There are so many reasons why I joined this running event. Let me enumerate some.
1. Baguio City is the place where I started running seriously, in the early months of 1970. Being a college student of the University of the Philippines in Baguio and just passed the entry to the prestigious Philippine Military Academy, running had been part of my treatment for what the doctor had suggested to strengthen my weak lungs and heart. I was then 17 years old.
2. BRENT Run is organized and directed by very good friends who have passion in running. A week prior to the event, I was with Jingle Melanie Ku Marquez, the Race Organizer and Jonel Mendoza, the Race Director of the event, in a hiking trek to the TNF 100 route along the PHILEX Ridge in Barangay Ampucao, Itogon, Benguet. It was during our hike that the invitation to run the event was offered and I immediately accepted it. Thanks, Melanie & Jonel!
3. First time to enter and see BRENT School Campus. I have stayed for so long in Baguio City as a College Student, Cadet of PMA, Officer assigned in Region 1 from 1978-1983 and then PMA in 1986-1988 but I never had a change to glimpse at the said school. The Pink Sisters Convent is the farthest establishment that I’ve reached on the road that leads to the school campus. The campus has trails around its compound!
Starting Line Of The 7K Run
4. Find out how it feels to run shorter races after doing some ultras, trail runs, and peak bagging feats. I opted to run the 7K race and find out how my body would react to the altitude and the terrain. The plan was to run the race without walking, except while approaching the water stations to take a sip of water. I was glad I was able to stick to the plan and jogged on the uphills and tested my knees and quads on the downhills.
At The Back Of The Pack (Benj Termulo, Michael Lafuente, BR, Henry Laron)
5. Running with ultra friends and having fun. Saturday, the day before the event, five of us (BR, Benj Termulo, Judge Henry Laron, Michael Lafuente, and Bong Alindada) had a hike from the Bridal Veil Falls in Camp 1, Tuba, Benguet (along Kennon Road) to Mt Kabuyao along the so-called Andolor Trail and peak bagging Mt Santo Tomas with an elevation of 2,245 meters above sea level, the highest peak in Baguio City. It took us 9 1/2 hours to finish the distance of 22 Kilometers. The group expected to make the BRENT Run as a recovery run for our tired legs!
At The Back Of The Pack
6. But wait, it was also a “warm-up” run for another hike up to the mountains. After the run, we were scheduled to continue our mountain hike to the other side of Baguio City which is the so-called PHILEX Ridge. We were joined by another ultra runner from Manila, Ronnel Go, who opted to join the 22K race. After waiting for Ronnel Go to cross the finish line, we already enjoyed the breakfast food as part of the “loot” of the race and we were prepared for the next adventure hike. We finished our hike along the PHILEX Ridge in almost 5 hours!
Last One Kilometer To The Finish Line (1 Kilometer Trail)
7. Getting back to the “basics” of road racing. It was nice going back to experience how it feels to be a “newbie” runner to join in a very simple set-up for a running event. Melanie and Jonel made the event so very simple yet fulfilling for the participants. Very orderly race for the safety of the runners and nice breakfast treat for all the finishers. But what makes it more memorable was for us to meet and gain more friends from Baguio City. What I appreciate most is the seriousness of the runners that I could hardly heard any complaints or “whine” or curse about running on those steep uphills along the course. Runners in Baguio City really love those challenging hills and inclines!
Good Job! (Ronnel Go)
8. Training Run for a Bigger Event. I finished the 7K Run in 52+ minutes and I take that result as my gauge for my future race within the area/region. Since the bigger event is an ultra race, making it within the range of 4-5 kilometers per hour as average speed for the event would be a nice goal.
If you ask me if I am going back for the next edition of this race, I would say “Yes”!
Congratulations to all the Finishers, to Melanie and Jonel, and to the whole Team of BRENT Run!
While I was the Division Commander of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, I had two chances to visit the island of Siquijor. First was when I called courtesy calls to the Provincial Governor of Negros Oriental and the Catholic Bishop of Dumaguete City. After my calls, I had a one-day trip to the island of Siquijor but never had a chance to visit other places except its capital town, Siquijor.
The 2nd time was when a newly-designated Chief of Staff of the AFP was honored by the Local Government of the Island being a native of the province. I was the Military Host for the Military Honors given to the former AFP Chief Staff General Alexander Yano and it was a chance for me to get around the island with the Provincial Governor and Guest of Honor. I can still remember that the whole party stayed in a beach resort being operated and owned by the local government which is located at the northeastern end of the island.
