2017 MILO Half-Marathon (21K) Qualifying Race In Tarlac City/August 13, 2017
I was supposed to have an scheduled 5-hour LSD/Hike in the mountain trails on this day but I asked my Coach if I could join and qualify for the MILO Marathon Race to be held this coming December 2017 in a Half-Marathon Race to be held on a Sunday. My Coach gave his approval with the condition that I have the option to continue my hike later in the afternoon to complete the 5-hour LSD/Hike for the day. However, after the race, I decided to completely rest.
My OnLine Registration 10 days before the race did not push through as the Local Race Organizer could not open the e-mail that I sent to them. However, I was given the assurance that I would be allowed to join the race as long as I will be early at the Race Packet Pick-Up Booth on Race Day. Two hours before the start of the race, I was already at the site making some effort to be included in the list of qualifiers for the race. The local race organizer was very helpful to arrange with the MILO staff/personnel coming from Manila to have me included in the 21K race after accomplishing my registration form and submitting the required Medical/Doctor’s Certificate and MILO Pack.
Thirty minutes before the start of the race, I was already at the Runner’s Corral and behind all the runners as some runners would request for Photo-Ops with me. In between those requests, I would do some quick stretching on my legs and arms. Some runners whom I’ve known and joined in some of my PAU/BR’s Events’ Races would greet me and wish them luck in the race, in return.
The race started at exactly 4:30 AM after a short program—Singing of the National Anthem; A Prayer; A Greetings to all the Runners; and a Good Video on the Reminders for the Runners For Us to have an organized and problem-free race. As soon as the Starting Gun went-off, I started to brisk walk and positioned myself at the back of the pack. As soon as the road became more spacious for me, I started to run and tried to keep pace with those runners on my sides and on my front.
Focused & Determined To Qualify
I really wanted to run this race while observing my effort as based from my breathing and how high were my knees while I was running. The harder I could breath and the higher my knees are would indicate that I was forcing my pace really hard and with more speed. However, based from my training, I made my first 20 minutes of my run as my warm-up run which is I think within the Range of 6-7 effort with 10 as the Maximum Effort. After 20 minutes had lapsed, I started to have my tempo run which would last for 10 minutes (Effort Rate at 8-9) and then recover for 2-3 minutes at a Range of 6-7 effort. This kind of tempo run was repeated all throughout the race until I reached the turn-around point at 10.5K. I was surprised that my time was below one hour!
On my way back to the Finish Line, I started to run faster and tried 5-minute “strides” with 2-minute “recovery” run and then later reduced to 40-second “strides” with 20-second “recovery” run. I was happy that my time was sub-1:55-hour when I reached the 20-Km mark but suddenly, I felt a “cramping” sensation on my right calf that prevented me from maintaining my pace and be able to finish the race in less than 2 hours. The more I would keep my pace, the cramps would become more severe and painful that I could hardly lift my right leg. I decided to run slowly and walked later for a few meters and waited until the muscle/calf tightening was over. On the last kilometer to the finish line, I had my slowest pace in the race that almost all of the runners that I’ve passed in the last 2 kilometers had overtaken me.
Easy Pace On The Last 200 Meters To The Finish Line
No worries. I finished the race in 2:00:33 hours which is almost 15 minutes faster than my qualifying time for the age of 65-69 years old. Oh, well, my name is not listed in the published list of qualifiers in the MILO Tarlac City Leg but I know this will be corrected soon by the Race Organizer.
As a point of comparison and analysis of my performance in this race, I tried to look for my split times in last March’s Los Angeles Marathon where I registered a split time of 2:04:30 hours at Km 20 point and comparing it with my split time now of 1:54:++hours, it is clear that I’ve improved in my pace and speed for about 10 minutes for the said distance. Hopefully and at last, I will be able to attain my dream to try and find a race for me to qualify for the Boston Marathon. God willing!
On a personal note, this is the only race (for the past years) where I did not use a compression socks or calf sleeves. I’ve been running ultras with calf sleeves/compression socks and I never experienced any cramps on my calves and I personally believe that I should have used them on this race. With this experience, whether it will be a short race or an ultra running event, I will be using these compression socks and/or calf sleeves in my future races!
