Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole. I thank whatever gods may be, for my unconquerable soul.
- From William Ernest Henley's Invictus
While this seems like the start of something special....
There's always a story behind a story. And isn't that the fun part?
Prologue
D-Day ,7:00 am.
As the rest of the brave Bataan Death March 102k Ultramarathon warriors were already on their way to Mariveles, Bataan for a full day's rest before the madness begins at midnight, I was, er, in Ateneo. Giving a talk. Yup. gotta love undelegatable work on a Saturday. Which just so happens to be the day of the biggest race of my life. Aaah. Ce'st la vie.
The Support Crew
After some last minute vacillating and a lot of hemming and hawing over supplies, me and my support crew finally left Manila. As I had mentioned in a previous post, my ragtag team was led by best buddy AJ, who they used to say was a dead ringer for Christian Bautista (when he still had hair), immortal internet legend Tito Caloy, and AJ's friend RV. Who at the time, I did not know personally. A near-stranger helping you out on a life experience? Awkward! Suffice to say, he's a tremendous, stand-up guy. And given the circumstances, if you told me that Grimace was to be my support crew, I would have said yes.
Team GBM!
How about meh? =,(Somewhere in the middle of Pampanga, 4pm
AJ : Just to put things into perspective, from the Petron where we started in Mandaluyong up to this point, that's 102 k already. Ganun kalayo tatakbuhin mo.
GBM : !!!!!!!!!! (x_x)
Villa Imperial, Bataan. 6:30 pm.
So we finally made it to our hotel, if you want to call it that. Most of the Takbo.ph gang were there already. I had Googled the hotel a day before, and it said it "wasn't DOT accredited". I should take these portents of things to come more seriously next time. I had made arrangements with "General Manager" Susan in the crudest way you could imagine (through text, duh. What online reservation?), and told her we would probably get there at 2pm. Given that we got there nearly 7pm, I asked the affable and "machika" caretaker (the only "Hotel" "GM" I've met in pambahay and tsinelas) for a discount.Gave 50% off. Pero secret lang daw. Well, guess the secret's out then. :)
The accommodations were well, yeah. I'd rate it a half star. There was an orchestra of flies in the room, making it a veritable malaria trap. "Babaygonan" na daw muna. I promptly made a beeline to Abby's place to seek refuge with her team while AJ and the team went out to buy some supplies.
With ultra monsters Dennis and Vener upon arrival 
Fun before the storm?Villa Imperial, Bataan. 8:30 pm
"Babaygonan" essentially meant that our room would turn into the virtual Auschwitz of flies afterward. They must have thought that it was better to run BDM 102 with me. I tried lying down, was sneezing within 30 minutes. Visions of that creepy crawlie hotel scene in Ocean's 13 came to mind instantaneously.
We'd rather run BDM!Villa Imperial,Bataan. 9:00
About to leave. Tito Caloy sort of wanted to loosen up. And we all know what that means. The rest of the crew promptly acceded. Gak.
Pangparelaks muna!
Na relaks nga!
Just what I need, a wapaked crew chief. KM 0, Mariveles, Bataan. 10 pm.
We arrive at ground zero without much aplomb. Souvenir photos at the line and with BR were being snapped incessantly as one could sense a palpable feeling of nervous anticipation in the air. Just a couple of hours more!
With the one and only BR
Ominous sign of things to come? Tito Caloy could care less. 
As promised, given that BR had dubbed this an international race, the national anthems of the participating countries were played. Nope we didn't have Martin Nievera or Charice Pempengco singing. Instead, BR gave us a full-throated rendition of not only Lupang Hinirang, but the Star-Spangled Banner as well. Raucous applause followed. For the record, no one volunteered to sing the Japanese national anthem.
BR beats Martin any day.Km 21, Somewhere in Bataan. 2:13 am.
Okay. Still a bit surreal. After talking about this race everyday for several months now, I still couldn't believe that I was actually doing this. Was running under the pretext of making good time while under the cover of night. I took great pleasure in doing my best Sir Amado Castro impression in race walking the first 10k uphill. I was actually outpacing some dudes who were running, much to their consternation. Funny, I ran into them later and they resorted to race walking as well. Fun. Was occasionally bolstered by Abby's crew ( Joni, Z, Carins, Pepsi and Carina) screaming "Go Sweetie!!". Such sweet gals. P.S. It was dark. Really dark. The blinkers that we had bought for P149 from Ace Hardware were working perfectly. Steal of the year. P.S. #2 : Tito Caloy is shnoozing in the car while AJ and RV were busy recording everything I drank and ate. Joyride much?
P149 blinkers are the bombKm 42, still somewhere in Bataan. 5:31 am
Up to this point, I had ran a good portion of this stretch with BDM 2009 veterans Ronnie de Lara/ Runnerforchrist, Raiza Tulan and Odessa Coral. Amidst the eerie silence, the casual conversation helped immensely in keeping me sane. Some fun sound bites :
GBM : So Raiza, how did you train for this?
