This is where the tricky part for all the runners. Capas, Tarlac! Once you pass the Capas Public Market, you have to continue running along the MacArthur Highway up to the Y-intersection where you can see on your right, a Highway that goes to Concepcion, Tarlac and the left Highway is the continuation of the MacArthur Highway that goes to Tarlac City. On the middle of these two Highways is a CALTEX Gas Station.
Take The RIGHT Highway (Towards Concepcion, Tarlac)
Take the Highway on your RIGHT and you will surely pass by the McDonald’s Fastfood on your right. Continue for about 20 YARDS and you will see a road junction on your left. TURN LEFT on that road and in about another 20-30 meters you will see the Old Railway Terminal Building of Capas, Tarlac. There is a BDM Kilometer Post and a Shrine/Monument on the right side of the road.
Turn Left On This Road (20 Yards After Passing MacDonald's)
Follow this road and ultimately, you will cross the MacArthur Highway. Be careful in crossing this Highway. After about one kilometer, you will hit the road that goes to Camp O’Donnell and on your left is a CEMETERY. Turn right on the road that goes to Camp O’Donnell and you still have about 14 kilometers to the Finish Line.
Once you reach the Gate of the Capas National Shrine (BDM Shrine), you still have 5 kilometers to go to reach the Turn-Around Point infront of the Philippine Army’s Training & Doctrine Command. The distinct marker for the Turn-Around Point is the DPWH Kilometer Post #118. Once you reach this Km Post, you have to turn-around for the last 5 kilometers of the race.
The Finish Line is inside the Bataan Death March Shrine which is after the last pair of Flag Poles lined up along the wide approach towards the Shrine’s Obelisk. The Raceclock will be beside the usual simple BDM 160 Tarpaulin/Arc. And the RD will be there waiting for you to experience the RD’s BDM HUG!
Remember, the cut-off time of this road race is 30 Hours. Only runners who could cross the Finish Line within the prescribed cut-off time will be declared FINISHERS. This time, there will be NO Unofficial Finishers. Which means that the RD and its staff will no longer wait for runners to reach the Finish Line after the cut-off time had been reached or elapsed. Those who insist to Finish the race after the prescribed cut-off time will be declared DNF (Did Not Finish) on the Official Result of this Race which will be listed soon with Ultra Signup.
If you want to review what happened during the First Edition of this Race, you can read it HERE.
Good luck, ladies and gentlemen! Go! Go! Go! Brave Warriors of BDM 160!
(Note: BDM 160 Briefing & CLP will be held, tomorrow, 6:30 PM, Thursday, January 26, 2012 at the AFP Officers’ Club, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City for the Registered Participants Only. Runners are advised to bring with them their LandBank Deposit Slip (Payment of Registration Fee) for Confirmation. Runners will get their Race Bib/s and Support Vehicle Tarpaulin. If a runner intends to bring his/her Support Crew & Pacer, an additional fee of P200.00 per person shall be paid for the food & drinks.)
I’ve witnessed how the Japanese run in the Jeju International 100K Ultra Marathon Race (South Korea) and in the Soochow University 24-Hour Endurance Run (Taiwan) in 2010. In the late 70s and whole of 80s, I’ve seen on TV and documentary films how the Japanese long distance/marathon runners dominated the world’s best and popular road races including the Olympic Games. Now, there are also emerging as one of the best in ultrarunning events in the world.
I have the belief that we could also emulate or learn something from them because we have the same built and the same attitude in life. Although long distance running training and competition had been with them for almost 90 years and took them 30+ years to come up with their first Olympic Gold Medal in the Marathon, I have the positive outlook that we can attain such goal in the coming generation of younger runners.
I have discovered an article that had been published in the Running Times Magazine and written by Brett Larner with the detailed description on the history of running in Japan.
To some (or most?), organizing a running event is a business affair. I will not tell you the indicators if you want to know if a running event is being organized for the purpose of raising some funds for a certain cause or charity but only to realize that it is simply to rake one’s money for profit. If you are a runner who had been in such races for the past years, you probably know or smart enough to find out what I am talking about.
