The Pursuit of All (Part 2)

The Pursuit of One (Part 1)

To run with the best.

This has been my primary motivation for attempting to run in the Milo Marathon Metro Manila elimination race. The Mizuno race has reminded never to settle – for the happy runner and blogger I have set myself to be. Fear of the deleterious effects of competition has blinded my eye to gifts that true, unadulterated competition brings – the chance to be inspired by and inspire others. When I surveyed all the race accounts I’ve done I realized common threads exist - I run best and fastest when I see the elite runners and the accomplished non-professional runners, or when I run for and think of others. If there is one strong motivation for me to get fast – perhaps the only consistent motivation I have so far - it is to run along with these fast runners.

There is something magical about seeing Eduardo Buenavista run. When I see Ellen Tolentino of Team Baldrunner – I see grace and fluidity of movement. The Baldrunner is a display of discipline and maturity. Vener is a picture of ease and efficiency. Bugo-bugo is power personified. Javy is a testament to hard work and perseverance. Mesh’s face radiates determination while Jaymie’s glows with intensity. I care not too much about the times. I just hope to be like them, to be with them and run with them – in the hope that in doing so I become the best that I can be.

Milo Marathon’s 5hr cut-off time actually scares the wits out of this runner. How can I not be scared when my personal best for a 10K is 1:05 and 2:34 for 21K? My plan was to capitalize on my relatively better physical and mental endurance and work at speed much later – maybe when I have done my first marathon at LSD pace. But life has a way of throwing surprises your way. After missing out on a marathon or two and finally settling for the Milo Marathon Manila eliminations, you get the official notice that you should run 42.195K at pace of 7:10min/km or better to get a finisher’s certificate. What!? I remember hearing a friend said before he ran the Milo marathon for almost 6 hours. But what the heck. I suppose we need to be scared and jolted to get the push that we need.

I remember the very strict (but very fair in the old school way) Rudy Biscocho has always been my unknowing Pusher – he pushed me to do more foot races when he refused to give me a finisher shirt for not following race rule of entering the finish line chute. On a New Balance 25K Powerrace he firmly told me that there was such as thing as race cut-off and that I should train properly if I want to meet the cut-off. Years later in 2008 those words and that race memory would push me to finish the Powerrace within 3:07.

Reticence to push. I have been guilty of it for so long but hope to free myself from this guilt soon. I am joining the marathon with the desire to push myself as my catalyst and the running with the some of the country’s best as motivation. The Milo Marathon Finals is the country’s Boston Marathon. The Manila Milo eliminations is my Boston Marathon. Cliché as it may sound, the miracle will not be the fact that I will finish the marathon. I am not even sure if I will finish, or finish on time. The miracle lies in my summoning the courage to join and start. That I willed myself to push.

To finish the marathon within allotted time is a gift I hope to receive. But if the gift is withheld or postponed I would understand, for there is a time and place for everything. For races are won not by sheer will alone, but also by the grace of God.

In 42.195 kilometers of the race I hope I will meet the beginner, the jogger, the competitor, the athlete and the runner in me. This time I hope to run for the Competitor and Athlete that lies within me, and for the people who believe in me. Galloway says to be a runner is to transcend all stages. I say to be a runner is to know thyself.

To be a runner is to know when to take, when to receive, and when to give. I have taken the Milo marathon as opportunity to push myself and run with the country’s best. They say life is a marathon so I have also taken the liberty of using my first marathon as a race for personal improvement. You see, not only am I innately competitive, I am also fiercely independent. I remember one of those forwarded emails listing down the 3 hardest phrases to say: For others it is “I love you”. For certain individuals it is “I am sorry”. For me, it is “Help me”.

For this maiden marathon of mine I swallowed my pride and asked two of my non-runner good friends to support me. One gladly said yes, the other would have been honored to but would be overseas at that time. But the latter is a friend who would if he could. I guess that’s why they are real friends.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear from a recent friend – someone whom I met through running that historic takbo.ph March 8 LSD prior to the Condura race – that he will volunteer to run with me for the second half of the race. My friend, you humble and honor me with that offer, but it is an offer I graciously accept. I suppose goodwill does come around. I hope to pay it forward.

Paying it forward is also the spirit behind the takbo.ph Milo support group for the 21k and 24k runners. I am awed by the outpouring of support from ordinary runners hoping to give back to the sport that has helped them. I am humbled by the sense of community that takbo.ph has nurtured. The endeavor makes me proud to be a Filipino. In the effort you see the bayanihan spirit – everyone pitching in for the good of all.

I thought running is a solitary sport. In many ways it still is. But in the face of many group runs and support groups I have joined, I have come to realize that the pursuit of one can be the pursuit of all.

(I dedicate this post to runners of the Milo Marathon and the heroes who give these runners the power that fuels those running legs).