Bohol Running Events/Races: * 5050 Sundown Bohol Ultra Marathon
* Bohol Marathon 2013
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SCRATCH THE SURFACE! Bohol is so much more than Tarsiers, Chocolate Hills. Explore & enjoy! – Nuts Huts
As the above “mantra,” posted in a backpacker’s place in Loboc, Bohol, said that there’s so much more to Bohol than tarsiers and Chocolates Hills.
tarsier triplets
If you happen to be in Loboc, Bohol. There’s more to Loboc than its Loboc River Cruise. And, what’s the best way to scratch the surface and find out is go out, and RUN.
This was last year, days before the 1st Bohol Marathon 2012. We stayed at Bohol for a few days before the actual Bohol Marathon day, and get to run other parts of Bohol.
Cruz Daku
Cruz Daku is actually not hard to miss. It’s on top of the mountain of Loboc, which you can view from down below. But probably because of the famous Loboc River and the beautiful old church of Loboc (well, any church in Bohol is stunning), it can be overlooked by “tourists” / visitors. Plus, it cannot be easily accessible being located in some elevated area.
But if you want some endless hill-repeat training, a good stretch of trail / dirt road, a beautiful view, and an escape from the busy-with-tourists Loboc River, Cruz Daku will not fail.
Locals are saying there are many access roads to Cruz Daku, but we took the road in front of the Loboc Church on our way up there.
Loboc Church (Bohol)
We passed rice fields.
Then, after that, it was all upheill until we reached Cruz Daku.
start of uphill to Cruz Daku
If looking at endless uphill path is too daunting, take time to pause, turn-around, and be mesmerized with the view. (The pic below does not do justice.)
That’s human, not an oversized tarsier!
While you need to compete with lots of tourists at Loboc River Cruise; at Daku Cruz, your only competition are cows, and a few of their sh*t. The cow below is quite huge in real life, and looked scary. We had to wait for a few minutes for it to give way to us. Or, maybe we’re just too much of an urban dwellers to be scared of innocent cows?
It is probably rarely visited by people as either the paths there are overgrown with weeds or get slippery because of moss.
at Cruz Daku vicinity
After around 4KM from the Loboc Church, we finally met Cruz Daku.
Cruz Daku
From there, you can have an almost 360-degree view of Bohol.
Reversed Stations of the Cross
Only when we reached the Cruz Daku did we realize that it’s actually the last part of the Stations of the Cross when looking down from the Cruz Daku, we saw a few more statues of Cross scattered down below.
Stations of the Cross, Loboc, Bohol
Since, it’s probably only visited during the Holy Week, the “way” to the other stations was a bit tricky because of the slippery moss and the weeds growing on the paths, and not to mention the cow dungs.
Mini Cruz
It was fun crossing from one station to another station. The view was just dreamy.
Addition to my Medal Collection
Aside from collecting medals in races, running has also made me collect plants, especially the edible and medicinal / herbal kind of plants. Every time I had the chance to go up into some remote areas, I always look around for interesting plants I could take with me home (Sorry, I’m not supposed to pick plants, right?).
I’d been looking for the longest time for a seedling of “bago” plant. But the many times, I had the chance to went up to the remote “mountain” area Consolacion / Lilo-an, I could not find one. All the people would say that it can only be found in the more remote area, where clearing up some parts of the mountains are still not done.
So when I finally met one on our way to Cruz Daku, I did not hesitate to bother the owner to ask for some cutting.
with my Bago plant cutting from a grandma living in the Cruz Dako vicinity
It was in Bohol that I hoarded the most number of cuttings and seedlings!
On going back to the main road / town of Loboc Bohol from Cruz Daku, we took another route, which had a good view. It led us to the back of the Loboc Church, which across it is the Loboc River.
going back to Loboc, Bohol main road / town proper
You can always have food, breakfast in our case, at one of the “carenderias” (eatery) across the church. It was nice to have Bohol’s “utan bisaya” which has bago leaves (the plant cutting I asked from the grandma) in it.
utan bisaya with coco milk and bago plant leaves
Cruz Dako, Loboc, Bohol Route Profile (highest elevation is almost 400m): http://connect.garmin.com/activity/236246848
Place we stayed: Nuts Huts
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Posted by:
Rose Buenconsejo. A runner who runs after runners, and their stories, and her dream to become a NEDBANK.
Promo Girl, runroo.com
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