The conduct of the 1st Taklang Damulag 100-Mile Trail Endurance Run last December 2012 brought me some observations and lessons to be learned. It gave me the opinion that our road runners are not yet fully skilled and exposed to trail running. It is for this reason that I came up with the idea of coming up with a “graduated” exposure of trail running of those who are interested to experience the “outdoors”, meaning, the mountains and other areas outside the city and urban environment.
I want my ideas done and implemented immediately as there is no need for a corporate entity to back me up. In the first place, corporate entities take a lot of time to decide, not unless you are talking to the owner of the company! Who needs them anyway? (They will always tell you to wait for the signing of the contract and keep you waiting even if they have given the contract to another event organizer without even giving the information that they “dumped” you!). Basically, the participation and interest of runners would be enough to support the implementation of my idea.
So, yesterday (Saturday), the Trail Running 101 Series was born! There were six (6) runners who registered for the 16K distance while two (2) runners in the 10K category. Out of the eight runners, one is a lady runner. All of them finished the run and I could see on their faces that they were happy to experience trail running along the vicinity of the “Brown Mountain”, my training “playground” in the mountains of Dinalupihan, Bataan. The following were the results:
14K Run
1. Freddie Mercado—1:43:47 Hours
2. Jael Wenceslao—1:53:15
3. Noel Miano—2:05:12
4. Reginald Tan Bueno—2:43:00
5. Maria Stephanie Atutubo Zamora Hefti—3:19:12
6. Benjh German—3:23:54
10K Run
1. Elmer Oropieza—1:14:45 Hours
2. Igne Pablito—1:15:06
3. Jael Wenceslao—1:33:12
*Jael Wenceslao ran the 10K event after he finished the 14K run.
The next event of the Trail Running 101 series will be on February 26, 2012 with two distances: 16K and 21K runs! The venue/location is still the same but will have the start time to be earlier at 5:30 AM. The registration details will be posted soon in this blog with limited slots for both runs.
Trail Running 101 Batch #1Lead Runner of the 10K Event#1 Freddie Mercado#2 Jael Wenceslao#3 Noel Miano#1 Sports Drinks For Runners!Nice Touch! (Km Post Marking)
Going back on the title of this post, we have proven once again that we simply have the passion to share to everybody the ideas we would like to be implemented for the benefit of the running community. We don’t think about the money we gain or lost, we simply want to share what it is like to run on the “outdoors” and enjoy the beauty of the mountains & be able to commune with nature!
Thanks to all the runners; BR’s Staff; Volunteers; and to John “Jepoy” Avellanosa for those nice pictures!
See you on the next edition of the Trail Running 101 Series!
If you have been joining road races for the past months and years and had never tried running on mountain trails, then this is the time to start a new experience.
I have come up with short distance runs on where I had been doing my trail runs for the past years and it is about time that you have to try to experience what it feels to run on mountain trails.
These trail runs will be done every month where the distance will be stretched from 10K to a Marathon distance of 42K. So for the month of January, there will be two distances of trail runs to be conducted this coming Saturday. The shorter distance will be a 10K and the longer one is a 16K distance.
All these trail runs will be an “out and back” runs. In the 10K distance, one has to run 5 kilometers up to the mountain and then back to the point where one started. The same goes to the 16K distance, 8 kilometers up to the mountain and then back to the starting line. Very simple!
The two distance runs will start at the same time at 6:00 AM of Saturday, January 21, 2012. It will start at the “Basilica” Church of Barangay Sacrifice Valley in Dinalupihan, Bataan and ends at the same place. There is no cut-off time for the event. This will encourage the “newbies” to enjoy the scenery and to experience the simplicity of trail running. It is simply running with nature without so much “distractions”.
There will be Aid/Hydration Stations every 2.5 Kilometers. Runners are advised to bring their hydration bottles so that we will adhere to lesser use of plastic cups in trail running events. In addition to the aid stations, there is flowing stream/spring along the route where one could drink the fresh cool water of the mountain.