I will be happy to visit Cebu City this coming December 2017 to join in the 2017 MILO Marathon Finals.
Nutrition: One Power/Energy Bar Before The Race; One GU Gel on the last 4K; Water In Every Aid Station
Celebrating its 70th running this year, the Fuji Mountain Race took place on Friday, July 28. As in past years, the first 10.8 km from Fujiyoshida City Hall at 770 m elevation to Umagaeshi at 1450 m was a gentle climb on paved roads. From Umageshi runners enter trails, and for the kilometer from Hanagoya at the 7th Station all the way to the 8th Station it becomes a very difficult 40-degree incline climb. After that runners pass through an area of rough volcanic rocks as they approach Mt. Fuji’s summit. Peaking out with a net elevation difference of 3000 m, the 21 km Summit Course continues to gain a reputation as Japan’s premier mountain race. Last year bad weather forced the race to be stopped at Mt. Fuji’s 5th Station, meaning that this year’s race would be the first time in two years that runners would finish at the peak.
In this year’s 70th running, former Hakone Ekiden uphill Fifth Stage standout Shun Gorotani (Comody Iida) won in 2:31:34, an excellent time just 3:53 off the course record. In the women’s race, world-class Sky Running Vertical Kilometer runner Yuri Yoshizumi won in 3:01:17, the fastest women’s winning time since 1988. Both won in their first attempts at the Summit Course.
Men’s winner Gorotani is just 24. As part of Toyo University‘s ekiden team he ran the Hakone Ekiden twice, finishing an outstanding 3rd on the uphill Fifth Stage in 2016 behind stage winner Daichi Kamino (Aoyama Gakuin University). Gorotani now runs for the Comody Iida corporate ekiden team. Last year he won the Fuji Mountain Race 5th Station short course, breaking the course record by a wide margin. Having qualified for the Summit Course, Gorotani returned to live up to expectations with another superlative win. Taking control of the race early, Gorotani opened up a lead of 14 minutes over 2nd-placer Satoshi Kato, yet another runner-up finish for Kato. Gorotani was misdirected by course marshals very early in the race, but officials judged the error to have had no impact on his result.
Women’s winner Yoshizumi began running as an amateur after she began working full-time, winning the 2013 Hokkaido Marathon in a PB 2:37:56. Changing her focus to trail running in 2015, Yoshizumi won the 2016 Sky Running Japan Series’ Vertical Kilometer Series title. In December last year she won the Sky Running Asian Championships MSIG Lantau Vertical Kilometer, and in May this year she won the Vertical Kilometer World Circuit’s Transvulcania Vertical Kilometer against Europe’s best athletes. Outside of the Vertical Kilometer, she finished 13th in last year’s IAU Trail World Championships Trans Peneda Geres 85 km, competing at the world level from her home base in Osaka. Like Gorotani, she won the Fuji Mountain Race 5th Station Course last year before coming back to win the Summit Course this year, finishing 9th overall.
We were all excited that we have reached the Final Marathon for this event. Nobody was complaining about any aches, pain, “niggles”, or any injury from the runners. At least, all the runners had a chance to conduct a walk & drive-thru along the route during the day after the 3rd day Marathon. They would know what to expect and come up with their own “landmarks” with regards to distances and where exactly the locations of those rolling elevations on the course.
The runners would start at the LAOAG Sign Landmark which is located at the Laoag City Park and then goes to the Gilbert Bridge towards San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte. Once the runners cross the bridge, they have to turn RIGHT on the first intersection where the road leads to the Laoag City International Airport. Once the runners reach the new “roundabout” in front of the Northwestern University, they have to turn LEFT and run along the Laoag-Suba-Paoay Road until they reach the Poblacion of Paoay, Ilocos Norte. From Paoay, the runners would run one loop of the street block where the Paoay Church is located and then turn-around and go back to the Starting Line.
