for their respective flight. Although there is a second floor in the terminal area, the space is filled with stores, cafe and convenience stores. The passengers who don’t have seats at the boarding area have to go to the 2nd floor to wait for their boarding calls. There is a need to improve and expand the terminal with the increasing number of local and international flights due to the increasing number of tourists and visitors to Boracay Island.
Kalibo Airport (Google Pictures)Entrance To The New Kalibo International Airport (Google Pictures)
At the Lumbia Airport of Cagayan De Oro City (Misamis Oriental), it is still the same airport that I’ve been going through while I was still in the active military service. It was raining when the plane touched down and my shoes were wet when the rain created a small flooding at the tarmac as I approached the terminal. The baggage carousel is still the same small one where one has to wait for a longer time for the baggage to reach the carousel. The boarding area is still the same where some of the passengers would stand to wait if there are two flights about to take-off in few minutes between each other. Although I was in the comfort of the VIP Room at the departure area, the rest of the passengers were contended with the weak air conditioning.
Lumbia Airport, Cagayan De Oro (Google Pictures)
Airports are supposed to be the “mirror-image” of the place where the airport is located. However, it does not mean that the airport terminal should be warm, hot and humid like our climate but at least, it should be comfortable to everybody. There should be enough space, seats, and a reliable working air conditioning system so that passengers would not be perspiring/sweating while waiting in line in flight counters. It is very frustrating to see passengers sitting and lying on the floor to sleep inside the terminal.
The airport authority and management should not be trying to save power/energy to run those air conditioning system because each of the passenger is paying a terminal fee to address such cost to include maintenance, security, and toiletries in comfort rooms. Aside from its collection of terminal fees, the Airports have an appropriated budget for their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses under the Department of Transportation and Communications. If I am not mistaken our International Airports in Metro Manila are the top clients of MERALCO (Manila Electric Company). (I am just wondering if our NAIA Terminals are up to date in the payment of their electric bills to MERALCO!)
Here comes the worst part if you are arriving in one of the Airport Terminals in Metro Manila. There are NO Bus Lines or Bus Transportation Lines that pick-up arriving passengers in front of the Terminals! Before when we had only ONE Airport Terminal, we had the so-called California Bus Lines and Love Bus which would pass along the airport’s terminal and whose route would go along the Metro Manila’s main streets and cities. Once you reach a Commercial District or City within Metro Manila, that’s the time you flagged down a Taxi and the driver would bring you to your final destination.
Airport (Yellow) Taxi (Google Images)
Those travel arrangements from the airport once you arrive in Manila are gone now. At present, it is either you get the services of a Rental Car, Airport Taxi, or from a regular Taxi. Obviously, the Airport Taxi (cars painted in yellow) is very expensive. I don’t use such transport service for obvious reason. If you intend to use the services of a regular Taxi (mostly colored/painted white), you should be smart and practical. It is suggested that you proceed to the Departure Area and make an Exit thereat and try to flag down those taxis that just dropped incoming passengers at the terminal. The drivers will not be choosy as they need a passenger once they leave the airport instead of nothing. Problem arises when you take the last flight inbound to Manila if you are coming from local destinations. Obviously, most of these last flights would arrive at the terminal at the same time and it would result to a longer line of passengers waiting for the regular taxi to arrive. Patience is needed in this kind of situation.
For those foreigners who would like to join our ultra races in the provinces (Luzon area) and choose to arrive in one of the airports/terminals in Metro Manila, Car Rental is the best option. But be careful. Be careful with those “fake” and/or “off duty” MMDA traffic enforcers as they might be attracted with the color of your skin and un-Filipino facial features. These notorious “fake” and/or “off duty” traffic enforcers would flag you down as you leave the Car Rental or a few blocks away and tell you that you can’t drive in our country without a Philippines Driver’s License. That is not true! You can use your country’s Driver’s License for a 30-day stay in the Philippines. If the traffic enforcer does not believe you, tell him that you are a friend of “Bald Runner” (Retired Major General Jovenal Narcise of the Philippine Army). If he still does not release you, then prepare to haggle for the amount of money you have to give for his coffee/snacks.
If he releases you after giving him some cash, then I would say, “Welcome to the Gates of Hell”.
Bald Runner 
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