Meet Pippay Runner!

I like Pippa Middleton! She was stunning during her sister Kate’s wedding to Prince William and her elegance also showed in her figure… slender and sexy. She’s about 5’9″ and looks athletic so the question pops in my conscience–does she run?

So what do i know? Turns out that her Royal Hotness is a runner, a triathlete in fact and has competed in various triathlons and duathlons in the past.

Her latest caper was competing in the Highland Cross Challenge last June 18, 2011, running and cycling a gruelling 50 miles coast to coast through some of Scotland’s most spectacular scenery.

The Highland Cross is a  50-mile duathlon (a 20-mile run, 30 miles on bike) traversing the spectacular Scottish Highlands coast to coast, west to east from Kintail through Glen Affric and Strathglass to Beauly.

Tired but ever smiling, she finished the backbreaking event in Beauly, ten miles from Inverness on the east coast, at 4.08pm in a respectable five hours, eight minutes. She finished in the top 15 ladies out of 160 female competitors.

She said that it was one of the toughest things she has done and is really pleased to have finished. The race was won by Rob Brooks in 3:39:29

The record for the event is three hours and 13 minutes and has not been broken since 1993.

Reportedly, she has ran a lot of races in the middle distances, and attended  Marlborough College in a sports scholarship.

Earlier this year, she also completed a triathlon at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. So move over, Noelle and make way for Pippay Runner!:-)

Photos by Ikon Pictures

This General Has Returned…To Running

I don’t run at the Quezon Memorial Circle as often as i used to and when i do run the 3.5km route twice a week from my home to get there, it’s usually to do cross-training of TAEBO with some of the runners i train with. A good complement to running, TAEBO increases strength, flexibility of the upper body muscles of the arms and shoulders. I just so love the feeling after a good 30 to 45 minute work-out…the arms and shoulders have been flexed a bit and with the usual boxing and karate chop moves, who knows– i might be up to martial arts someday.:-) 

This morning was a little different as i got to meet one of the running icons during the 80′s, a military man who had a best time of 36:00+ for the 10k and a 3:06 for the full marathon. I wrote about him in a past blog (here) and now that he’s out on provisional liberty, he’s bound to regain back that speed by starting to do short runs and eventually train for another marathon. General Danny Lim has gained weight and his planned runs would probably get him to regain his strength and speed and ditch some unwanted fat. 

An old newspaper clipping from his 80's running years

I took some pictures of him this morning but accidentally deleted most of them while transferring it into my usb. 

I’m posting below the remaining ones and i hope the good General gets into shape soon and see him run in one of the local races. 

General Lim is 3rd from right

With some of the Runnex members

The General in black shorts at the Runnex shade in QMC

Bewitched, Smitten and Bewildered!

I could name some of the most beautiful female tennis players that ever played in the last decade and those would include Maria Sharapova, Ana Kournikova, Ana Ivanovic, Mary Pierce and Maria Kirilenko, among many others. While they’re amongst some of the fiercest and competitive players around, not only do they possess beauty but also provide glamour to the sport and have attracted hordes of fans.

In the world of running however, very few, if ever has caught our imagination… maybe because of our perception that running is more of a masculine sport, less glamorous than tennis or running and beauty don’t mix? I disagree! Our local Runrio races will disprove this notion as the beautiful and glamorous (as Imelda would term it) have always been a fixture to these races.

I just discovered one such beauty recently and her name is KARA GOUCHER, one of America’s elite middle and long distance runners. Kara made her marathon debut at the New York City Marathon on November 2, 2008.  She finished in third place in a time of 2:25:53 becoming the first American on the podium since Anne Marie Lauck was third in 1994. She also placed third in the 2009 Boston Marathon in a time of 2:32:25. Coached by former marathon stand-out Alberto Salazar, she’s a 2008 Olympian in the 5,000m and 10,000m and holder of the American Women’s debut record in the marathon.
Her Personal Records include:

1,500m: 4:05.14 (2006)
1 Mile: 4:36.03 (2008)
3,000m: 8:34.99 (2007)
2 Miles: 9:41.32 (2007)
5,000m: 14:55.02 (2007)
10,000m: 30:55.16 (2008)
Marathon: 2:25:53 (2008) **fastest debut ever by an American woman.

She may not be as stunning as Sharapova or a Kournikova but she has this gentle charm, cheery disposition, a flair of elegance and a running physique to die for. A darling who attracts fans and crowds in the races she competes in, she’s a shoo-in for “crush ng bayan!”

 

Cover on March 2010 issue of Runners World

 

This is one lucky dude!

(Photos taken from her Facebook a/c)

This General Is Also A Runner!

  

When Ces Orena Drilon of ABS-CBN was interviewing senatorial hopeful, Brig. General Danny Lim inside his barracks at Camp Crame a few Sundays ago, i noticed that the General was wearing a white finishers race shirt and i wondered if he ever was a runner. Last week, Runnex Prexy Rudy Fernandez handed me an old clipping of the Philippine Military Academy’s weekly sports newsletter, “The PMA Sportsman” and i was greatly surprised that Gen. Lim was indeed a runner, and a fast one at that!  

I am quoting here excerpts from the newsletter dated October 1985:  

“Captain Danilo “Samboy” Lim (he must be the running version of the Skywalker) of the Blue Team, two consecutive years’ 5k marathon (sic) champion in the officers intercolor, topped the first of three series of 5Ks held last September 19, 1985. The 30 year old runner who consistently led throughout the race reached the finish line in 19 mins and 38 secs breaking his best record of 20 mins and 51 secs set a year ago.  

A born runner, Lim has participated in several marathon events both local and international. In international competitions, he was a two time member of the Philippine Corporate Cup Team, composed of the best runners in the country which participated in the U.S. Corporate Cup Championship Finals held in Palo Alto, California in 1983 and 1984 and a finisher in the Filipinas Third World 42K marathon in Manila.  

He garnered top honors in several local runs which include, The Saucony Elimination Series, Champion (Executive Division); Baguio 10K Run-Sponsored by Pugad Lawin, Champion (Executive Division), Baguio 20k Penitential Run-Sponsored by Baguio Road Runners Club, Champion (Open Division) and the Fil-Am Friendship Games 10K run series where he was a consistent top finisher.  

He bagged several medals for his performance in various editions of the North Star 10K runs. Here in PMA, he was a consistent top bracket placer in PMAAA competitions, The First Class/Officers Marathon and in the previous PMA Officers intercolors 5k run.”  

Top picture shows his winning form while the picture below shows him receiving his award from Dr. Perry Mequi

It is also worthy to mention that in some old newspaper clippings handed over by Rudy, General Lim also ran with and against another equally famous General by the name of Jovenal Narcise who is none other than the Baldrunner.  

General Lim is presently detained (among several other military officers) at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame for involvement in failed attempts to topple the present administration. Although disallowed to campaign outside of his barracks, his wife, a vast horde of supporters and organized groups are taking charge of his campaign trail in the hope of bringing change and continuing his fight against corruption with his advocacies, reforms and good governance.  

Hopefully, someday, we might see him again running in the streets of Metro Manila and elsewhere!