Martin Fryer was the first ultrarunner whom I met at Soochow University and he happens to be from Australia. I started to know him when we had a conversation over lunch with the Race Director of the event, Frank Kou and I spent more time to talk to him later in the afternoon. I did not ask him about his past feats and credentials in ultrarunning as I could easily “Google” his name on the Internet. Continue reading “Martin Fryer: Ultrarunner From Australia”
Category: Pictures
Toilets
Whenever I visit my subordinate units/commands while I was a Division Commander of the Philippine Army, the first thing that I need to see as I enter their Headquarters or camp was their Toilet! Why? It is because the toilet serves as the reflection on the efficiency of the unit and its commander and my measurement on the administrative condition of the unit. Whether the camp is located in the forest or in the mountains or in the periphery of a city or a municipality or a barangay, the toilet should be clean, it has an available water (in pail or water containers), a dipper, a soap, and a small towel (if there is no toilet paper/tissue). Continue reading “Toilets”
1st BDM 160K Race Belt Buckle
In Silver! Made by SUAREZ Bros. (Not the Actual Size as seen here)
Any questions?
Good luck and Train Well! Be a part of this historic first “solo” race for a 100-mile (160K) ultramarathon road race in the country!
(Note: This is not a motivation for you to “cheat” in my race!!! It should be a motivation for you to test your physical and mental limits…and cross the finish line with your own effort.)
24-Hour Run: Soochow Ultramarathon
Pre-Race Activities
The longest time of my life to be running and walking continuously was when I finished the 1st edition of the Bataan Death March 102K Ultramarathon Race last April 4-5, 2009 where I finished in 15+ hours. Now, I could not imagine how these 30+ elite ultramarathon runners to be running around a 400-meter oval track for the duration of 24 hours. One-half of these runners are the world’s best in this kind of endurance event and it was a learning experience for me in terms of the organizational, administrative, and the technical aspects.
The Soochow International Ultramarathon 24-Hour Endurance Race is in its 10th edition where world records for such event had been established by no less than the best of the best of running. This simply means that Taiwan and other countries in our neighbours in the Asia region had been ahead of us in terms of awareness and participation to ultramarathon events. Continue reading “24-Hour Run: Soochow Ultramarathon”
“Good Morning, Taipei!”
At 9:00 AM this morning, Saturday, December 11, 2010, the 10th Annual Edition of the “IAU’s Silver Medal” Event in Taiwan which is called, “Soochow International Ultramarathon 24-Hour Endurance Race” shall start. The 24-Hour Endurance Race usually consists of only 36 elite runners in ultramarathon running where 18 runners are “the best” international runners and the other half are elite runners from Taiwan.
The Soochow University’s Oval Track had been the official venue of this event since its first staging in 1999. This ultramarathon/24-hour endurance race had been organized and directed by one of its University professors, Frank Kuo, who happens to be a passionate ultrarunner who had joined the Spartathlon and other multi-day running events in the world. Continue reading ““Good Morning, Taipei!””
“AFP Challenge” & Fun Run
When I was in the active service, we have a sports competition event which was called “AFP Olympics” which was a competition among the Major Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), to include the Philippine National Police. This is one of the Sports Programs of the AFP to help the country hone its talents towards Sports Excellence. Most of our elite athletes in our Sports’ National Pool are enlisted as soldiers and this a way where their training is supported through their Pay & Allowances coming from the AFP. But they also perform duties as soldiers and sometimes assigned outside the Metro Manila area. Thus, these soldiers/elite athletes are not concentrated/focused on their training to be the “best of the best”! Continue reading ““AFP Challenge” & Fun Run”
2nd Quezon City International Marathon
4:30 AM December 5, 2010/2nd QC International Marathon
Last year, I ran the Half-Marathon of this event with my daughter, Jovelle, and I was on a pacer-crew mode. This was my last long run before I tapered off for the 2009 Subic International Marathon where I finished in sub-4 hours. The route was totally different then as most of the runners would run towards the Trinoma Mall area before reaching the Finish Line inside the Quezon Memorial Circle. Continue reading “2nd Quezon City International Marathon”
“You Can’t Buy Speed…And Endurance”
In an ultramarathon race, your pricey “high-tech” apparel and equipment do not make you faster and stronger runner but they can make your run more enjoyable and with better looks on your photo album!
But looking at this picture, I’ve concluded that all the things that I was wearing on this run were bought outside the country!
Runner’s Cap by Under Armour
Oakley Sports Sunglass (Asian Fit) Bought & Ordered by my daughter, Jovelle
Neck Bandana by Buff
ASICS Technical Shirt bought in Jeju Island, South Korea
Race Ready Shorts From Zombie Runner
Hand-held Racing Bottle by Ultimate Direction from Zombie Runner
Running Socks by DryMax
ASICS Gel-Tarther Shoes bought in Jeju Island, South Korea.
In my estimate, the whole attire and stuff on me is worth $800.00! That’s a lot of money for looking “good” while running in a race. However, the pain, experience, feeling of successfully crossing the finish line, meeting friends, and being strong and healthy is PRICELESS!
Running is the cheapest sports but if you want to look good in your pictures, then by all means, you can buy stuffs that you can see in “glossy” sports magazines and feel that you are an elite athlete also. But in the end, you can’t buy speed, endurance, and “mental toughness” (from Dr Chester Puno) as they are developed and acquired with years & years of patience, commitment, discipline, determination, and passion for the sports.
See you at the Starting Line!
(Note: Photo Courtesy of Sydney delos Reyes at the 1st Cebu 50K Ultramarathon Run)
Running Lecture @ Wyeth, Phils.