Group Picture Before The Start (Photo Courtesy of May Santos)
This running route is very memorable to me because it was my training playground for my first Marathon Race in the early 80s while I was assigned in Ilocos Norte as a young First Lieutenant of the Philippine Army. I would do my daily runs from Laoag City to the Suba Golf Driving Range (now, Plaza Del Norte) and then back to Laoag City for a good 20K LSD run. For my hill workouts, I would run along the road from the Golf Driving Range up to the beach where the famous Laoag Sand Dunes are located ( film shooting locations of the movies “Panday”, “Himala”, and the “4th of July” where Tom Cruise is the lead actor).
The course is relatively flat on the first 10K (6.2 miles) until the road goes uphill in front of the Plaza Del Norte and before the Golf Course which is only about 100 meters long. This is the famous Start Area of the yearly North Start 10K Run which was discontinued in the early 90s after almost 15 years of existence. This year, I have thought of reviving this event after I made a consultation/agreement with the then Race Organizer of the event who is in his 80s! From the peak of the uphill portion, it goes downhill for about 500 meters and then goes slightly up for a rolling elevation of about 1 kilometer. Once you see the view of the Paoay Lake on your left, everything goes downhill and flattens to the next 5-6 Kilometers up to the famous Paoay Church which is the turn-around point of the course. The runners take one loop of the street block around the Paoay Church and then goes back to the Starting Line.
The last Marathon Race started at 11:40 PM of Sunday, June 11, 2017 after some reminders and group pictures. I decided this time to be the “sweeper” again to make sure that everybody would be able to finish the race within the cut-off time of 6.5 hours. As we reached the Km 5 point, it rained for about 10-12 minutes and all of us were wet but it made our running environment cooler and made our body temperature lowered. The feeling of having your body perspiration mix with the cold rain is very refreshing!
Personally, I had the feeling of nostalgia and happiness while running on this course because I could memorize every inch or meter of the road! It is that feeling of happiness that I am finally back on this course/route after 37 years that greatly contributed on my being a passionate runner up to this time. Except for the 2nd Day Marathon (Laoag-Sarrat-Piddig route which is the official MILO Half-Marathon route), I have never ran along the 1st Day and 3rd Day routes.
I have never told to the 7 runners how deeply happy and elated while I was running with them on this Quad Marathon along the route of the 4th Day Marathon. I only told them that this was my favorite route when I would run while I was assigned in the province. I never told them that I had been running with some of the runners then in the City and that I’ve been “coached” by a Project Gintong Alay athlete, who is a local resident of Laoag City, for the Marathon distance and personally massaged by him every after our LSD runs along this route. This local elite running athlete would become a Champion of some of the Marathon Races in Metro Manila but what made him very popular was the fact that he was able to break the the course record for a Half-Marathon Race in the country! So, for the six hours that I’ve been running this course, I would recall all those times and the persons that had been a part of my running life while I was in Ilocos Norte. I will tell more about the “stories” among and about the 7 runners in this event in my “Epilogue” of this event.
Group Picture After Finishing The Race (Photo Courtesy of May Santos)
The following is the result of the 4th and Last Day Marathon of this event:
RANK NAME TIME (Hrs)
Dondon Talosig ——4:50:25
Gibo Malvar ———- 4:51:03
Rod Losabia ———- 5:10:12
Tess Leono (F) ——- 5:22:48
Rose Betonio (F) —- 5:34:06
Reese Rogel (F) —— 6:11:36
Jovie Narcise/BR —— 6:11:49
After I have personally awarded the Finisher’s Medal and Shirt to everybody, we had our Group Picture and we congratulated each other for being the Official “Pioneers” of this event which is considered as the First Quad Marathons in the country.
Finishing The Quad Marathons Was In Time With The 119th Independence Day Celebration
What a historic way to celebrate our country’s Independence Day!
At 11:20 PM of Saturday, June 10, 2017, all the runners had to transfer to the LAOAG Landmark at the Laoag City Plaza for the assembly, briefing, and start of the third Marathon Race as the new START and FINISH areas for the 3rd and last Marathon.