Raiza : I was in Boracay yesterday, sunbathing.
GBM : !!!!
Sir Ronnie : So how come I don't see you listed on TopBlogs anymore?
GBM: Well, I had mine removed. Loads of those sites are SEO-driven, Google-ad moneymakers that don't even remotely resemble blogs. So what's the point right? You could try Alexa though.
Sir Ronnie :Is that a free service?
GBM: Of course, you just type in your site and it gives you your ranking in the whole world. You can even download a widget to put in your blog. Fancy, eh?
Sir Ronnie : I can't believe we're actually talking about this after running for 6 hours.
GBM : Me neither. We're weird.
Raiza : Hello there support crew friends. Are those jellybeans?
AJ: Er, um, they're Skittles...
Raiza : But I like jellybeans!
AJ: Um, but we don't have jellybeans...
Raiza : I don't eat Skittles!
AJ : !!!
Raiza likes her jellybeans.We were also jarred from time to time by an ambulance-riding BR barking out "THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING", Robocop-style, to runners ahead of us who weren't running in single file. Whew.
I just realized that Robocop was also bald.....KM 50, still somewhere in Bataan, 6:45 am
After more than 7 hours of running, I finally reached the first and only pitstop. BR had prepared some goodies for the runners. It was a fun scene actually, because it resembled more of a camp. Carina was cooking noodles for Abby, who was about 5 kilometers away. People were making a beeline to take showers. I was thinking, no freaking way. It would be hot soon, and people here were chilling. I couldn't stay too long here, am not as strong as these people. So I made a quick wardrobe change (into my Botak Ultra singlet, just for fun) changed socks (no blisters, thank you BodyGlide!) white nyort nyorts (homage to OJ Giron) and promptly sped off.
Nearing Km 50....
Quick wardrobe change at KM 50 camp....50 down. 52 to go. The sun was slowly making it's way up the early morning horizon. This is it. This is what would separate the men from the boys. I'm bracing myself for the pain. The suffering.
Little did I know, it would be coming much sooner than I thought.
(to be continued)
Classic si Tito Caloy! Legend talaga! I was laughing my tail off! Bilisan na ang Part II!!! :)
Congrats, Luis! I hope you'd give this another go next year. It would be great to run BDM with you guys. See you soon, buddy.
ayos ang kwento luis (parang nainggit ako dun sa 'Fun before the storm' pic mo a hehe) pero sa totoo lang mas sexy ka pa sa white nyort nyort mo kesa sa mga kasama mo sa pic hahaha
(my congratulations at the conclusion of this story hehe :D)
(pano nga ba ulit yung alexa? joke :P)
wowwww... nakaka-bitin pero sulit pa rin sa tuwa, hehehehe! yeap, kainggit nga ung 'fun before the storm' encounter :D
I hope next year, I could already run the BDM 102!.
Part 2 nnnaaaaaa... :)
Haha lol Julius! :P Nag joyride eh! Hey sorry I couldn't reply to your text bro, my phone got busted during the race, combination of heat and being doused with ice water. Wala nang signal and have the keypad doesnt work LOL. Thanks for all the support man. No worries I'll try to come up with the second part asap hahaha. Oh, game na next year? :P
Lol ultraDens hahhaa. Dapat talaga may pic ako ninyo ni Sam, Bataan SUperBAds in the night hahaa :) COngrats bro, lakas talaga! Haha ang sabaw eh no, Alexa pinagusapan after more than 42k :D
Uy, asan na ung sayo??? :)
Hey bro thanks thanks ! Lakas mo sub-Piolow ka na! Ayos yan next year, kailangan lang matanggal ung sprinter's mentality dahil ibang usapan na :) Masaya to!
Happy before the the storm with lovely angels ah!Look at the smile ngiting hangang langit ah :)
Luis kaw na daw kakanta ng Japanese song next year if may sasali ivovolunteer ka namin hehehe
next post GBM waiting na ko:)
Haha, pass ako jan sa Japanese national anthem :) Fun with lovely angels? Helped a lot hahaha :) Wait up for the next one!
luis, as your manager, its better to keep them waiting hehehe :) mga next week na yung part 2? im sure they're all waiting for the GBM chronicles with all the crazy stories you have before, during and after the BDM ahahaha
oh yeah, the langaw's bdm title should have been BANGAW death march (literal!) hahaha
LOL Manager! :)Ang haba na mashado people might get bored pag buo hehehe :)
Bangaw Death March? Pwede!
Ano, BDM 145 sali ka na :)
Hi Luis,
Nice post....your really very funny....you could easily put a funny twist in your situation. I like it! And very creative with the bangaw ha!