The Port Of Siquijor
Five years after that last visit, I decided to visit the island purposely to run around its circumferential road where all the municipalities would be visited. There was no intricate plan whatsoever except for the purchase of a round trip plane ticket to and from Dumaguete City. My visit and run was a low-key activity as I did not bother to call the running clubs in Dumaguete City and my contacts in the military.
While I was on a ferry boat to the island, I decided to call the Philippine Army’s Brigade Commander in the area and asked for some assistance in the island who would suggest a place to stay and where I could rent a multi-cab as my support vehicle. In a few minutes and exchanges of text messages, my arrival, stay, and itinerary in the island were all set and arranged.
After Coordination With The Office of the Governor
As soon as I got out from the ferry boat, a police vehicle with 3 police personnel were at the pier waiting for me. The tallest among them is an Officer, Police Inspector Vincent Paul Dumaguing, who is the designated Operations Officer of the Provincial PNP Command. He hails from Davao City and a graduate of the PNP Academy.
I told Police Inspector Dumaguing about my purpose in the island and he was happy and excited to know it. His relatives happen to be runners, ultrarunners at that, in Davao City. He said that his relatives had been planning to run around the island if their schedule would permit and he was laughing because the honor for them to be the first runners to run around the island would not be given to them.
I requested that I should be brought first to the Provincial Governor or to any of the Local Government Official present in the Provincial Capitol for my courtesy call. It was unfortunate that the Governor was out of the province. But I was able to talk and explain my purpose for my stay and visit to the Provincial Tourism Officer who happens to be a lady. She was excited to hear and amazed that I would be running around the island on the following day after my arrival. I told her also of my plan to bring ultrarunners from around the country in the next few months for them to experience also what I’ve seen around the island. The lady promised to me that she will relay my plan and intention of conducting a running event to the Provincial Governor.
Replica Manor @ P850 A Day
P/Inspector Dumaguing knows those cheap places to stay as I requested him for a “homestay” type of accommodation. Although there is No Wi-Fi connection, you can’t go wrong with a P850 a day for an air-conditioned room which is near to the beach and the owner can cook any fresh food that you can buy from the fishermen around or from the public market. After I settled in my room, the owner of a multi-cab came knocking on my door and we made the deal fro me to rent his vehicle.
Later in the afternoon, I went to the public market to buy my water, soda drinks and food to bring during my run. The police car was my utility vehicle on my first day with P/Inspector Dumaguing as my guide. After coming from the public market, I made a briefing to P/Inspector Dumaguing about my schedule for the run. Time of Start was 4:00 AM at the Francis of Assisi Church Bell Tower which happens to be the Start Area of the Fun Runs being held in the island. My target time to finish was 12 hours for the 75K distance around the island.
A Pose Before The Run With My PNP Escorts
I was fetched by the driver of the multi-cab at 3:30 AM and was brought to the starting area which is 2+ kilometers away. I was surprised to see P/Inspector Dumaguing with four (4) other Police Personnel in their athletic uniform telling me that they will join me in my run! Of course, they will do some relay as they wanted me to run with at least one of them as my guide/pacer or safety runner. I really appreciate their gesture to accompany me during the course of my running.
Four of us started from the starting area at about 4:00 AM and it was still dark. I was wearing my headlight but I observed that there is a motorcycle on the back of us giving us more illumination of the road ahead through its headlight. It was a slow and easy run from the start from Siquijor (The Capital Town of the Province) and the next town to hit was the Municipality of San Juan!
On Our Way To San Juan
San Juan is 10 kilometers away from Siquijor as we run the island in a counter-clockwise direction. San Juan is famous for its many beach resorts as the paved road is just a few meters from the shoreline. This town as compared to the other towns in the island is so blessed because of the abundance of water, from the ground, from the streams, and from the shore. The course is flat on this section and we can feel the cool breeze coming from the sea as we ran. Almost all the Resorts and Diving Spots are located on this town.
A Pose Infront Of The San Juan Police Headquarters (PO1 Emperado, PO1 Cordova, P/Inspector Dumaguing, PO1 Caulawon, PO1 Suan)
We stopped at the Municipal Hall of San Juan and we got inside the Municipal Police Station and I was introduced by P/Inspector Dumaguing to all the Police on duty. I found out later that P/Inspector Dumaguing sent a Flash Message to all the Municipal Police Stations that a “Running General” from the AFP will be running around the island on that day and he will drop by in their offices! Wow! It appears that I will some sort of inspecting their respective police stations for a surprise visit!
