Thank you to two of the great companies in based in Manila: Nestle Philippines and Smart Communications!
The Milo brand of Nestle Philippines- for organizing the 32nd Milo Marathon. More power to Milo and Nestle for increasing health awareness through the marathon as well as the many Milo BEST clinics for various sports. Thank you for being a corporate evangelist of personal exercise.
Smart 3G- for designing a running cap which totally fits the event, regardless if its big or small, or if its 3 Km or 42 Km. Your Megabit throughput is helping many Filipinos who’ve never held a book be able to hold the world. Never before did we think that it would be possible to turn the air we breathe into wireless broadband. Smart 3G and Smart Bro did just that. Your cap says it well (and verbatim) in three words: “Better. Faster. Smarter. “
Smart Buddy- for being there, not just as “extra shirts”, but as THE Buddy shirt. After hours and minutes of physical activity and mental challenges, you’d be the Buddy to prevent us from having pneumonia with the cold morning air. You’re more than a service, more than a brand. You’re the Buddy who connects even in the least expected situations (like a marathon that has totally no link to telecoms!).
There goes my award-winning speech with a list of compliments to my “sponsors” for the upcoming 32nd Milo Marathon with elimination rounds to be held in various parts of the Philippines this quarter. Read more about it here. I’ll be taking part of the run scheduled on August 3 2008 at the Quirino Grandstand in the City of Manila together with Jackie. This will be our third run in the past 12 months (I think) with the Gawad Kalinga Run late 2007, The Pringles Fun Run which was done despite the storm, and this: The Milo Marathon, an event we wouldn’t want to miss.
In fact, even if the thirty-second run (pun intended) isn’t even over yet, we’re already looking forward to the thirty-third in 2009. Adidas King of the Road, Takbo Para Sa Pasig, and some smaller runs would be part of our training for next year’s marathon.
We’re NOT doing this as a Challenge To Win sort of thing but these runs somehow help us fight stress in a fun, challenging, and an out-of-the-gym-and-yoga-room kind of way. I know how it feels to do even just 10Km on an indoor treadmill and the boredom that could cloud one’s mind. I tried that a few weeks ago during a UAAP game but I instead got of the treadmill, took a seat, and ate fried chicken while watching the game. Buti nalang the Eagles won. “Panalo ka na, Relax ka na din, Busog ka pa!”.
A marathon isn’t like that.
A marathon would help other people overcome the attitude of being lethargic when it comes to exercise. Imagine a thousand people (this is a VERY conservative estimate) getting ready to kick your a__ in a test of speed, strength, and stamina at 5 o’clock in the morning. With a stomach only filled with one banana and probably 250mL of Gatorade, you have to face the biggest competition of all: Yourself.
“I can’t do this.”
“Boring. Hours of corny movement.”
“40Km, 21Km, 10Km, 5Km, or even 3Km is just too far for me to run, jog, and walk.”
“Hey, there’s a 24-hour Mc Donald’s nearby! I could smell hash browns!”
A marathon is well-described in a few words by Butch Jimenez, Senior Vice President of PLDT: “Running with each other has made the lonely and punishing sport of long distance running much more fun.”. Though the statement sounds mysterious, its something to nod about after you compare a treadmill versus an actual run. In the same article, SVP Jimenez wrote that distance running could even sound crazy to some, but there is in fact simplicity in such an activity: Anyone could do it. And all you need to do it is a pair of legs.
It would be encouraging to see 8-year olds overtake you on an uphill climb. That happened to me and Jackie many times especially within the first Kilometer of the race. Buti nalang that kids are encouraged to stay within the 5Km stretch, so the rest of the 10Km is me being beaten by older people. Mind you, if 8-year olds overtake me within the first Kilometer, 40-year-olds overtake me the rest of the way. But as long as I’m not the last one to finish, I really wouldn’t mind. Its all about me not backing out of a race. In the telecoms world where I work, research and product/service development groups have an unsaid mantra: “Don’t stop and don’t slow down. Nobody else is.”. As I wrote earlier, the biggest hindrance to finishing a marathon is the mental stress you give yourself.
I’m encouraging you to join a marathon when you could. Keep the gym enrollment. Continue the dragon boat weekend. Go deeper in technical diving class. Keep on shooting those baskets. Just try to include a marathon in your regimen at least once a year. This is more than a sport. It’s a challenge to oneself to accomplish what one never thought he could.
Links (note that some links may have expired after this post):
PLDT SVP Butch Jimenez’s article: http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20080405-128627/Execs-run-with-each-other-and-for-others
Smart 3G: http://smart.com.ph/3G/
Smart Buddy: http://smart.com.ph/Buddy/
Nestle Milo Marathon: http://www.nestle.com.ph/milo/sports_events/marathon_primer.html
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