If you are joining the Subic International Marathon on Sunday, you can drop by for a 10K easy trail run on Saturday morning and then proceed to Subic Freeport after the trail run. Barangay Sacrifice Valley is 15 kilometers away from Olongapo City and the Subic Freeport.
Registration fee/s for the 10K event is P 500.00 and the 16K is P 600.00. ARC Store is presently accepting registration for this event. Registered runners will be given Commemorative T-Shirt for the event and a post-race meal at the Finish Line. Whatever proceeds we get from these trail running events will be used for the support of Elite Bald Runner Team in their participation to international running events. Two of my elite athletes will be participating in the Hongkong 100K Trail Endurance Run in the middle of next month with the objective of qualifying for the Western States 100-Mile Endurance in the coming years. It is unfortunate that we have yet to receive favourable approval of support from corporate entities whom we asked for assistance.
There will be registration On Site, provided that runners will arrive earlier than the announced starting time. The run will start promptly at 6:00 AM.
As in my past events, we will start the race even with 2-3 registered runners!
See you at the Starting Line!
(Note: It is advisable for all the participants to read the “rules of the game” (protocols/etiquette/rules and regulations) in trail running which I published in my previous post)
This is an excerpt from the book, “The Ultimate Guide To Trail Running” by Adam Chase & Nancy Hobbs.
Lisa Goldsmith, two-time USATF Mountain Runner of the Year says: “Trail running requires such an athletic style of running that a lifelong athlete will probably adapt better, say someone who has soccer or some agility sport in their background of experience. That said, I think it behoves a beginning trail runner to do some agility-type training. I am talking about anything from jumping rope to jump squats, running stairs, bounding, skipping, high knee drills, butt kicks; exercise that trains you to lift your feet off the ground with quickness. And, I would remind the runner to not run exclusively on trails as running dirt roads or even pavement will keep leg speed (leg turnover) in the muscle memory. As for racing, I say “just do it!”. In all sports, I find racing and competing raises my level of skill and helps me find my true edge; racing is where breakthrough are discovered.”
No matter what your running or athletic background may be, the best introduction to trail running is to pick a nice day, find a beautiful gently rolling trail that offers dependable footing, and set off on a relaxed run. Take walking breaks as often as necessary and allow yourself to be carried away by the sounds of the natural environment and the peaceful surroundings. As you move along at a steady pace, absorb the views and breathe the clean air. From your initial experience, gradually build your running fitness and develop your trail running technique and skills.
The problem now is where to find the trails. North of Metro Manila, you can find a prominent mountain while travelling at the NLEX/SCTEX to Tarlac which is the Mount Arayat. I’ve never been to the said mountain but it appears that it is already considered as a National Park and through my readings on the Internet and some Mountaineering resources, the mountain has some trails.
Northwest of the province of Pampanga are the mountain ranges in Porac, Floridablanca, and Bataan which one can see if travelling along SCTEX towards Subic Freeport. Some of the Ultrarunners had experienced going to some parts of these mountains as it is the route of the Miyamit 50-Mile Trail Run. Further down the western side is the location of the “Brown Mountain” where I usually have my trail running workouts.
South of Metro Manila and at the end of SLEX is the province of Laguna. Los Banos is a nice place where one can start looking for trails up to the famous Mount Makiling. A simple research on the Internet will reveal a group of mountaineering clubs in the said area which are good source of information.
On the eastern border of Metro Manila are the mountains of Rizal which are accessible after travelling for 35-50 kilometers. Hopefully, there are still trails in Montalban and Antipolo if they are not yet developed as subdivisions. Sampaloc, Tanay is a very nice place where one could just try to easily find a mountain trail. The place where I had my Tanay 50K Ultra Run offers a lot of trails and I highly recommend this place for beginners.
Northeastern part of Bulacan and boundary with Metro Manila offers also some trails. Nearer to Metro Manila is the La Mesa Dam Trail Park which is also highly recommended for easy trail runs.
If you happen to know a trail near Metro Manila, you can share to us in this blog.
Before you hit the trails and if you are 40 years old and above, find time to talk to your doctor and ask for medical advice if your body can withstand and endure running/jogging/walking along the mountain trails. Of course, the doctor will do some endurance test on you and find out if your respiratory and circulatory systems are efficient for such sports activity. This first step is a must!
