By Maui Daton
CRAZY. Those who attempt this must surely be out of their minds. This was what I was thinking three hours into the run. At that point I had already ran through terrain that I am sure must be comparable to those that are on far-flung planets outside our galaxy. I felt as though I was an adventurous spaceman with the daunting task of surveying an alien world for the possibility of terraforming it, with mankind’s hope for survival solely resting on my successful completion of this mission. An outrageous exaggeration obviously, but this was the Salomon X-Trail Pilipinas and absolutely nothing about this run was ordinary.
In recent years, the Salomon X-Trail Series has become one of the most anticipated trail-running events in the country. When I started running in 2011, one of the goals I set for myself was to eventually level up and participate in a prestigious trail-running event such as this one. I knew then that I would have to train hard and participate in a lot of road runs in order to condition myself to take on this kind of challenge. And while there were some snags along the way, I was able to more or less keep the consistency of my running regimen throughout the last three years. And so, this year, I finally deemed myself ready.
April 25 had a big red X on my calendar, and my anticipation for this day had been slowly building up ever since my registration for the race was confirmed. As the date drew near, I began to catalog all the things that I knew I would need for the race. I also made a mental check on my physical soundness, knowing that it would take a lot for me to finish this race, probably even more than I had given in the previous races that I joined.
Then, finally, the day arrived.
Hydration bag: check. Headlamp and whistle: check, check. Anxious excitement, mental preparedness and physical fitness: check, check, check. I did one final accounting and it looked like I already had everything I need to finish the race. I left my house at 10:30 pm to go to the pickup point. The bus left Quezon City at around 11:30 pm. I tried to catch a little more sleep on the way to Morong, Bataan, but I was unsuccessful. Instead, I just looked out the window and enjoyed the evening scenery, while trying not to think too much about the upcoming race.
We arrived at the venue at 3 am, and we proceeded straight to the briefing area, where we were provided with instructions and pointers about the race. After that, there was nothing else to do but wait for our gun start. I saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd, and I exchanged words with some of them. Everyone was excited, and most were doing their prerace rituals, such as flexing and warming up. I did mine, hopefully enough for me to finish my distance. The distance I ran was 24 kilometers, which started at 5 am, 30 minutes after the gun for the 32-km distance was fired.
Among the many useful things I have learned in all my years of running is that most distances are not as simple or as easy as it may look at first. This is even more applicable to trail runs. You may think that since you can already see that U-turn sign, or that landmark signifying another kilometer, that it won’t be long and you’ll be there. Well, it really depends on how far you are into the race. I learned that the longer you are into it, the farther each additional kilometer of the race will seem to be. You have to respect the distance, and you just have to keep pushing yourself with the same level of enthusiasm and persistence that you began the race with.
Three hours into the race, and I had already traversed 15 km of boulder-strewn trail, numerous streams and gullies, and thickly forested hillside. I had gone up 218 meters above sea level. I even injured myself when my right leg hit the sturdy tip of a broken tree branch. The jagged edge of the branch almost tore into my compression tights and into my skin. Luckily my leg just sustained a small—but nonetheless painful—bruise, and my compression tights came out intact and still in one piece.
I must say that in my anticipation for the race, I already expected most of the different kinds of terrain that I did encounter in this race, except for the streams and waterways that we had to cross. Those were quite a surprise, which added an additional heart-pounding thrill for me. At one point, I even had to cross a waist-deep creek, during which I had to hand my phone over to a runner ahead of me for fear of dropping it into the water and losing it forever. It had only been three hours since I began the run. I still had a long way to go.
Strong winds can down even the most durable concrete monument, and extreme fatigue can do the same to one’s resolve. Many times during the race I thought of giving up, but then I would think about the rewards waiting for me at the finish line, and that drove me to go on. Of course the runners I met along the way who encouraged me also helped a lot. There was a kind of camaraderie or brotherhood between us, forged by our common goal, which acted as a soothing balm to my frayed spirit. We even took selfies together before continuing on with the race. And continue I did. I was able to negotiate steep ravines to get down to the beach, on which running was almost impossible because of the soft sand, and because my legs by then had already turned into dead weights due to overexertion. I carried on nevertheless. At that point, there was nowhere else to go but forward. I was too far in to go back.
Looking back, the experience wasn’t all that bad. While for the majority of it I was panting and sweating and cursing under my breath, there were definitely some silver-lining moments that literally and figuratively gave me a breath of fresh air. A memorable moment was somewhere along the 12th km, when I finally reached the topmost elevation of the race route.
This was the moment when I felt that I just had to stop and look around because the surrounding natural scenery was of such splendor that it took my weariness away for at least the few moments that I was there.
That, of course, didn’t last long.
The last 6 or 7 km were pure torture, physically and mentally. It was not just my body that was tired, but also my mental faculties. And I still had to negotiate my way through big and small rocks and boulders and through the rough beach. It took an incredible amount of willpower for me to keep pushing my exhausted legs to just move forward. It felt like it was never going to end. Eventually, it did.
They were already in the middle of the awarding ceremony when I crossed the finish line. The fastest 32-km runners were Manolito Divina and Majo Liao, male and female, with a time of 2:56:53 and 4:36:51, respectively. In my distance category, 24 km, the fastest ones were Angelo Gonzalo and Janet Lumidao, male and female, with a time of 2:23:56 and 3:09:13, respectively. And someone from my team, Team BusinessMirror, made it to the top 30. Me, I didn’t even make it before the cutoff time of five hours. But still I made it to the finish line.
A few words for those who are planning to run this next year: Train hard and train well. And then train some more. Even if you are used to running a full marathon on the road, your trail-running experience would still be quite different, and harder. Am I crazy for doing the Salomon X-Trail Pilipinas run? Oh yes, I am.
I’m also crazy proud for finishing it.
****
This is the first time Team BusinessMirror (TBM) participated in the Salomon X-Trail Pilipinas race. Officially established on October 18, 2011, TBM is comprised of the BusinessMirror employees and their families and friends sharing a common interest in and enthusiasm for running, hiking, biking and swimming. Members include competitive and casual runners, hikers and ultra/trail-marathon runners. You may follow us on Twitter, Instagram and “Like” our page on Facebook via TeamBM.