I was accompanied by three of my officers on a bike ride from my camp in Jamindan to Roxas City, a distance of 58 kilometers (36.25 miles), on my 55th birthday last 16 May 2007. We were using mountain bikes. It took us three hours to bike the said distance. It was a tiring workout without any practice!
As the Project Director of the DND-AFP “Gintong Pangarap” for Marathon and Chairman of the DND-AFP “Gintong Pangarap” Running Club, Inc., I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to those who participated in the 6th DND-AFP “Gintong Pangarap” Marathon Team Relay on the 16th of December 2007 at the Bonifacio Naval Station, Fort Bonifacio, Metro Manila.
To those teams and their members who won in their respective categories, congratulations and we hope you were able to achieve your desired goals and objectives in this team relay race. Despite the preparations we made, it is still unfortunate that we made some “lapses” on administrative requirements. We are very sorry…
To those team members who won and were not able to receive their medals during the awarding ceremony, you will receive your medals and will be delivered in your respective address within this week.
We hope to see you again on the 7th DND-AFP “Gintong Pangarap” Half-Marathon Race on 17 February 2008.
Thanks and Congratulations! Keep on running!
The following is the result of the Top 20 Male runners of the 24th RUNNEX 10K Executive Classic Race held at the UP Campus last 02 December 2007:
Name Age Time
1. Apolinario Reyes 36 41:08
2. Wilfredo Enriquez 43 41:55
3. Graciano Santos 41 42:46
4. Roberto Manzano 45 44:30
5. Rafael De la Rosa 41 45:10
6. Julius Magpayo 45 45:19
7. Tommy Tan 56 45:46
8. Roderick Racho 46 46:15
9. Benjamin Teodoro 49 47:06
10. Leonardo Villafania 49 47:31
11. Mark Parco 40 47:35
12. Fernando Montiel 56 47:56
13. Jun Martinez 42 48:18
14. Ryan Denosta 33 48:22
15. Ronaldo Celestial 38 49:11
16. Ernie Ledesma 67 49:28
17. Manuel Rayco 40 51:08
18. Norman Ranon 32 51:12
19. Dennis Mascardo 34 51:14
20. Gregorio Torres 52 51:36
I would like to express my gratitude and thanks to those who had visited and regularly visiting my blog for the past 50 days since I started writing about running. My blog registered 2,000 hits yesterday morning.
Writing this blog motivated me to seriously go back to running again!
To all the runners, keep on running!
The following is the Top 2o Female Results of the 24th Executive Classic 10K Race held at UP Campus on 02 December 2007:
Name Age Time
1. Cheryl Bihag 34 52:52
2. Valerie Sanvictores 34 54:31
3. Lei Policarpio 30 54:38
4. Oona Mapua 30 56:06
5. Elaine Yap 27 58:38
6. Cecil Morella 45 1:00:20
7. Daniw de Leon 23 1:00:22
8. Sherry San Pedro 31 1:00:24
9. Aileen Limboy 27 1:01:54
10. Jennifer Yrasuegi 25 1:02:49
11. Tisha Generoso 35 1:05:27
12. Monica Ley 27 1:08:14
13. Ruby Allas 40 1:09:25
14. Roselle Dadal 36 1:10:05
15. Maui Sugay 26 1:11:07
16. Mary Rose Obispo 36 1:12:49
17. Jeremie Jaramilla 25 1:14:01
18. Christine Bandol 34 1:14:19
19. Mariphine Requijo 31 1:15:43
20. Marie Casereo 45 1:17:07
In the 1980’s, the nearest skydiving center from Downtown Los Angeles was called the “Lake Perris Skydiving Center” and it would become a part of my twice-a-month routine to visit this place and “jump” for the “rush of adrenaline”.
I really wanted to become a member of the Special Forces and become an “Airborne” trooper of the Philippine Army during my younger years as an officer. But circumstances then did not give me the opportunity to be one.
