Bataan Freedom Run: Ready, set, go!

From Death March to Freedom Run.

This year’s commemoration of Bataan Day on April 9 will trace,  through an ultra marathon and a fun run, the original route that some 80,000 Filipino and American soldiers were forced to walk from Mariveles, Bataan province, to Camp O’Donnell in Tarlac province, where Japanese troops held them as prisoners of war  (POWs).

At least 10,000 of these POWs died along the way due to disease, hunger and the summer heat, or were bayonetted to death by their Japanese captors when they became too weak to go on.

The Bataan Freedom Run is meant to remember the heroism of soldiers who defended the Philippines during World War II, said Miguel Villareal, head of the Corporate and Consumer Relations Division of the Philippine Veterans Bank, which is organizing the event.

68.9 kilometers

Running enthusiasts are invited to join the Freedom Run on April 9 and 10, which involves a 68.9-km ultra marathon and a fun run open to adults, children and their four-legged pets.

“We want to make this a family activity so that every Filipino may remember what happened during the Death March, and our heroes who perished there,”  Villareal said of the event meant to recall the Death March’s 74th anniversary as part of Philippine Veterans Week.

In a press conference in Quezon City on Thursday, Villareal recalled how he heard of a marathon in New Mexico that commemorated the Battles of Bataan and Corregidor during World War II.

3rd year

The activity, he said, attracted both local and international runners to the United States.

“I was somewhat ashamed that Americans are running to remember Bataan and Corregidor, but we Filipinos don’t do it on a massive scale,” Villareal said.

This is the third year that the Bataan Freedom Run will be held, with the organizers hoping to attract 2,000 runners for both the ultra marathon and the fun run.

The ultra marathon will begin on the night of April 9 in Mariveles, Bataan, and will pass through the towns of Orion, Limay and Pilar.

The runners will then tackle Mt. Samat where Dambana ng Kagitingan, a national shrine, is located.  The ultra marathon will be run alongside a torch relay involving Bataan students,  and will end in Balanga.

The fun run will begin on April 10, with 10-km and 5-km categories for adults, 1 km for children and a 500-m division for family pets.

Mt. Samat

Hydration and medical aid stations will be set up every 10 km, said Ian Alacar of Without Limits Inc., one of the organizers of the event.

Except for Mt. Samat, 90 percent of the ultra marathon’s route traces the original path of the Bataan Death March, Alacar said.

“It’s about time that our generation believes that there are still heroes, and that we can be heroes. We have to rise to the occasion. Remember, we were the last to surrender to the Japanese,” he added.

Actors to dress up

To make the experience a bit more “realistic,” actors will be hired to dress up as Japanese soldiers from that dark period in the country’s history, Alacar said.

Villareal said proceeds from the P1,000 registration fee to the ultra marathon and the fun run would be used to restore World War II markers and shrines in Bataan, some of which have become worn over time.

“We want the nation to remember what happened in Bataan. It may have been a moment of defeat, but it is proof of the courage of our defenders who fought for our country to be free,” he added.

The event will have an online registration at https://regonline.activeglobal.com/bataanfreedomrun2016.