On Trail Running Shoes. If you are a beginner, there is no need to buy brand-new trail running shoes. You can use your old road shoes for the mean time and try to observe its performance when you are running on the trails. Stability shoes are more preferred for trail running.
On your running apparel & hydration needs, try to be light as possible as you will experience going up the hill and mountains with an extra baggage. For the mean time, there is no need to bring heavy hydration system as there are water sources along the route. In my running trips to “Brown Mountains”, I usually bring my Nathan SOB Single Bottle Belt which I can refill with water on the springs & streams along the route.
Try to practice some running drills before going to the mountains. For a starter, do some hill repeats to determine how far and how long you can go in an ascending road. Look for an ascending road which would take you 1-2 minutes to reach the top from its lowest part. Slowly jog from the lowest part up to top of the ascending road. Stop jogging once you reach the top and slowly walk to where you started. Repeat the drill up to the time you reach 30 minutes. As you become stronger and more comfortable in reaching the top, you can now increase the time of your drill to 45 minutes. Do this drill at least 3 times a week and try to find out how you progress within a period of at least one month. (Note: Go to McKinley Hill Area and you can find such ascending/descending road for your hill repeats!)
However, don’t underestimate the use of “power/brisk walking” breaks on your mountain trail runs. Usually, trail runners and even competitive ones have to resort to power walks on steep inclines during their runs. Yes, elite trail runners walk during their race! But they have also the mastery on how to run fast on the descending portions of the trails just to be able to regain the time they lost on their power walks. As a beginner, you have to be extra careful on being aggressive on the downhill runs as this will put so much work on your quadriceps muscles and overall balance on your body. Most likely, running fast on the downhill will rub your toenails on the front edge of your shoes and this will result to dead toenails!
Since I started using Heart Rate Monitor in the middle of last year as a means for immediate biofeedback on the intensity of my workouts and runs, I highly recommend that runners who would like to shift on mountain trail running to consider using such device. In my hill runs, I make sure that my HR would average within the range of 142-150 beats per minute. My average pace might be slower but I have enough strength to last for hours in the mountains and be able to recover for another run the next day.
To be continued.
Good luck! See you at the Starting Line in the Trail Running 101 Runs!
Trail Running Is More FUNIt's Either You Step On The Rocks OR Take A Dip Into The Water
Carl Von Clausewitz’ book “On War” stated that “War is the continuation of policy by other means”. Success in war and in any military endeavor requires adherence to what he calls the “Trinity of War” which are the main elements to be considered and satisfied. The Trinity of War consists of: (1) United Government; (2) Support of the Citizenry/Populace; and (3) Strong and “well-oiled” Armed Forces.
In relation to Sports, I think there is also what it is called the “Trinity of Sports”. First is Government Support; Second is Population/Public Support & Interest; and Third is National Pool of Athletes (being represented by the different National Sports Federations). Absence of one of the elements would mean FAILURE in any of the competition event that the country would participate.
Government Support is a “must” if we want to excel in international competition like the SE Asian Games, Asian Games, and the Olympic Games. It is very self-explanatory as the government has the bulk of resources for the promotion of sports and support for the athletes.
Populatiom/Public Support & Interest is where the Corporate Sponsors would come in and the Media has a great contribution in creating awareness to the whole citizenry. Population is obviously the source of our athletes.
National Pool of Athletes is where good leadership is needed in the different Sports Federations in the country. Poor selection of athletes, “favoritism” and lack of sports development in the grassroots level will surely derail the quality of athletes we are sending in international competition. This is where proper training, equipment, international exposure, good coaching, nutrition, sports psychology, sports medicine and other sports advancement will come in.
If only we could adhere to these elements of the “Trinity of Sports”, we could easily excel in any sports discipline we would like to compete. But going back to the words of Carl Von Clausewitz, “the simple things are the hardest things to do”, these Trinity of Sports could be easily understood but doing something about them would take a gargantuan task for eveybody. However, I still believe that there is still hope for the country as long as we stick to the basics—discover more raw talents in the grassroot level through awareness and local sports competitions and “nurture” them to become world-class elite athletes!