Briefing Before The Start (Picture By Joaquin Bordado)
Upon the start of the race, the runners have to cross the one-kilometer long Gilbert Bridge as they move towards the south direction. The first town that they would reach is the Municipality of San Nicolas which is famous for their hand-made claypots. As the runners pass the San Nicolas Church, they have to turn left towards the San Nicolas-Dingras Highway and follow the said Highway going to the east direction, passing some Barangays of San Nicolas and Sarrat. It should be noted that this particular route is exactly parallel to the route on the 2nd Day. After 17 kilometers, the runners will reach the Poblacion of Dingras and the turn-around point is beside the Covered Court/Multi-Purpose Hall of the Municipality.
3rd Day Marathon Group Picture Before The Start (Picture By May Santos)
The race started at 11:35 PM and 10 minutes earlier than the 2nd day Marathon. It was somewhat cooler when the runners were running along the Gilbert Bridge but once we hit the populated area of Barangay Uno of San Nicolas, the air became warmer and humid. With the help of one of the runners of Team Kimat, Joaquin Bordado, he was requested to position himself at the intersection going to Dingras at the San Nicolas’ Claypot Marker as a Marshal to prevent the runners as well as their Support Vehicles to go towards the City of Batac.
The course have some rolling hills and also lined up with trees and other vegetated areas/rice fields. There are some portions where some road constructions and bridges are being widened and repaired. But the course is relatively flat. I was surprised to find out that there are Hotels and Resorts along the route. I was informed that the new River Mount Hotel and Resort has the best swimming pool in the province.
Aside from the resorts, along the route is where the Main Office of the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative is located, 4-5 kilometers away from Poblacion of Dingras. One can see also the bridge that connects Dingras and Sarrat (crossing the Laoag’s Padsan River) as an alternative route from those coming from the towns of Marcos and Nueva Era in going to Laoag City.
As I was approaching the turn-around point, I came to realize that the turn-around point should had been the PETRON Gas Station where my GPS Watch registered a distance of 13.1 miles. There was an extra 400-meter distance yet to be covered before I could reach the announced turn-around point. By this time, I was already the 7th runner to reach the place. In summary, the 2rd Day Marathon was longer by 800 meters!
Turn-Around Point (21K) @ Poblacion Dingras (Picture By May Santos)
There seems to be a close competition among the top 3 runners! Since the Day 2 race, these runners had been putting off their headlights while they are on the run making sure that they could not be seen from afar from one another. I think somebody had leaked the information (which is supposed to be a surprise!) that I will be awarding the Overall Top 3 Podium Finishers for the whole event. I think these runners know the significance of being “Pioneers” and being the Top Podium Finishers of this new BR’s event.
The following is the result of the 3rd Day Marathon:
RANK NAME TIME (Hrs)
Gibo Malvar ———— 4:45:44
Dondon Talosig ——- 5:00:49
Rod Losabia ———— 5:35:56
Tess Leono (F) ——— 5:38:11
Rose Betonio (F) —— 6:01:28
Jovie Narcise/BR —— 6:17:43
Reese Rogel (F) ——– 6:37:40
After the Awarding of Medals and Shirts, we had our usual group picture and it was time to recover again for the last and 4th Marathon Race. All the runners will be starting for the next/last race tonight!
Group Picture After Finishing The 3rd Marathon (Picture By May Santos)
The second day Marathon Event started at 11:45 PM of June 9 (Friday) and expected to be finished at 6:15 AM of June 10 (Saturday). The route brings the runners to the eastern towns of Ilocos Norte. The runners would be able to pass the municipalities of Sarrat (first town after Laoag City) and the Poblacion of Piddig, Ilocos Norte (location of the turn-around point).
Day 2 Before The Start
The Municipality of Sarrat is noted to be the Birthplace of the Former President Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the Philippines for 20 years—8 years as a duly re-elected President and then another 12 years under Martial Law. The town has also a much-improved Public Park with an old Spanish Church. The Municipality of Piddig is also noted in history as the place in the country where the people revolted against the Spaniards because of a locally produced wine from sugar cane, called “Basi” in 1807. Up to the present, the place is still noted as the source of the Best Basi in the province.
