By The Company We Keep

They’re a special breed of runners you either want to be with or you care little about, depending on your outlook on running. For sure, they’re fun to be around specially when all talk is about their latest conquest of their farthest run ever and these include jaunts of 102km or 160 km ultra races.

I was with these esteemed runners just after their grueling 160km BDM “fun run” a few weeks ago when Ultra-marathoner Paolo Osmeña, who successfully finished this race after his 2nd attempt treated his “team” to a sumptuous dinner and drinking binge to celebrate his conquest, acknowledging the support he had during his trying times during the race!  So it was interesting to see how Paolo was doing (still ecstatic, as i noticed) and how the rest of the guys were coping up with their recoveries.

But recovery it seems is out of their vocabulary as most of them were already geared to run the Condura Marathon the week after and many of them did! Hard to imagine why they can’t get enough of running 160 kms as their main course and savor another 42kms the week after for dessert!

It was good to be meeting for the first time George Dolores, a regular in the ultra running scene and Keisha Fule,  who i initially thought was a Kenyan until i saw her pictures on blogs and realized that she was one of the guys (sorry po). She may be all hard-as-nails on the roads and trails but she is genteel and humble in person, none of the brashness that you may associate with other top runners of her stature.

Anyways, we had a great time drinking and dining and i had to be the listener most of the time when they tried to out-do each other in reminiscing the happy,  funny and mostly torturous moments ever imagined in their race of a life-time!

Again, congrats to Paolo and the rest of the BDM160 finishers!

Here are some pictures of the gathering (there’s more in my FB page if you care to look at it) :

Early guests

Front Runner's Jonel Mendoza, host Paolo Osmena and Mel Severino

Me, Blas and Keisha

Our hostess, Angela Jacinto (r)

One of the country's Ultra-running patriarch, Jonel Mendoza

Late comer, Chito Carreon (standing) joins the group

Mel, George Dolores and Meljohn (Boypraning)

Keisha, at her fullest?

No satisfaction for Boypra (may take-home pa!)

We Parteyy, When We’re Not Running

If you’ve ever met and talked to Jinoe Gavan, founder of Takbo.ph, then you’ve probably seen him smile. It happens often in the course of his stories on running, the races he has joined and organized, his upcoming training for several races slated in the provinces and when he talks about his “first baby”, the Takbo.ph website.

The website on running has left an indelible mark among runners, and has created a lot of following in its two years of existence. It gave runners a chance to interact with each other on a gut level and has formed a wide, deep friendship that has branched from running into other multi-sports like the Duathlon, Triathlon and Ultra-Marathons.

I’m proud to say that i was part of its initial membership, from a few dozen who interacted at the Forums to the present thousands (and still growing) who have relied on the site for the latest news, schedule of upcoming races, blog stories, latest running gadgets and everything else on running.

Recently, there was a cause to celebrate when Takbo.ph marked its 2nd anniversary by staging the Takbo.ph Runfest 5/10k races which was a rousing success. To top off this celebration, expecting mom, Queenie Gavan (Jinoe’s ex-GF, now wife), organized a Runfest get-together at the Joey Pepperoni Pasta Bar at The Fort last Friday that was well-attended by both the old guards and the newer members of Takbo.ph. It was a merging of old and new faces, a continuing generation that will still grow as long as the running boom continues to flourish.

On a daily basis, Jinoe still finds himself immersed in making the website grow, on top of his regular job and other running projects. His goal still stands, “to promote running” and as long as runners keep motivated and friendships prosper, Jinoe will continue to have that toothy smile.

Here are some pictures from last Friday’s party:

The early birds

Mostly "oldies" (Photo by Carlo S.)

The group at the rear portion

Young bloods at takbo.ph

Party hosts, Rodel and Marga

Rodel with the new bloods

Waiting for their food and drinks!

Great guys!

Super fast runner, Carly (L) and friend, Chang

Marga, Ziggy and Tin

Nice...

Celebrity Rodel signing on his pic