Do you believe that “Sports is also a continuation of policy by other means”?
Another food for thought for the day. See you at the Starting Line!
(Note: If ever your name is not included in the list, please resend the scanned copy of your deposit slip as soon as possible to this e-mail address: jovie75@hotmail.com. Please bring your deposit slip to the Briefing & Carboloading Party (CLP) on or about 6:30 PM of January 26, 2012, Thursday at the AFP Officers’ Club in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City).
Taklang Damulag 100-Mile Trail Endurance Run (TD 100) is already one of the Ultra Races being administered by Mark Gilligan of Ultra Signup.
If you are used and familiar in registering to International Marathons, most probably you have experienced registering your participation through www.active.com. For Ultra Trail Races in the United States and other countries, registration of participants are done through Ultra Signup.
TD 100 is the FIRST Ultra Race in the Philippines and Southeast Asia to be under the processing of Ultra Signup.
Lately, I registered for the 2012 Cobra Half-Ironman Triathlon and I was charged with a registration fee of $ 225.00 (US Dollars) plus $ 16.00+ (US Dollars) as Processing Fee, a total of $ 241.00+ for my participation in the event. In comparison with Ultra Signup, it does not charge additional processing fee for the registration fee. So, if you are interested to join this event, you will be charged with the stated registration fee ONLY.
This is the most important virtue that a runner must have, whether he/she is a beginner, average, or competitive one.
Patience is having more time to wait for things to unfold, as a result of your training program, before being reckless and do things the wrong way. As a result, you will regret for the things you have done. Your actions in running should be deliberate as there are NO “magic bullets” or “quick fix” in the sports we love.
In training, you need patience for you to develop your aerobic endurance and overall, improve on all the aspects of running. It does not take days or weeks to happen, but it would take months and years to develop your maximum potentials in the said sports. There are “ladders and steps” to overcome from one level to another level. Patience means you don’t have to go through a marathon (42K) training without experiencing what it takes to finish a simple 3K run. If you think you are good in 3K distance, you can go to the next step of trying a 5K run and so forth. However, there are training programs that you must follow in order to get the full potentials of your body’s capabilities if you want to excel in the distance you want. If you want to finish a marathon race, you need patience. Believe me if I tell you that I prepared for one year to experience what it takes to finish my first marathon. More patience is needed, if you desire to finish your first ultra marathon race.
Not adhering to patience by trying to do so much too soon in one’s mileage have always been the number one problem among runners. Not following the time-tested 10% rule of increasing one’s mileage on a weekly basis always brings runners to being injured and stale in their improvement. As a result, patience will always be the solution of this problem—patience to let the injury heals itself.
In races, runners would always forget what it takes to be patient. The tendency of most runners is to go out too fast once the gun is fired only to realize that mistake had been done when he/she is “crawling” to reach and cross the finish line. We always don’t have the patience to remember and stick to our race strategy and the training we have done in preparation for the race.
We need also patience in choosing our first running shoes and running attire. We have the tendency to look like the elite runners who are featured in “glossy” international runner’s magazine with the thought that we look “cool” and better runners than others. We have also the tendency to buy what we see for the first time not knowing that there are better fitting shoes with less cost if we waited and had time to look around. It is not the brand, color-combination, and the weight of the shoes that count most, but the proper fit to our feet. As for the running attire, you need patience to find out what is more comfortable for you considering our weather and humidity.
We need also patience in trying to find out what food and drinks that are good and work best for our performance. Depending on the distance you want to race or run, you can experiment on what nutritional needs for your training, pre-race, during race, and recovery period.
We need patience to find out what races we want to join in the future and patience to prepare for these races.
We need patience to finish what we have started. Because finishing a race is what matters most!
Like life itself, we need patience. There are lots of options but we need to have smart choices and decisions.
In running and in the race called “Life”, always think and remember…PATIENCE.
See you at the Starting Line!
"Running Is Patience" (Photo By Ding Quinto/The Frontrunner Magazine)
Bald Runner 
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