The next town is Lazi. This is where uphills and downhills would start but the scenery is becoming better because you have the sea on your right and the vegetation and hills on your left plus it was already daytime! I have to stop at the famous Enchanted Balite Tree which is believed to be more than 100 years old where its roots would be the source of fresh and cold water. This place is a famous tourist spot because of the clear water enclosed in a pond and the magnificent view of the huge tree’s trunk and roots!
From San Juan To LaziThe Elevation Started To Go Up Towards Lazi
I was able to stop by the Lazi Church and the famous Convent which happens to be the biggest in the entire country. After dropping by the Police Station, I was met by a person riding in tandem on a motorcycle. The person was Retired Captain (equivalent to Colonel) Monte in the Philippine Navy who is a native of Lazi and presently having his vacation as Balikbayan as he now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his family. I think we had a conversation lasting for about 15 minutes and he really knew me as a runner because we were classmates in one of the Senior Military Schooling/Courses when I was then a Lieutenant Colonel. Of course, he remembers that I was always the #1 in the Physical Fitness Test for the said Course.
Very Prominent Ads Every Before Town. It’s The Town’s Boundary Line
From Lazi, the next town is Maria. This is the more scenic than Lazi and the route is getting more exciting in terms of variety of elevation and the scenery. As I was running farther, the scenery was getinng more beautiful!
Maria is the location of the Provincial Government’s Beach Resort, called the Salagdoong Beach Resort, which is located in a vegetated/forested area and beach. The Resort is located 3 kilometers from the National Highway. I stopped running at the road that leads to the Resort from the Highway and rode at the multi-cab just to see and have a picture of the place. I’ve stayed in this place overnight at the Hotel Agripino when I was in the company of General Yano when he was the Chief of Staff of the AFP.
Swim & Wade On The Beach Every Time You Stop!
At the Salagdoong Beach Resort, we shared with the members of the PNP the simple packed lunch that I’ve prepared for the run. The food was enough for us to continue the adventure run as we had a chance to eat some snacks/bite foods from the sari-sari stores along the Highway.
I resumed my running from the point where I’ve stopped along the National Highway. At this point, the PNP personnel were already tired and they had to relieve themselves one by one but one of them maintained as my pacer/companion.
@ The Salagdoong Beach Resort In Maria, Siquijor
The beach scenery was simply amazing and I was tempted to stop and simply ran towards to the beach and dip my feet and body to the sea water. But I didn’t want to waste my time as I had to finish the run within 12 hours.
The next town is Enrique Villanueva. As practiced in other towns, I had to drop by the Police Station and meet the Chief of Police. The Chief of Police while he was in his car, was able to pass us from the area of Lazi. He could not believe that I was continouosly running and walking from Siquijor up to his municipality. The town’s poblacion is located near the beach/seacoast and from this place, you could see the islands of Bohol and Cebu.
Infront Of The Enrique Villanueva’s Poblacion & Municipal Hall
After a brief talk with the Chief of Police of Enrique Villanueva, I continued my run and walk as the elevation profile started to be rolling in nature, again! I knew in a matter of time, I would be entering the last town of the island which is Larena. Larena was the first capital town of the province when it was promulgated in 1971, however, after a year, the capital town was transfred to Siquijor.
Finally, On The Boundary Of The Last Town, Larena
Larena has also a lot of Beach Resorts to offer as I saw from the different Ads posted along the highway a few kilometers before I reached its Poblacion. Larena is a populated town which is considered as a commercial town with its seaport where most of the RO-RO and other freight ships would arrive and leave the place. I told PNP Inspector Dumaguing not to drop by the PNP Municipal Office anymore as I decided to continue my run in order to meet my target time of 12 hours to reach the finish line in Siquijor.
Getting Nearer To The Boundary Of Siquijor
From Larena, a distance of about 10 kilometers separates me from reaching the place where I started. I really enjoyed the view of the town as I could see another uphill climb from a distance as I left its Poblacion. On my right would be the nice view of the sea with lots of mangrove and a highway with limited number of vehicles plying on it. I could see a lot of motorcyle-riding people including women as if they own the whole highway.
Slowly and surely, I was inching my way towards the Poblacion of Siquijor. My Police escorts were happy that my adventure run is about to be finished and we were expecting and talking of what to order and eat at the place where I was staying once I crossed the finish line.
