1 Hour, 19 Minutes

Two years ago, 2 friends opened to me the world of marathon. Truth is, I seldom run. What I love to do is walk. I easily made up my mind for the sole reason that the race will he held in Dumaguete. It was only after the race that I realized, it was an elusive dream. I joined in the 21-k marathon race to be able to run with them. Again, truth is, i do not have any inkling what marathon is. At that time, my rational self did not work against my overconfidence. I only made it to the turning point. I was heavily gasping for air, looked faint, and felt the triple palpitation of my heart.

When I learned that there will be a marathon race on August 30, 2009 in Bacolod, I immediately signed up in the 10-k category. The night before the race, I had my alarm set at 5am. However I was betrayed, either it was my cellular phone or my body senses. I was not able to wake up at 5am. It was already 5:37 in my watch and the race will start at 6:00. With my indomitable spirit to run, after getting off from my bed, I immediately called a taxi and donned my immaculate white adidas short plus the sleeveless milo shirt. The cabby was very cooperative. He arrived at the gate very prompt. Inside the taxi, I pinned my race number knowing time is scarce for me already. Two minutes after I arrived, the 10-k race commenced. It was just enough time and I was really meant to run on that day.

From the starting point at the lagoon, I just breezed through until the Robinson's area when I felt I lost my normalcy of breathing. So I walked, took deep breathing, and after some reasonable distance, jogged. I had to always look back to make sure that I was not the last runner or else I had to speed up. I did not know exactly where the turning point is so I just continued the race that I have doggedly started. And finally, I made it half-way, and received the valuable straw, and jogged, and walked, and jogged. I was already near the finish line when I saw colleagues yelling and cheering for me. How sweet that was! And yes, the time was 1 hour and 19 minutes. Yahoo! It was time to erase all the doubts as I have conquered the RACE!