So, while having my leave after my schooling in Fort Benning, I visited this place which is 80-90 miles east of Los Angeles early Monday morning. At the end of the day, I had my “first jump” from a small airplane after paying $ 100.00.
Once I registered on the first hour of the morning (8:30 AM), I paid my fee and I was led to an audio-visual room where I was personally lectured by my designated “jump master”, who is a retired member of the US Special Forces, in his mid-forties. After 2 1/2 hours of lecture and video presentation, there was a break.
During this break, my “jump master” and I had a conversation and asked me some questions. The “jump master” ask me why I am interested to learn how to skydive. I told him that I am a visiting student in Los Angeles from the Philippines and I wanted to experience the feeling of jumping from the plane with a parachute. I told him also that there are no skydiving facilities in my country and such activity is only limited to the military. At this point, he bragged to me that an Israeli Commando Team had trained in the skydiving center for one month and the National Skydiving Team of Indonesia whose members are from their Kopassus (Special Forces) had also skydiving activities for almost two months at Lake Perris.
In the afternoon, I was made to do some drills: jumping from an elevated platform (4-5 feet) to simulate landing on the ground; landing on the ground with feet together; doing the body roll on the right/left side of the body once the feet touches the ground; emergency drills just in case of problems with the parachute; drills in case of landing on water, electric lines, etc. and drills to manuever the parachute.
After the drill, my “jump master” started to suspect that I am from the military because I could easily do the drills without so much corrections from him. He knows that I had advance knowledge about jumping from the airplane.
When the winds settled before 5:00 PM, I was already on the plane for my first parachute jump. The plane used was a T-10 trainer plane which is a four-seater plane. The two seats at the back were removed and the jump master and I were seated on the floor during our flight. After testing the direction of the wind from an elevation of 1,500 feet and marking my drop zone/landing area, I was made to jump from the airplane! The feeling of slowly going down to the ground with a parachute and manuevering it towards the landing zone was an awesome experience.
My first parachuting experience was a solo jump. There were no tandem jumps then during the early ’80s.
I got my First Jump Certificate before I left the place and I had to go back for some more jumps in the coming weeks. I had almost 15 jumps from this skydiving center and had experience joining other skydivers during weekends.
At the age of 49, I joined a Special Forces “Airborne” Course of the Philippine Army and finished it and earned my “Airborne” Badge! I did my five jumps in one day! Few months after, I had the chance to join the US Special Forces for a joint parachute jump at Clark Air Base which earned me also the US Special Forces “Airborne” Badge!
I requested for an extension of leave after my schooling in Fort Benning for me to be the “baby sitter” for my kids and “driver” to my wife from May 1984 up to three months and got the chance to watch the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
During weekends and on my wife’s “days off”, I would join local road races from 5K-10K in cities near Los Angeles. Sometimes, I would travel 80-90 miles east of Los Angeles to the Lake Perris Skydiving Center for Skydiving every other weekend.
In the local road races, I’ve been winning trophies and medals in my age category (30-35 years old) which I show and brag to my wife and to my kids once I get home.
One time after attending one of the races, I got hold of a flyer of a 10K run whose route/course was a few blocks away from the house. I was enthusiastic to register immediately knowing that the course was almost the same route where I had my regular running practices and I was very familiar with the terrain.
On race day, I usually stay at the back of the pack and didn’t mind looking or staring at other runners. So, when the race started, I slowly squeeze my way into the middle of the pack and started looking at runners while passing at them. I observed that the men were good-looking and had nice bodies and most of them are in pairs. While the ladies were running like men and have nice bodies.
Little did I knew that I joined the Gay Pride 10K Race for the City of Los Angeles!!! My wife and my young kids were laughing at me after I told them that I joined and finished the said race. I felt embarassed and just told them that all I wanted was to run, don’t miss the chance to run a road race within the neighborhood and maintain my physically fitness.