Chito Carreon, a passionate ultrarunner and “veteran” of BDM 102K Ultramarathon Race and one of the executives of Wyeth, Philippines, invited me for a Running Lecture/Clinic to interested officers, staff and employees of the company on the first week of October 2010 at their corporate office in Makati City.
The lecture was conducted at 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM in the presence of almost 30 participants. The activity started with a lecture on the Basics and Principles of Running. After the lecture presentation, the participants were encouraged to join the members of the Elite Team Bald Runner on the practical side of running. Demonstration on the warm-up and stretching exercises which are done before and after running workouts were done by the participants. After the demonstrations, “running drills” were also performed by everybody. An Open Forum was conducted to answer the questions/concerns of the participants.
Mr Carreon was kind and generous to present to the members of the team with gifts, running shoes for my Project Donate A Shoe, vitamins and other products of the company, certificates and “giveaways” before we finally ended the activity. Thanks to Chito Carreon and to Wyeth, Philippines. Such gifts are in the “need-list” of my elite athletes.
1st Cebu Ultramarathon Race
1. Six weeks before I retired from the military service, I visited the exact place where former President Ramon Magsaysay’s plane crashed on the early morning of March 17, 1957. If you don’t know your history, you can search “Mt Manunggal” in my blog and read my story about this visit to the said place.
2. Being the Bald Runner after retirement from the service, I had plans of visiting again to this place and thought of coming up with road/trail race to commemorate the death of our former President Magsaysay as I wanted my runs to be connected with the history of our country. In one of our conversations with my friend Jonel Mendoza, he asked me a place where a good ultra run route in Cebu which can be used in the future and I answered him that Mt Manunggal Crash Site would be highly recommended because of its significance in our history. And the rest is history.
3. Since I don’t announce in my blog where my next race is, the Race Organizers were surprised to see me in Cebu/Ayala Center on the night before the race. I was given the opportunity by Jonel aka FrontRunner Magazine to speak before the runners on their magazine’s running clinic. It was a nice experience seeing a lot of runners from Cebu City during the said clinic. It really shows that the running community in cities outside Metro Manila is growing in numbers by “leaps and bounds”.
4. Most of the runners in the 1st Cebu Ultramarathon Race were already at the assembly area at 4:00 AM as most of them “camped” in the area. I could see different moods on the faces of the runners which is very common among runners who are about to experience their first ultramarathon run. I was able to see some of the “usual suspects” in ultra runs in Luzon and I had a brief chat with them. I know, most of them came here to challenge the route. However, I came here to test and evaluate my training.
5. After a short program and photo-ops at the “bust monument” of President Magsaysay, the race started at 5:52 AM with 180+ starters. The faster and “excited” runners went ahead from the rest of the group as they forced themselves to attack the uphill climbs and downhill parts of the route that goes to the National Highway. I think I was on the last half of the whole group of starters on the first 3 kilometers of the run.
6. In a very challenging route which has steep uphills and fast downhills, the race strategy in an ultra run (50K and above) is to be able to apply “brisk walking” on the uphills, fast recovery run on the downhills, and steady run on the plain parts of the route. So, in most parts of the route, I consistently applied this strategy making sure that I hydrate myself regularly (every 2-3K) and eat solid foods every 5 -7 kilometers. My solid foods consisted of Nature Valley Sports Bar, fresh banana, fresh apple, Cloud 9 Chocolate Bites, and boiled sweet corn (bought along the way). I think most of the runners that I passed on the uphills were able to see me with my “brisk walking” form! I am highly recommending that “form” as I learned it from my experience at the Marin Headlands 50-Mile Trail Run.
7. The last 20K of the race was a “battle of will and determination” as the heat of the sun was upon us and I’ve been running and brisk walking for almost 4 hours. The more that I have to bring out those “tips” and lessons learned that I gathered in my past ultraruns. At this point, everything was a “mind game” and consistency of doing what I planned for during my training was the focus in this race. I did not veered away from my race strategy most especially on my hydration/nutrition. On my last 15K, I started to take “salt tablets” and drowned them in my throat with ice cold Mountain Dew or Classic Coke. This gave me more strength and consistency with my pacing in my runs and brisk walking!
8. I finally reached the Finish Line, in front of the Cebu Provincial Capitol Building, with a time of 6:42:20 hours (Official Time). I finished with a ranking of #38 out of the 162 finishers. Based from my GF 305 data, the total distance is 50.23K; an average pace was 8:00 minutes per kilometer; a total ascent of 1,860 meters and a total descent of 2,695 meters.
9. I consider this race as a mountain trail run because of the profile/elevation of the whole course. I am satisfied with the result of my training since I finished the 1st CAMSUR Marathon wherein I started to incorporate more intensity to my training runs and making my selected weekend races as my performance evaluation/test runs. In conclusion, I was able to attain what I have aimed for in this ultra run.
10. And talking about going “hardcore” and going up to a higher level of ultrarunning, I advise that for those who have future plans in joining ultra trail runs in the “WEST”, I highly recommend you to follow and train for the following finishing times in the following ultra distances races:
50K—-sub-7 hours
50 miles/80K—-sub-11 hours
100K—–sub-14 hours
100 miles/160K—-sub-30 hours
11. Thanks, Jonel, FrontRunner Magazine, CERC & Cebu Runners, Volunteers, and the CENTCOM, AFP Officers & Staff for the experience and hospitality. Congratulations to all the Finishers and Race Organizers for a job well done!
(Note: Thanks for those who posted the above pictures at Facebook)
Bald Runner 
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