by Armie Garde
Without discipline to rise before dawn and pound out the miles, you’ll never make it. If the fire in your heart isn’t strong, there’s no point trying. ~~ Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man
Yesterday, another legend in ultramarathon has started to unfold, and it will be retold not only by the Warriors who are themselves making the legend happen, but by anybody, like me, who is inspired at how these ordinary people are doing something extraordinary — running 200 kilometers in three consecutive days with passion, determination and reasons only they and their Raramuri spirits know.
Today, out of the 33 Warriors of the West Coast 200 who started at Kilometer 1 in Subic Freeport Olongapo City, only 30 remain on the road as Victor Ting, Ariel Tuto Aquino and Manny Ocampo declared DNF.
DNF is a familiar word for ultra distance warriors – it’s something bittersweet- but it’s one of the things that keep us running more. It’s one of the things that makes us even stronger.
I salute these three Warriors who DNF, because they’ve done an awesome performance and I know they’ve decided to stop for greater reasons. One of them I met in one of my ultramarathon runs. When I learned he was the last runner on the road yesterday, I cheered, prayed and believed he will make it safely. When I learned that he DNF, I still cheered with pride for Master Ting. I have but well wishes for his quick recovery – and yes, the legend continuous.
Warat Runner with Master Ting
The second day of the grueling foot race started in Botolan, Zambales, and the finish is in Infanta, Pangasinan.
Here’s runroo.com’s storify of Bald Runner‘s live updates of the race:
Tomorrow, the third and last day of the race will cover 60 kilometers with a cut-off time of 10 hours. It will start around 7 p.m. from the Municipal Plaza of Infanta, Pangasinan and will finish at the Port of Barangay Lucap in Alaminos, Pangasinan.
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runroo.com will keep following the developments of the West Coast 200, which is another “FIRST” in the ultramarathon history of the Philippines.
~oOo~
Armie Garde the Warat Runner, who started running ultramarathons at 23 years old, is a multimedia journalist based in Cebu City, Philippines. One of her ultra dreams is to finish BDM 102 and 160. She maintains runroo.com.
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