To Rise Above Our Frailties (Second of Two Parts)

When Michelle Logan requested me to look out for Craig in the ambulance, I must admit it took a while for it to sink in. Boarding the ambulance meant a DNF - something incongruent with sheer will. I may be selectively competitive, but I am finisher. Always. Just when I was getting my groove and slowly reaping the rewards of holding myself back in the first half of the race, I was about to be stopped for good. Just when I finally caught up with running buddy Bong Yu, and looking forward to possibly finishing a marathon together, I was made to give up the race. When Michelle spoke I thought she would ask me to push Justin to the finish. That was how focused I was in finishing. In my strong desire to finish I would have pushed Justin till my back ached. But the request was emotionally harder - it was to accompany Craig and give up the race in the process. I could have probably wiggled my way out of it, but within a minute I had my difficult decision. I signed in to run with Team Logan, not necessarily to finish a second personal marathon with them. For at least 15km I ran with them - enough to complete a marathon of memories.

15kms of enjoyable run with Team Logan

(photo taken by Aileen Eway, posted in Facebook)

DNF. The spectre hounded me even as I sat in the ambulance, waited for Craig's lab results, and came back to the race site to watch my friends finish their race. When I first told Craig many months ago that I would consider doing the Subic Marathon with them, I only signed in with the intent of trying to be good by immersing myself even for just a while in the inspiring case of a father pushing his son with disability on a stroller. DNF never entered the picture. Even in the hospital, part of me still hoped that Craig would recover soon enough and maybe we could be go back to complete what we started. But perhaps Maki was right - he who was picked up by Michelle in her van due to his ankle sprain. The divine plan was he would develop a sprain so he would be on hand to assist Michelle and temporarily care for Justin.  As for me, I suppose I was there to guide Craig through the harrowing experience - me being a dehydration victim myself.

DNF. It reared its ugly head again as I talked to the marathon finishers and see the gleaming metal hanging from their necks. At one point I saw my buddy Bong Yu and Jet, paced by a couple of takbo.ph friends, entering the oval to the cheers of the crowd. I rushed to them along with other friends and accompanied them as they finish the last few meters to the finish line. At the finish I saw them given their finisher medals. For a moment I wanted to claim one for myself. For the many hours I put in to complete the 25K, 35K and 40K long runs, as well as the hours spent doing McKinley Hill repeats. For soldiering on till km28 despite water lack, darkness and broken promises. The marshalls would have given me a medal, but I held back the thought. I shall wear that DNF with pride. In my running book, while I may have hesitated in riding that ambulance for a while, in the end where it really mattered, I Did Not Falter.

I remembered Mary Genie (MG) and the Milo Marathon. I remembered how betrayed I felt when she claimed a medal for herself when she actually rode a bus part of the way. I was a fan of her before the Milo incident, always cheering her up whenever I eventually pass her on many half-marathons. I told her that act was very wrong, and that for us to remain friends the mistake must be admitted, corrected and not repeated. She eventually apologized, but trust was already broken, and her image in the running community tainted. For a long time runners including myself did not quite know how to deal with her. Sayang. A similar sense of dismay or regret I now feel for the SIM organizers. The same uneasiness. Sayang.

But in that oval I saw how MG redeemed herself. As she passed my way I gave her the loudest applause and cheers I could muster. In finally completing her first marathon through all those challenges she  permanently healed a wound in the running community's heart. I hope Eventologist will have their redemption race like MG. In the meantime, I shall be civil and guarded like in the case of MG.

Mary Genie was helped in a big way by runner Bong Yu. Amidst the Milo backlash that MG got in her Milo debacle, Bong stood up, insisting the MG was part of takbo.ph family, and like family she would be helped the next time she chose to run a marathon. Bong kept his promise. Mid-way into the race, Bong, a 5:06 Milo finisher, who believes that hydration is organizer responsibility and therefore chooses not to wear hydration belt, decided to quit racing, conserve energy, and walk safely to the finish line. For about 15kms he walked and chatted with MG. In his characteristic humor, Bong would kid MG, "O, ayan margygenie, tinupad ko na yung pangako kong i-pace kita sa susunod mong marathon." Bong would also provide company to idealistic, first-timer Jet who was devastated by the organizers' broken promises. It was a class act, my friend Bong. While we may kid you at times for being an Idol with the ladies, there in Subic you proved that you were worthy indeed of the monicker iBY (Idol Bong Yu).

Jet (104) and Bong (115) from the lens of Edu Fabian

In the half-marathon race the tandem of Marga and pacer McCoy stood out. Unlike a few policemen who wilfully or unwittingly cut short the route, plus-size Marga bravely run through the hills of Subic to finish her first half-marathon. A couple of us marathoners supported the 21K runners and we saw for ourselves how Marga was wincing in fatigue as early as km14. Yet, she soldiered on. Pacer McCoy who is a sub-2hr half-marathoner patiently ran along and distracted Marga from her weariness. Marga's primarily goal was to conquer the distance, and hopefully not land in the bottom of the heap. She was on her way to meeting her goal actually, until the other remaining runners eventually succumbed and she was left as the last runner trying. It was mentally and physically exhausting, but Marga proved that our bodies are capable of great feats if only we believe.

Marga & McCoy

 Photo courtesy of Edu Fabian

 

I thought we runners were there in Subic to help celebrate the transformation of our police scalawags into disciplined runners and people in uniform. But in the human drama that was 2009 Smart SIM, the protaganists were the civilian runners themselves. SIM 2009 would be remembered as the year when 300 first-timers and hundred more runners braved the dark and lack of water to claim the greatness they deserve. It would also be remembered for the impromptu Angel Brigade on the marathon road coming to the aid of the weary runners. Special mention goes to 21k runners electing to pace marathoners on the verge of giving up to the glorious finish that they signed up for. Marathon punishes the unworthy while glorifying those who work for it.

Kudos to all those who chose to rise above their frailties. May the adversities that give rise to our heroism arise not from actions of men who fail to deliver on their promises. The heroism that shall propel us forward is not one that reacts to man-made disasters, but rather those that unflinchingly do and fight for what is right and just.

I would like to thank Craig, Michelle and Justin of Team Logan for the opportunity to rise up to a nobler version of me. Like Craig and Michelle, I believe Justin deserves a marathon ride and finish, so I enjoin everyone to experience how it is to push Justin in a marathon relay during the Philippine International Marathon on Nov 8. You may sign up in takbo.ph forum.