After more than a year of shying away from road runs and weekend races, I finally got my mojo back at the R399: Live Your Dreams – the tribute run to mark the 1st death anniversary of Ramon “Ramie” Igana, Jr.
Ramie’s death made headlines last year after he died of pulmonary embolism while doing the 90-kilometer bike leg of the Cobra Ironman 70.3. Ramie was part of the relay team TTB Extreme along with his wife, doctor-runner Humility Igana and Benjamin Balaoro, Jr.
There were a thousand runners at the starting line that day, but it felt as if everybody knew everybody – triathletes, ultrarunners and newbie runners all bound by the love for the great sport of running. There were no more tears that day. Just love, laughter and camaraderie.
The tribute run had the standard 3K, 6K and 12K categories now popular in weekend races. But unlike your garden variety fun run, all the finishers went home with a finisher’s medal!
Races hardly ever give medals for distances below 16K, but the tribute run for Ramie was a celebration of every runner’s achievement of finishing a race regardless of distance.
In her invite for the race, Dr. Mitty Igana wrote –
“Ramie was not a fast runner, never even tried a podium finish nor a sub-5 marathon. But, he represents most of us who shared the same passion for running and saw the positive things it did to him. He tripped and got a wounded knee on his first 5k last July 2009 but it didn’t stop him from running longer distances. He was courageous enough to take risks. He found inner strength in the sport and realized that he was capable of so much more than he thought. Ramie made running an enjoyable part of his life. We all have dreams …Ramie lived his dream!”
The medals that Doc Mitty gave to each and every finisher that day was poignant for me because Ramie never did finish his last race. It was as if everyone who ran and crossed the finishline in remembrance of him that day, crossed the finishline for him.
Cebu Marathon 2014
To all those wondering if there’s going to be a fifth edition to the Cebu Marathon, the answer is YES, there will be a 2014 Cebu Marathon.
As per tradition, it will be held on the 2nd Sunday of January – right in the middle of the Sinulog celebration.
Cebu’s signature marathon will still be organized by the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC). This time however, the event management of the Cebu Marathon will be handled by the people behind Condura Skyway Marathon and the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines.
I learned this last Sunday from CERC’s John Pages and Joel Juarez.
This has yet to be officially announced in the weeks to come, but I’m already excited what this new events management team will do to improve an already perfect race.
Till then, reserve January 12, 2014 for the Cebu Marathon and start to build your training mileage now.