Runnroo Tour de Cebu Stage 4: The Longest Last 5KM of My Life

by Rose Buenconsejo

My limit for long distance (slow) running is on an average of 13 kilometer (km). My beyond limit is 17 km. So having reached 17 km plus in Runnroo’s Tour de Cebu Stage 4 made me happy and contented. I was ready to quit but I thought ‘why not try to go a little further’.

Until I reached this place — Tingko, Alcoy, I decided that this is the perfect place to quit. I could just rest in the waiting shed right above the beach and wait for the others to reach Kilometer 100.

Tingko, Alcoy, Cebu

Tingko, Alcoy, about 5km from KM100, the finishing marker of Stage 4

tingko beach, alcoy, cebu, philippines

Isn't it a perfect place to rest while down after a long run?

But Ayn and Fred were still determined to reach KM100, the finishing marker, by doing ‘power walk.’ Then, I thought, why not try it. It would only be 5 km more. I weighed, “What’s 5KM?” It’s just more or less eight rounds in our subdivision, which is my usual daily routine. Pffftt. Easy.

ayn and fred -- the culprit of my last 5km of walk transcending alcoy and boljoon cebu, philippines

Ayn and Fred -- the culprit to my torture-ous last 5km. They glow in the light.

But I forgot to take into account that I was already beyond my limit. So the easy stretch, I thought, turned out to be a death march. And, here goes my last 5 km torture walk to KM100 along with pics and love stories I took to distract myself from the pain / tiredness.

I usually asked Ayn and Fred to stop, smile, and take a pose — not because I wanted to take pictures of them; it was my way of catching up with them.

ayn and fred -- runner of cebu, philippines posing in alcoy, cebu, philippines

See. Same posing as the first pic. Only this time they've glower

A few nice views. Well, if you’re tired, any view will become nice (like Ayn and Fred), and…

ayn and fred -- cebu runners posing with sea / mangroves at the back

Ayn and Fred again with the Mangroves

Any thing will become interesting — like how did the boat owner ever came up with WHITE BEAR as his boat’s name? Who ever wants to name his belonging White Bear?

white bear boat parked in alcoy, cebu, philippines

white bear

Then, finally we saw the “Thank you, Come Again” and “Welcome to Boljoon” signages. It’s one of the most uplifting moments of the last 5 km because it meant we’re just 3 km away from the finish line!

Thank you, Come Again, Welcome Signages in Boljoon, Cebu, Philippines

Thank you, Come Again, Welcome signages are such a big deal for noob runners like me

Scenes from our last 3KM

green house in boljoon, cebu, philippines

Green house -- literally covered with green plants

Trees in the Sea, Boljoon, Cebu, Philippines

After Green House is Green Sea -- Trees-covered sea

When you see something like the one below when you are tired and tortured, it becomes more torture on how to resist it — adding salt to the wound.

Molobolo Spring / Waters, Boljoon, Cebu, Philippines

Ayn and Fred - Molobolo Waters

the tempting molobolo waters, boljoon, cebu, philippines

Salivating over this - sooo tempting

Fred declared that he saw the KM99 marker. We were so happy to learn that we only have 1KM more to walk, and so we decided to celebrate by drinking ice-cold Coke at a nearby sari-sari store.

ayn sitting at a sari-sari store in boljoon, cebu, philippines

Ayn -- contented to see Fred and I enjoyed our celebratory drinks. Does she look tired?

But upon a closer look at the marker, it turned out to be 98KM instead of 99KM. So much drinking for an advanced celebration, huh?!? And, just like that our celebratory mode went dead, and off we continued with our ‘death march.’

On the brighter side, it means 2 km more of beautiful scenes.

Sea Trees, Boljoon, Cebu, Philippines

Coastal view, Boljoon, Cebu

And, another bright side of it is that we got to exercise our creative sides — thinking of 101 ‘creative’ ways to distract our selves from the pain and tiredness.

barefoot running in boljoon, cebu, philippines

Barefoot just for the heck of barefoot

ayn gave up on barefoot running in boljoon, cebu, philippines

Barefoot did not suit Ayn. Putting her shoes back

At one point, Fred did a KPop number, and I was just happy to hum along (replay replay replay).

ways to save steps, boljoon, cebu, philippines

Ayn and Fred calculating which path can save them steps

Sign of desperation? Will do any thing just to reach the 100km. Who knows one can create a new line of footwear in the peak of desperate moment.

improvising a new way of barefoot running, boljoon, cebu, philippines

Improvising ways to beat 1ooKM

If cars need a ride to reach their destination, I surely need one too. At this point, I fancy that someone would offer me a ride. I would gladly leave Ayn and Fred and their imagination.

car cargo in boljoon, cebu, philippines

Can i get a ride?

Unfortunately, no one offered me a ride. So I just had to endure it with Fred and Ayn, and finally made my/our 1st 25 km-finish!

long distance runners of cebu, philippines

Camwhoring -- a nice way of 'distraction'

If Tour de Cebu Stage 3 was about being ’emotional,’ Stage 4 was about being creative. Now what are for the next stages?

(More pics from my cam of Runnroo’s Tour de Cebu Stage 4 here.)

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