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Rewind 2008, Kevin Jauod was just an avid
reader of my blog lagataw.com. I met him when he joined me in a trek on Mt
Arayat. Then during the Salomon X-trail 2011, I introduced him to my friend Koi
Grey who organized him and his friends into Team Mountain Stride!
March, 2017, two months before the event
day, the race director Kevin Jauod summoned all his courage to launch the first
mountain race in Antique—Tracing Iraynon-Bukidnon Trails (TIBT). It was too late,
in my opinion. I was thinking ‘lalangawin lang ang event mo Tito Kev!’ It was
obviously a tremendous resolve for the race
director.
I had my share of tough decisions to make.
I was pondering whether to quit my job and relocate to Visayas again or stay
and see my projects in Benguet prosper. Monday (May 22nd) I booked
my ticket to Caticlan and an exit ticket to Cebu. I had finally decided to
leave Benguet which had become my second hometown.
May 26th Koi and Kevin picked me up at the terminal in San Jose, Antique. It was a reunion of sorts. Y’see our unorthodox ways of living make it difficult for us to be in one place at the same time. And now we were all going to be part of the first ever mountain race in the whole province of Antique, home to three of the toughest mountains in the country—Kevin had requested that I take charge of the race briefing. In the evening when we got to the race venue, I was surprised by the preparation that the local community had done. The stage was elaborately designed; the local dancers were doing their final rehearsals; the program included a list of names of notable government officials and organizations. What I had previously considered as another ordinary low-profile race was going to be a big event in the province of Antique. I was utterly impressed by the effort and involvement of the local officials particularly the Punong Barangay of Barrio Maria in Laua-an, Mr Dongdong Alonsagay. He treated TIBT as his own. He put a lot of heart into it. And this dedication was evidently contagious among his constituents.
May 27th (Day 0) 0400 hours, I
reconnoitered the whole 21-km route covering the towns of Laua-an and Bugasong
together with the very dedicated course setter Jonathan Sulit and another
volunteer. Jonathan remained at Aid Station 2 to conduct a final meeting with
the marshals and local volunteers. I returned to the start line 2 hours before
the race briefing—all panicky and pissed. Taking the perspective of a novice, I decided that the course was too tough. I strongly recommended the
omission of the vertical ascent section but Koi opposed it pointing out the
traffic that would result from an out-and-back route. Tito Val, who had been in
Antique for two months to support Tito Kevin in his first big project, quickly
took the role of an umpire saying ‘Madali lang yan Tito Adonis! Tatabasin namin mamaya yang mga talahib
na yan at tatadtarin namin ng trail markings yung sinasabi mong nakakaligaw na
part!’ The pabebe perspective had made me forget that I was with the Titos, who
are made of heart, passion and grit. My mind and body cooled down after a quick
shower. We had decided to keep the original course. It was time for my very first race briefing.
May 28th (Race Day) 0400 hours.
It was my 36th sleepless hour (probably 48th for Kevin
and his girlfriend Kara). The 21km runners left the start line at 0430hrs, the
11km runners at 0500hrs. While Kara and Kevin felt a bit relieved when all the
runners had left the start line, this day proved to be very stressful for me
and Tito Ed who were left at the registration table. I could see the very tired
Kap Dodong carelessly sprawling on the couch in the
barangay hall. Hans, the very energetic master of ceremonies during the pre-race
activities went off to document the event on the field. Tito Val and Tito
Jonathan were on the aid stations with most of the volunteer marshals from the
Organization of Simsiman Mountaineers most of whom came from Iloilo. Tito Reyn
and Tito Koi were running the 21km distance. Tito Ed and I had no choice but to
take charge of the finish line activities. Tito Ed took care of the timing
system which Tito Reyn (of Grit Multisport) prepared while I was on the radio with the
MDRRMC of Laua-an monitoring the runners for the two distances. Tito Ed and I both handle people in our
respective professions so we were not very open to each other’s opinion and
suggestions. It was not very easy for the two of us to collaborate in an
emergency assignment. But we found a way to pull it off in the name of the achievement
and success another tito.
As one runner crossed the finish line after
another, I was overwhelmed by the positive remarks I would get from them. I was
expecting they’d comment about the heat and the toughness of the course but all
I got were ‘nami’ and ‘namit’. It turned, out none of the fifty-six runners were
pabebe. Except for three racers who decided to opt out of the race due to physical discomfort, all of
them crossed the finish line within the set cut-off time. And much to our satisfaction, no one strayed
off course. The podium finishers were shockers. A 54- year-old local farmer
crossed the finish line in his boxer shorts just 4 minutes behind the champion
of the 11km category (who was the champion of the Salomon X-trail 32km race in 2016).
The champion of the 21-km category crossed the finish line ahead of the 3rd
finisher for the 11km category! He was also the champion of the Salomon Xtrail 24km distance. Koi settled for 3rd in the 21km
distance. Among the six female podium finishers, four were first timers on the
trail. Two of them (from the Boracay dragonboat rowing team) were just
persuaded to register on site. I cannot not mention one notable runner who
refused to receive the finisher’s medal. He maintained that he was able to
finish a tough vertical race this year but the 11km course of the TIBT proved
tougher for him. He resolved to come back for the second edition and rightfully
earn the medal. When the last runner crossed the finish line Kevin, Kara and I
gave each other a tight hug, signaling that it was the end of all the stress!
Looking back, TIBT was an overwhelming
success in spite of it being a perfect candidate for a disaster. Kevin isn’t
your ideal race director. He hates the microphone and he sucks at organizing.
However, apart from his efforts to knock on doors of the many benevolent
sponsors on very short notice, Kevin
exceled at surrounding himself with the most dynamic and proactive of people. Whatever incompetence he has at
organization is buffered by Kara’s OCD. While there was so much lack of
preparation, Kap Dongdong and Hans came to the rescue. And thanks to the exemplary efforts of the
MDRRMC (Laua-an) and the different mountaineering groups that comprise the
Organization of Simsiman Mountaineers, and the unwavering support of the Titos,
the runners were kept safe and all went home with a painfully sweet experience
and a strong resolve to come back for another
TIBT!
The overall satisfaction of the guests and
participants was enough to compensate for the sacrifices, the exhaustion and
the financial loss that the local officials and the rest of the organizers and
volunteers had made.
The success of the TIBT can serve as an
inspiration to everyone that despite all the odds, you can still succeed if
you just put your heart, passion and grit to whatever you want to achieve!
We all deserved to celebrate the success of
the event on the remote and very beautiful Seco Island.
