As of June 13, 2017, two days before the Deadline For “Newbies” to register and pay their Registration Fee without any penalty of additional P 500.00, there are only 27 runner-participants who have sent their photocopy of the Deposit Slip to my e-mail address at jovie75@hotmail.com. If you have paid the Registration Fee already, please send the photocopy of your Deposit Slip immediately as we will be posting those paid runners on a regular basis on this blog.
Please be reminded that all photocopies of Deposit Slips should be sent to my e-mail address ONLY.
An additional payment of P 500.00 from an invited runner (“newbie”/”first-timer”) will be added to the Regular Registration Fee if the payment is done after June 15, 2017. The Late Registration Period will cover from June 16, 2017 up to November 1, 2017.
“Repeaters” are advised that their last day of payment of their Registration Fee of P 4,500.00 will be on November 1, 2017. There will be No Extension Period.
Another reminder, all Senior Citizens and Men & Women of the Active Uniformed Armed Services of the Philippines to include the Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Prison Management & Penology, and the Philippine Coast Guard are entitled to 20% discount from the Regular Registration Fee.
Henceforth, all updates on the 2018/10th Edition of the Bataan Death March 102K Ultra Marathon Race will posted on this blog.
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!
Last year, a friend of mine who is also a local ultra runner joined an event which is called Quadzilla Marathons in the United States. It is a succession of 4 Marathon Races in four days where one Marathon Race is done every day. My friend finished the said event and he did very good. This event inspired me to think and come up with the idea that it could be done also by my local ultra running friends here in the Philippines. There is no need to go to the United States to experience this event.
In a spur of a moment, I was able to find a schedule for the conduct of the said event in four successive days that would culminate on my country’s Independence Day which is June 12. Knowing that my place of birth, Laoag City, a city in the northern part of Luzon in the Philippines, is the center of road network in the province, I selected it as the Start and Finish Areas of those 4 Daily Marathons.
In twelve hours, this event will have its First Edition. Knowing that this an event that is something new in the country, I did not expect much runners to join this event. However, I have ultra running friends who are willing to test to themselves this new challenge. I will be happy if I will have at least, ten runners as “pioneers” of this race.
Each Marathon Race will start at 1:00 AM every day in front of the Provincial Capitol (located at the heart of Laoag City) and the course is an “out and back” (to and from the 21K turn-around point) for easier management and logistics support to the runners. The Marathon Race has a cut-off time of 6:30 hours! It is expected that the event is finished by sunrise and before the vehicular traffic in the city starts to be heavy. Since the event will be done after midnight, the runners will experience cooler environment but they are required to wear headlight and reflectorized vest during the run for safety.
Each day, the course will be different. We will see how the runners will be able to apply their daily recovery and what feedback they would be able to impart to the other runners.
By the way, aside from being the Race Organizer and Director, I am also the Host for these invited runners.
I am available to speak to any group of runners in a lecture room/hall environment, to include offices whether they are from the government or private sector. The lecture/speech may last for a maximum time of 2-3 hours which can cover anything about running and other inspirational experiences/lessons.
You may contact me through e-mail at jovie75@hotmail.com or send me a Personal Message at my Facebook account: Jovie Narcise if you interested to this offer. You can also leave a comment to my Jovie Narcise Facebook Pages or on this Blog’s Page.
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