DUMAGUETE CITY—It has become a common sight—a group of familiar faces happily running along the streets of Dumaguete City.
The health buffs belong to the Dumaguete Amateur Runners and Striders (DARS), which is composed of professionals from various fields but share a love for running.
“We’re an infant group,” Maripol Rotea-Tecson, 40, says.
The DARS started in October last year when Tecson hooked up with other regulars: Rowena Zerna, Dr. Don Rene Catada, her cousin Dr. Santiago Tiongson, and Dr. Franklin Paraiso, who usually walked around the oval of the Gov. Mariano F. Perdices Memorial Stadium.
They decided to push themselves and weave the city streets.
‘Networking’
“We were running one morning when the rain started pouring and we didn’t want to stop; passing by a church, we were asked if we were police recruits,” Tecson remembers.
She later recruited husband Albert and their three teenage sons.
Soon, word spread to other health buffs who happened to join the Milo Fun Run in September last year. The following month came a more intense “networking” through text brigade about when the next run would be—sent to “kabsi” (townmates), former schoolmates back in grade school, distant relatives, other medical practitioners, bikers, and to doting parents who would otherwise be waiting on the bleachers while their children trained with Silliman University’s varsity swim team.
They started joining fun runs together. Soon after, the regular runners encouraged their spouses to join.
It has not been without difficulty for some couples who are still rearing toddlers and would sometimes “catch” their parents “sneaking out” of the house to beat a 5 a.m. or 8 p.m. run start.
Eleanor Barrios, 46, a bank officer, says that because of the sport, she and husband Tristan consciously make an effort to achieve a healthy lifestyle.
“We watch what we eat, we’ve been able to lower our BMI (body mass index), my husband has lessened his drinking habit with friends, and we now have common health-conscious friends,” Barrios proudly says.
‘Terno’ jerseys
Today, more than a quarter of the 148 regular runners—whose ages range from 16 to 62 years—are couples with no qualms about donning “terno” (uniform) jerseys.
Others who are not able to run as regularly could only gamely contend with being teased that their “visa (to run) may have been denied.”
The impact of joining a running group also means being technology-savvy.
Michael Chua, 39, a retail store owner, was compelled to open a Facebook account if only to be updated with DARS’ running schedules.
Chua is usually one of the last to join the start line in night runs because he has yet to close his grocery store. He is also among the first to rush back home upon reaching the finish line on morning runs to open the gates of his store.
For Bobbin and Vivian Sy, both medical doctors in their 40s, walking-running has changed their lifestyle “a thousand-fold.”
Vivian, who teaches at Silliman’s Institute of Rehabilitative Sciences and Physical Therapy, says running gave them a chance to see their daughter walk down the aisle.
At 46, Bobbin is a post-myocardial infarction patient.
Road techniques
“What sealed the group is our desire to have clean fun while running,” Tecson says. “We’ve also shown interest in being educated about running as we have realized we tend to perform better.”
The group gets running advice from Paultom Paras of Metro Dumaguete Roadrunners Club, who continues to share road techniques and etiquette for safety.
“He would give us brief lectures like Fartlek (speed play) interval training so we understand what we’re actually going through,” Tecson notes.
Night runs with the DARS—“even on a rainy night”—usually attract about 35 fitness buffs, quite a big number for a city whose businesses start calling it a day by 6 p.m.
“We simply post announcements on FB and people just come,” Tecson says.
But two weeks ago was a surprise: the number swelled to 74.
The runners were pounding on the road noisily and excitedly, that a patrol police car took the initiative of marshalling them throughout the 10K route.
So what keeps the group highly motivated?
“I think it’s the runners’ pure interest to be fit, and the feeling that each runner is genuinely concerned to help each other improve,” says Tecson, who can rattle off the exact finish time even of other runners down to the last second.
“I remind them about their times to help push them. We share information and advice we read in magazines and the Internet. We talk about the benefits of eating corn grits instead of well-milled rice, or wheat bread instead of white bread, or that we cannot live on salads alone.”
Fashion conscious
Another factor is the group’s excitement to experiment with a sporty fashion sense.
Tecson says text messages about discounts or new arrivals on branded sporting attires and gear are usually met with a wild rush for the stores.
The perception that running is one of the cheapest sports may just not be true.
Road and mountain bikers from local groups have also been cross-training with the DARS.
Other runners cross-train in mountain biking, zumba (Latin-inspired dance) or muay thai (Thai combat sport).
“We need to incorporate strength training for the upper body into our regimen,” Tecson said.
A typical schedule for the “addicted” runners would find them swimming 1,500 meters at Lorenzo Teves Aqua Center during lunch break three times a week, biking 60 km at dusk on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and running 10 km on Thursday nights.
A long and slow distance run to one of the nearby towns on the weekend caps this “rigid but fun” regimen.