Nice Part 1 story of your long march in Bataan! Medyo bitin nga, pero at least we can expect more soon! Congratulations, GingerBDMan!
about that "fly"..i saw it in sam's site right? anyway, yeah..you guys rock..BDM! BDM!
i think tito caloy would be your secret weapon as ultimate support! yeah!
congrats again!
Awesome accomplishment eGBM :)
I promise to do this next year!
i felt sorry for Grimace though, he got left behind.
Haha thanks Joy! Thanks for the kind words, glad you liked it :) Lol the bangaw I merely plagiarized hahaha :P
Yay thanks Myk! Was thinking kasi if I didn;t break it, it would be way too long :P Part 2 coming up no worries :)
Haha yeah Len :P I just googled it :) Wohooo! I reckon you 're running na din next year? Yeaaaaah! haha si Tito Caloy petix :P Thanks so much! :)
Ge, you have no idea how hard it was. The mental and emotional strain was unbelievable. You just really have to want it that bad. You're running next year? Awesooome :P Thanks a lot bud!
There should have been a phone patch for Marga singing the Japanese national anthem, hehe!
Congrats Luis! You're so thin I swear. Now I wanna do this too if only to be thinner haha!
Congratulations Luis, I know that pic of you and Raiza eh. :D
I think post of the BDM run from runner/bloggers would be in parts, cause there's a lot of story to tell, I salute all of you for courageously running and finishing the course. You're an Ultra Runner na. :)
Should have joined tito caloy...for the beer! waiting for part 2. Nice account, Luis!:-)
Julie, nga no! That would have been awesome :P Haha thanks thanks so much. Wish you were there! 8 pounds in 17 hours hahaha :D
Nabitin ako!!!! :D
Let, haha thanks for the picture. Ang kulit ni Raiza promise :P Yeah, it would be way too long to read if it's an all in one eh.Also, there are a lot more stories to tell for the second half :) Hey congrats to Erick, grabe sobrang lakas he did tremednously well! You must be so proud!
Sir Rene, haha nakatatlo siya even before we started! :PThank you! Will be putting up Part 2 asap :P
Noelle, that's the idea hahahaa :P Eto na gagwin na :P
Luis Congratulations!!! Bangis mo!
BR beats Martin all day!!! nice, luis! thanks for joining/supporting the race! congrats!
ok i forgive you for not mentioning me as part of abby's support crew, but secretly you did as you mentioned carina's name twice and lucky you, my actual 1st name is Carina! Carina Ave GAIL LOL!...so you're forgiven Mayor! just kidding!
love your post. wapaked support crew...really nice! LOL! was so great to finally meet tito caoly, the Internet legend ;)
oh, are you planning to blog about your bromance with AJ? i have paparazzi shots i can email you...hahaha! peace GBM xoxo
congrats again =)
oh and i forgot to mention...if you found raizza makulit, you should've heard Abby scolding us (and laughing about it after) that her pancit canton was too spicy when she actually ordered us to cook her the sweet and spicy one. at least raizza wasn't turning down what she requested, she just plainly doesn't eat skittles. haha!
abby: bakit ang anghang nito? ayoko nyan
carina: ha? eh ito gusto mo diba? sweet and spicy?
abby: ay...laughs...
LOL!
Argow, thanks man, am so happy we all made it :) You the man, touching scene at the finish line pa :) May part 2 pa to!
Sir Jovie, and after hearing you sing last night, no match ahahaha :P
Gail, sorrrrry I thought I put it in, was wasak na when I wrote this hehe. Nice that you met Tito Caloy finally :D Bromance with AJ, it's been an ongoing thing since college haha :)
Haha pancit canton? Yeah I can just imagine. They had to force feed me Jollibee sphag, it tasted nauseating in the heat :)
Congrats Luis! :) wala na talaga ako masabi, basta BDM idol talaga.
Waiting for part 2 din! :)
Thanks so much Maan! Haha. Everyone is an idol, I have the highest respect for anyone who would have the guts to subject themselves to that punishment. Working on number 2! :P
Congratulations, man! Good job.
Congrats Luis...nice chatting with you along the route and for the support that you gave me. Can't forget it.
God bless you and the rest of your crew.
Atty Jon, wow wow wow what an awesome performance! You're one of my ultra idols :) Thanks so much and I hope to do Fat Ass next year :P
It was nice running with you Sir Ronnie, was a pleasure! I hope you're in good recovery mode for your 250km Adventure Run! :)
nice post! wonderful journey! Congrats po! - waiting for the next half.. :)
Thanks so much jhuvy! :) Lapit na long-awaited Part 2 haha :)
congrats, gingertinapay. next year ulit.
eo
Hahaha thanks Eowwww :) Next year.... sama ka? :P UUgh writer's block nako for PArt 2 hahaha.