Friday, 10:38 pm. Sleep. As I write this, conventional wisdom would bring me an immediate, sharp rebuke. I'm supposed to be in bed already, resting up for what is shaping up to be the biggest race of my life. While most of my friends who will be likewise running are already comfortably holed up in their Bataan hotels, I'll still be in Manila attending to inescapable work commitments through the morning. Awesome.
BDM. Daunting.Last year, just running this prestigious race seemed like a far-fetched delusion at best. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that it would actually be a reality this year. The Bataan Death March 102k Ultramarathon is without a doubt the longest individual road race in the country, and poses a daunting challenge to even the most seasoned runners. Just being in the company of these tremendous endurance athletes is already an honor in itself.
We're running in their honor. Friday, 10:55 pm. Madness. Ask most people what they are doing this weekend, and you'll get a plethora of answers that range from "Movie lang" to "Kain tulog tambay". I can guarantee that "Running from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga for 18 hours" is an answer that is highly unlikely to crop up.
Common reactions range from :
"Bro, may problema ka ba? Want to talk about it?"
"Are you seryosss??!!"
"Pwede namang magkotse!"
"Pang baliw na yun ah!"
"Sana manalo ka!"
"Ang aga ng penitensya ah!"
Madness. Madness I say. Friday, 11:06 pm. Anxiety. 24 hours from now, the biggest street party we'll ever be part of will commence. For the past few weeks, nothing has dominated my daily life more than this life-changing event. The word "BDM" seems to come out of my mouth every 30 seconds. I can barely function in the real world. Even if I tried to, I'm pretty sure it's a pretty bad acting job. Everyone seems to be getting sick from the anxiety, both figuratively and literally. My world is at a standstill, eagerly awaiting my day of reckoning.
I can hardly wait.Friday, 11:30. Preparation. My thought process is gradually grinding to a standstill. Right now, so many things in my head that I can't think straight anymore. I don't even know if this article will be coherent anymore. But in hindsight, after nearly 14 or 15 hours of continuous running, I don't think anything will be anyway. In those moments of darkness, I know I have two marathons in two weeks to fall back on, an 8 hour long run, and running from 12nn - 3:30 pm in the scorching desolation that was the final 15k of the route. Would that be enough? No idea. But.... it has to be.
Of course, nothing like the real thing.Friday, 11:45. Support. While my team mates have support crews stocked with runners, I have a crew with more experience in competitive drinking than running. It's led by the immortal internet legend Tito Caloy ( to newer followers of my site, check this out for clarity), my best buddy/de facto crew chief AJ (a former UAAP Volleyball MVP whose only running experience was this year's Animo Run 5k), and his friend that I've never even met before. Seriously, I don't even know the guy. I heard he's nice though. I had them agree to crew for me while they were all drunk and Pacquiao was pummeling Cotto like hell. Now that's what I call good strategy.
Dealbreaker question : Pwede namang uminom sa oto ung suporta mo diba?Friday, 11:55. To a higher power. Getting really sleepy. Heck, I'm not even sure if you guys would even actually get to read this. But with just a few hours before the madness begins, I felt I've done as much as I could to prepare for this. I leave it all up to HIM now. For only he could give me the strength I need to overcome the tremendous physical and mental challenges I will be facing. There's simply no other way.
Saturday, 6:25. D-Day. I could barely sleep last night. Even listening to 98 Degrees didn't help. I'm giving a talk in an hour, and I haven't even showered yet. To help exacerbate nerves, for some reason I signed up for Globe's Superduo thing. Now I can call my crew one to sawa while out there without worrying about load. And I get a landline number that directs to my cel too. Cool.
Now I feel just like one of em' Sun people.People often ask me, why do you do this? Why run 102 kilometers for 18 hours? Why subject yourself to this tremendous physical task? Same reason why people are so obsessed with summiting Everest. Because it's there. And as long as it's there, it will always bug me incessantly until I conquer it. Also, I was always curious if everyone really turns into cute, furry animals with funny names Km 70 onwards. Anyway, I'm running late. Enough said. Thank you all for the support, prayers, and kind words, I truly appreciate it. I think I could say I'm at peace already.
Now let's dance.
Godspeed Luis!
-Sid
Be strong, stay safe. 'Ika nga ni Rob Schneider kay Adam Sandler, "You can do it!" Godspeed, buddy.
Julius
Sid, thanks man! And good luck with whatever race you have this weekend! :)
Jules, you can do it all night long! Haha. I'll remember that bud. Here we goooooo!
bro, we'll wait for you and the guys in manila ayt? :) god speed!
Come to think of it, it's the Bataan Death Run. Then again, it IS Lent, after all, so it's good for some form of penitence.
Run fast and good, m'lord!
Be safe, be happy and be... ALIVE!!! I know that it's the Bataan "Death Run" because of the death march, but hopefully it will not hold the literal meaning of it. ^-^ Enjoy!
Temmy, habol ka sa finish line hehe. :) San ka tatakbo this weekend? Thanks bud!
Yeah early bro. Too bad you couldnt join us. Save some otap for me :P
Haha awww. Thanks Erin! Only the third JMC to ever comment on my blog lol. Thanks and pray I'm in one piece afterwards haha.
I'm a fan of your blog and the way you write. :) I figured it's the perfect time to come out of lurking to wish you the best of luck! Keep safe and keep blogging. A 102 km run is something I can't even bring myself to dream of right now.
you can do it!!!! =) go go go luis!
Luis, Piolow will be watching your every move!:-)
Hey Wil, thanks so much for the kind words :) You're none too shabby a writer yourself, instant fan right here. I made it yeaa! Wait up for my entry on it :)
Julie, we did it yahooooo :D Yeeaah! I can't walk hahahaha :)
Sir Rene, next year isama natin si Piolow :P
congrats mayor GBM ;) so proud of you even if abby kicked your a** on this race....girl power! hahaha! just kidding!
Haha, Abby did very well Gail :) I lost more than an hour due to fun misadventures and injury panic measures. Happy to have finished :)
very brave of you Sir GBM of conquering the BDM :) train meeeeeeeeee... hehehehe!
Haha thank you :) Wait up for the article, I'm doing it na. Train? lol. No amount of training can prepare you for that, it's truly a mental game. :)You can do it if you really, really, really want it.