Bottomline? I was too naive to ignore what the race was all about. The gays I’ve seen in this race were decent-looking guys and very athletic that you could hardly notice that they are such. They are strong and fast runners, too! Well, I did not bring home any trophy or medal on this race.
The gays and the lesbians beat me this time!!!
Eduardo Buenaventura and Jo Ann Banayag of the Philippines won Bronze Medals in the Men’s and Women’s Marathon, respectively, in the 24th Southeast Asian Games held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand on 09 December 2007.
Ed “Vertek” Buenaventura’s time was 2:27:21 hours while Jo Ann Banayag’s time was 2:44:41 hours which is a new RP record time.
The Gold Medal in the Men’s Marathon was awarded to Yahuza Yahuza of Indonesia who finished in 2:23:46 hours. The Women’s Marathon Gold Medal was awarded to Sunisa Sailomyen of Thailand with a time of 2:43:33 hours.
At last, “running/runner’s chips” are here in the country! I just read an article in one of the daily newspapers about the conduct of the “New Balance Power Race 2007: The Next Level” held last 11 November 2007 at Clark Freeport where RFID Timing Technology or popularly known as “runner’s chips” were used by the runners.
These are three famous systems in the market today on RFID Timing Technology: “ChampionChip”; “Winning Time USA” & “AMB”.
This “chip” initiates the start of the runners’ time from the start line and registers the lapsed time once a runner passes through the finish line. The start & finish lines are equipped with antenna/transponder which is covered by a mat/rubber carpet. The antenna/transponder activates the “runner’s chip” once it passes through the mat/carpet. It is imperative that each runner should not pass the start line before the firing of the gun! This will discourage runners from “cheating” at the start line or along the route as more transponders could be placed to measure time splits every 10 kms/miles.
Shown below are the pictures I’ve taken with my runner’s chip I used in the Inaugural City of Angels Half-Marathon last 03 December 2006. This chip is from ChampionChip!
I hope to see these “runner’s chips” in all the local road races and marathon races in Metro Manila/Subic/Clark soon!
When I was the Head of the Training and Education Department of the Philippine Army from August 1999 to April 2000, I successfully organized and conducted the first and last Bataan Death March Challenge on 16 April 2000 along the “original” route of the said historical Death March from Balanga, Bataan to Crossing, Dinalupihan, Bataan. Although it covers only a part of the actual Death March, the route covered a distance of 25 kilometers (almost 16 miles). It was attended by contingent teams from the US Army, teams from all the Commands of the Philippine Army and the AFP, and civilians with a total attendance to almost 500 individual participants.
Personally, I wanted this event to be commemorated in the very same place where the historic “Bataan Death March” was done during the early part of World War II. Sadly and unfortunately, a Bataan Memorial Death March is popularly held in White Sands, New Mexico, USA approximately on the days when this event happened in 1942. Not because some of the few Americans who marched were from New Mexico, USA does not mean that they have the authority to commemorate the said event in our history! More Filipinos died on that Death March and in the Camp O’Donnell Concentration Camp, and the actual place of the event is here in the Philippines make us the sole proper and legitimate authority to conduct this event. It is really frustrating for the people assigned after me in my former position that they were not able to continue and push through with this historical and challenging event!
In the 2000 event, I copied the Categories of Participants in the US version. The Heavy Category was limited to only the Military teams. The Heavy/Military Category were in military uniform (Battle Dress Army/Camouflage with Combat Boots) with minimum load of 35 lbs. (16 kilos) on their backpacks. The Civilian category, mostly runners, were awarded individually while the Heavy/Military Category was a Team Competition (4 members).
On the start line, finish line and along the route, there were lots of weighing scale available to check the weight of the backpacks of the Military Heavy Category team members. Discrepancies on the weights mean outright disqualification from the race!
I hope that the Veterans Federation of the Philippines/Sons and Daughters of WWII Veterans or the Armed Forces of the Philippines or any race organization in the country would be able to revive the conduct of the Bataan Death March Challenge along the actual route where the event happened (Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga).
Bald Runner 
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