Finally, On My Last 10K!
I finally reached the place where I started at 4:30 PM, which means that it took me 14:30 hours to run around the island province of Siquijor, to include my rests and visit at the Salagdoong Beach Resort in Maria. As I was being transported to the place where I was staying, I’ve finally decided that I would conduct an Ultrarunning Event in this island as soon as possible. And by the way, the distance recorded in my Garmin Watch was exactly 75 Kilometers!
My Snappy Salute To These Fine Ladies & Gentlemen Of The PNP Siquijor
As a final note, I would like to thank the following PNP Personnel of the PNP Siquijor Command who patiently ran, walked, paced, and shared stories and laughter/fun in this memorable adventure run:
PNP Inspector Vincent Paul Dumaguing
PNP PO1 Jude June Emperado
PNP PO1 Bener Cordova
PO1 Flora Suan
PO1 Chessa Pearl Caulawon
This is my first Adventure Run for the year of 2013. See you in Siquijor soon!
The Bataan Death March 102 Ultra Marathon (BDM 102) had always been evolving every year in consideration for the safety of each of the runner. In addition, there is also a need to maintain the INTEGRITY of the race.
The following are the additional Rules and Regulations of the Race:
1. Each Runner Shall Have ONE Support Vehicle. Anybody caught having more than one support vehicle will be automatically disqualified. (Note: The Race Tarpaulin provided to every runner should be displayed on any part of the Support Vehicle)
2. Runners must be able to SUBMIT the Name, Model, Color & Plate Number of his/her Support Vehicle during the Final Briefing & CLP. Last chance for the runner to provide the details of his/her Support vehicle will be during the Processing of Runners, One Hour Before the Start of the Race. (Note: Please approach one of my staff for your Support Vehicle to be registered before the start of the race)
3. Runners are responsible to brief their Driver of Support Vehicle and their Support Crew on the Rules and Regulations of the Race. Your driver must know what is the meaning of “leap frogging” or “shadowing”. Your driver must know how to park your vehicle on the shoulder of the road. Nobody will be allowed to park their Support Vehicle on the Highway. Infractions of the Drivers on the Rules & Regulations will result to the disqualification of their runner.
4. ALL RUNNERS are strictly NOT allowed to enter and stay inside their parked Support Vehicle during the Race or while the Runners are still on the course. Anybody caught violating this rule will be disqualified immediately. (Note: Be resourceful. You can change any of your running apparel/kit while you are outside of your vehicle)
5. Any RUNNER who will be late for the Start will be DISQUALIFIED and declared Did Not Start (DNS). The Race will start at exactly 10:00 PM of Saturday, March 2, 2013 or EARLIER. (Note: You have trained for months for this race and don’t be a fool/stupid to be late for the Starting Gun just because you missed your travel arrangements)
6. NO Support Vehicle will be allowed to enter, drop their passengers/spectators and park on the road leading to the Finish Line/Old Railway Station. This narrow road will be cleared from any entry of any vehicle, whether they are support vehicles or vehicles of spectators/cheerers of runners. This is a ground for disqualification for the runner. (Note: Runner should advise their Drivers to park their Support Vehicle on the wide road in front of the Pampanga Provincial Capitol)
7. A Runner approaching the Finish Line will NOT be allowed to have ESCORTs from his/her Running Team or from Runners who have already crossed the Finish Line. Let us STOP the habit of ESCORTING a Runner-Finisher to cross the Finish Line. Leave the Runner ALONE to cross the Finish Line! (Note: There are some runners who have finished the race going back to escort their team mate or friend and escort them to finish line. This practice had made confusion to our Time Recorders as we are not using RFID timing devices)
8. The TIMER/Clock stops at 18:00 Hours. There will be Marshal/s on the Rear of the Last Runner while the race is on-going. Runners who are still on the road once the Cut-Off time had been reached are advised to STOP and take a ride in their Support Vehicle for them to proceed to the Finish Line. These runners are declared DNFed. RD and Staff will not wait for any runner insisting to cross the finish line after the cut-off time of 18 Hours.
9. NO Runner will be allowed on half-naked during the race!
10. Refer to the BASIC Rules & Regulations of the BDM 102 on my blog’s previous posts or at http://bataan102.blogspot.com. (Note: Please SEARCH “BDM 102 Rules & Regulations, if you want to browse on my blog’s previous posts)
You can “google” the word if you want to know what the word means. These are stone or rocks being compiled or grouped together to form a certain structure. They are mostly made by men on top of mountains or hills or in a certain part of a trail. The cairns could be seen as a pile of stones and rocks or simply some formations of rocks or stones.