The course is flat for the first 9 kilometers and then an uphill climb for about 200 meters at Km 10 which levels off until reaching Kilometer 19 which has another uphill terrain at the Poblacion (center) of Piddig.. The 21K turn-around point is the Solsona-Piddig Highway Kilometer Post #507. As compared with the first day route, this route has a cooler and windy environment because of big trees along the highway and the cooler winds coming from the mountain ranges located at the eastern part of the province of Ilocos Norte.
Day 2 Turn Around Point (21K)
Being the “sweeper” of the event, I could see who are the runners that are leading once they are on their way back to the Finish Line. Sometimes, if I see and feel that the last runner is lagging behind, I try to run in front or ahead of the runner so that he/she is forced to run faster to catch me.
Day 2 Finish Line Group Picture
For this 2nd day Marathon, all the runners had improved on their finish times as shown below:
RANK NAME TIME (Hrs)
Gibo Malvar ———– 4:51:58
Dondon Talosig —— 4:58:36
Rod Losabia ———– 5:20:23
Tess Leono (F) ——– 5:46:26
Rose Betonio (F) —– 5:50:16
Reese Rogel (F) ——- 6:17:49
Jovie Narcise/BR —– 6:17:55
After the awarding of the Finisher’s Medals and Shirts, we had a group picture and breakfast from McDonalds Fastfood courtesy of one of the runners.
Recovery Food & Drinks After Marathon #2
Tonight will be the third Marathon Event in a different course which will test (again) the determination and endurance of all the runners.
Seven of my ultra running friends registered for the First Edition of the BR’s Quad Marathons which is held on June 9-12, 2017 with start and finish in Laoag City (Ilocos Norte). A day prior to the start of the event, I decided to join the runners as a runner-participant and at the same time the “sweeper” for the event. However, at the back of my mind, I did not want anybody among from friends to DNF this event.
The four daily marathon events is scheduled to start at 1:00 AM every day but with only a handful of participants, I advised all the runners that we might start earlier as soon as all the runners are already at the Start Area. Except for one runner, the remaining seven runners stayed in our house for easier control and management.
Each of the marathon events has a cut-off time of 6 hours and 30 minutes. If a runner finishes a marathon event beyond the cut-off time, the runner is declared DNF and could not join the succeeding events. Every official finisher each day will receive a Finisher’s Medal and Shirt. If the participant completes or finishes the four Marathon Events, he/she will receive a Finisher’s Trophy and a Finisher’s Certificate.
Group Picture Before The Start Of The Race
The first marathon event started at 12:30 AM and the course covers the 21K distance from the Ilocos Norte Provincial Capitol in Laoag City to Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte and then back to the Starting Area. The route goes north along the Maharlika Highway passing the towns of Bacarra and Pasuquin. The turn-around point is at the Highway Kilometer Post #508 where a Marshal is located. The Marshal must take a picture of the runner once they reach the turn-around point before going back to the Starting Area for the Finish.
21K Turn-Around Point
For the logistics support of the runners, there are two roving Support Vehicles which could provide water, soft drinks, Gatorade, and bite foods for the runners. Usually, these support vehicles are located every 3 kilometers. In this edition, these support vehicles are also individual support vehicles of some of the runners.
The course is relatively flat with a few elevation gains at Kilometers 4-5 and on the way back, Kilometers 37-38. However, on this particular night, it was hot and humid with no wind even during the early morning.
All of the 8 participants were able to finish the Marathon on the first day within the cut-off time. The following is the result:
RANK NAME TIME (Hrs)
Dondon Talosig ———- 5:03:40
Rod Losabia ————— 5:12:17
Gibo Malvar ————— 5:37:27
Tess Leono (Female) — 5:37:29
Rose Betonio (F) ——— 5:45:04
Reese Rogel (F) ———– 6:26:52
Jovie Narcise/BR ——— 6:26:54
Group Picture After The Awarding Of Medals & Shirts
After the awarding of Medals and Shirts, we had some group pictures taken. After breakfast, we went to the beach for a swim and had some sight-seeing; and have some fun!
Having Fun After The 1st Marathon Event
We hope that we will be ready again for the 2nd Marathon Event before midnight!
Bald Runner 
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