In the history of making cairns, there are so many meanings and purposes why people would make these structures. From one continent to another, their purposes are varied. Some are simply markers to signify that you are at the peak of the mountain/hill. Some would point to a certain direction; some would symbolize as a mark of honor to somebody; or some would simply wish good luck for one’s trip or hike in the mountains.
I am not sure if we practice on making cairns in our country. In my peak bagging activities last year, I haven’t seen any cairns on the peaks of the mountains that I visited. I think I might as well start the said practice of making cairns on the peak that I bagged or visited. Well, it takes some extra effort to collect such stones or rocks within the area of the peak of the mountain but the effort is worth if the purpose is well meant and comes from the heart.
So, I’ve started making some cairns on the peaks of hills and mountains that I’ve visited for the past days and weeks. These cairns had been dedicated to special friends in the ultra running community to wish them good luck in their present condition. Miguel De Alba is supposed to join the 2013 BDM 160 Ultra last January but due to an accident during the “test run” last December, he is now recuperating from a broken bone in his right leg. I have dedicated the cairns that I’ve made in one of the peaks of the Verdugo Mountains in Glendale, California and at the peak of Mt Lukens in Arcadia, California.
Cairn @ One of the Peaks at the Verdugo Mountains For Miguel De AlbaCairn @ The Peak of Mt Lukens For Miguel De Alba
In my visit to the Echo Mountain in Pasadena, California, I made a cairn for my good friend, Andre Blumberg of Hongkong, as a symbol of appreciation to the selfless support to my elite ultra runners for their participation to the Vibram Hongkong 100K Trail Run for the past two years. It is also my way of wishing him good luck for his participation in the 2013 Ultra Running Grand Slam in the United States.
Cairn @ The Peak of Echo Mountain (Pasadena, CA) For Andre BlumbergAnother View of the Cairn For Andre Blumberg
If ever you will be visiting on these places where I made some cairns for these gentlemen, you are requested to add more more rocks into them.
As I continue in my peak bagging feats, I will be making more cairns and feature their pictures in this blog. Their purpose will be to honor the “gods” of the mountain for them to keep us away from harm and danger and at the same time wish good luck to our hike/trek on the said mountain. And if you happen to see these cairns, you are enjoined to add more rocks into them.
See you on the mountain trails and peaks in the coming days, weeks and months!
Or it would mean or simply understood as my personal Thirst Tolerance. It is the point where I could no longer tolerate my body not to be able to drink any fluid during a running workout. Beyond this period, I would start to slow down and walk, or sometimes becomes dizzy.
I had been doing this kind of experiment for the past weeks. I’ve done it during daytime and at night time and compared what my body would react during these times and conditions of the day.
Why am I doing this? It is a part of my training for my future adventure runs and hopefully, significantly will reduce the weight of fluid I would carry during these runs. Lighter weight being carried during the run would mean a fresher body that would last for more distance during a certain period of time.
It would also determine my training plan if I need to bring a hydration bottle or system in a workout whether it is a 30-minute recovery run or an hour of daily runs.
As a result of my experimentation, I would last up to 1 hour and 45 minutes without any fluid intake where my workouts would start at 10:00 AM up to Noon time. This is the maximum length of my workout where I could no longer sustain my pace without having to drink water or sports drinks. On average, I would cover a distance of 13.5-14 kilometers for the same period.
On night time, I usually do my experiment starting at 10:00 PM and I’ve observed that I could extend my thirst tolerance/threshold up to 2 hours. Beyond that, I would start to drag my feet and become slower in my pace. On average, I would cover a distance of 17-18 kilometers or slower because of the night/dark environment even if I am using a headlight.
However, before I start these experiment workouts, I must be able to drink at least 2 glasses of water and eat some snacks of fruits, bread, or left-over foods in the refrigerator.
In some clinical studies, it would show that adults over the age of 50 years have higher thirst threshold than the younger ones. It shows also that elder persons have lower water daily intakes of water than the younger ones. But for an elder active person like me, I think I have higher water daily intakes than the younger runners.
I am not telling you to do this kind of experiment in your running workouts. Always remember that, running is an experiment of one. What might be good for me might not be good for you!
Keep on running!
(Note: Don’t ask me how many glasses of water that I would drink every time I finished these workouts!)
Bald Runner 
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