DAYTON'S LEGS

This video of a 13-year-old boy, who participated in a triathlon event with another boy with cerebral palsy, made me remember my “running mate” Dr. Renald Peter Ramiro when I ran my first half-marathon in 2009. I needed all the help then as I was running on unfamiliar territory.

Before this race, the longest I’ve ran was 16 kilometers and it was a struggle.  Doc Ramiro’s presence was enough to keep me going. As we were running, it helped me tremendously to find him on my side as I struggled in the last 2 kilometers of the race. He was my extra eyes, ears and figuratively my legs!

In my first marathon, the Cebu City Marathon in 2010, I had Eugene Cabusao, Cliff Abraham and Ray Wagas going stride-by-stride with me as we tried to finish our first marathon with bad back, cramps, blisters and all.

Now flashback to about 1992.

We were living in Guadalupe, Makati then. Our 1-year-old son Jason was struggling with high fever as we were going to bed. When the fever didn’t subside despite all our efforts, my wife decided that we bring him to the hospital. It was around 2 pm in the morning and it was raining hard because of a tropical depression.

I carried Jason and my wife held the umbrella as we went out to the street to get a cab. There was no cab! There was no choice but to walk up to EDSA. As the three of us struggled under heavy rain and gusty wind, a car stopped. The driver lowered the passenger window and asked where we’re headed. We told him we’re trying to bring our son to a hospital but couldn’t get a cab.

He immediately got out of the car, and opened the door and let my wife and me.

To make a long story short, we made it to Makati Medical Center and thanked the driver only to realize later that we didn’t ask his name.

To that unknown driver who helped us that stormy morning, I’d like to THANK YOU! We haven’t forgotten what you did for us after all the years!

May this extraordinary deed by an ordinary young man, inspire us…

FIRST PRESIDENCY EASTER MESSAGE

The painting "The Doubting Thomas," by Carl Bloch accompanies the annual First Presidency Easter message by President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors, President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Article and photo courtesy of Church News.

 

Among the most cherished thoughts and writings in this world is the divine statement of truth: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

            This precious Son, our Lord and Savior, atoned for the sins of all mankind. That memorable night in Gethsemane His suffering was so great, His anguish so consuming that He pleaded, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Later, on the cruel cross, He died that we might live, and live everlastingly. Resurrection morning was preceded by pain, by suffering in accordance with the divine plan of God. Before Easter, there had to be a cross. The world has witnessed no greater gift, nor has it known more lasting love.

The message of Easter is that the Savior lives! And because He lives all shall indeed live again. This knowledge provides the peace for loved ones of those who have passed on, "Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: 'I know that my Redeemer lives!'"

  

Happy Easter to ALL!

MILLETTE CHIONGBIAN FINALLY CONQUERED BOSTON

Millette Chionbian and her husband Frederick in this file photo of the 2008 Mizuno Shell Half-Marathon organized by the Cebu Executive Runners Club (CERC). Photo courtesy of John Pages

 

She finally conquered Boston!

Millette Chiongbian ran the 115^th Boston Marathon yesterday April 18. She finished in 4:02.58 – her official time – as posted in the Boston Marathon website.       

We all know what she went through to qualify, run and finish the Boston Marathon - the marathon of all marathons. At first try, she missed the qualifying time by a couple of minutes. Last year, in LA, she finally nailed it by finishing in 3:43:06.

            That wasn’t over yet for Millette as far as running the actual Boston Marathon. She qualified but registering was another challenge.

            Millette (and a lot other runners) had to agonize through some rule changes arbitrarily imposed by the BAA. They flip-flopped on qualifying procedures and received a ton of criticisms for it.

            Yesterday, however, we finally could write it in our running record books – Millette Chiongbian – the first Cebuana runner to run the Boston Marathon.

Goeffrey Mutai crosses the finish in a blistering time of 2:03.02 in this year's Boston Marathon. Photo courtesy of Boston Athletic Association.

             Goeffrey Mutai of Kenyan won the men’s division with the fastest time of 2:03.02! So fast that it broke the record of 2:03.59 set by Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin in 2008. But here’s a catch. Mutai’s time isn’t recognized as the new marathon record. Boston Marathon’s terrain, according to officials, is a downhill course dropping to at least 16 feet or well above the regulation 1 foot per kilometer drop.

            But the blistering pace by Mutai is no joke. Officials could say whatever they want to say but to break the existing time by 57 seconds is no walk in the park. Moses Mosop, another Kenyan, came in second with another record-breaking time of 2:0:06.

            This brings the question: Will any man ever run a sub-2 marathon? Let’s discuss that in another blog.

            Here’s the top ten men’s finishers.

1.      Geoffrey Mutai KEN 2:03:02

2.      Moses Mosop KEN 2:03:06

3.      Gebregziabher Gebremariam ETH 2:04:53

4.      Ryan Hall USA 2:04:58

5.      Abreham Cherkos ETH 2:06:13

6.      Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot KEN 2:06:43

7.      Philip Kimutai Sanga KEN 2:07:10

8.      Deressa Chimsa ETH 2:07:39

9.      Bekana Daba ETH 2:08:03

10.  Juan Carlos R. Cardona, Sr. COL 2:12:17

Caroline Kilel outsprinted Desiree Davila of the US to rule the women's division with a time of 2:22:36. Photo courtesy of Associated Press (AP).

 

Caroline Kilel made it a sweep by the Kenyans as she crossed the finish line in

2:22:36 out sprinting Desiree Davila of the US by merely .02 of a second! Davila gave it all but couldn’t keep up with Kilel in the last 200 meters where Kilel dashed to the finish line. The last time an American (man or woman) won in Boston was in 1985.

            Here’s the complete women’s result.

1.      Caroline Kilel KEN 2:22:36

2.      Desiree Davila USA 2:22:38

3.      Sharon Cherop KEN 2:22:42

4.      Caroline Rotich KEN 2:24:26

5.      Kara Goucher USA 2:24:52

6.      Dire Tune ETH 2:25:08

7.      Werknesh Kidane ETH 2:26:15

8.      Yolanda B. Caballero COL 2:26:17

9.      Alice Timbilili KEN 2:26:34

10.  Yuliya Ruban UKR 2:27:00

For the benefit of those who want to run the next Boston Marathon, here are the qualifying times for 2012 and 2013.

Minimum Boston Marathon Qualifying Times 2012

Age - - - - - Men - - - - - Women

18-34 - 3hrs 10min - 3hrs 40min
35-39 - 3hrs 15min - 3hrs 45min
40-44 - 3hrs 20min - 3hrs 50min
45-49 - 3hrs 30min - 4hrs 00min
50-54 - 3hrs 35min - 4hrs 05min
55-59 - 3hrs 45min - 4hrs 15min
60-64 - 4hrs 00min - 4hrs 30min
65-69 - 4hrs 15min - 4hrs 45min
70-74 - 4hrs 30min - 5hrs 00min
75-79 - 4hrs 45min - 5hrs 15min
80&up - 5hrs 00min - 5hrs 30min

Minimum Boston Marathon Qualifying Times 2013

Age - - - - - Men - - - - - Women

18-34 - 3hrs 05min - 3hrs 35min
35-39 - 3hrs 10min - 3hrs 40min
40-44 - 3hrs 15min - 3hrs 45min
45-49 - 3hrs 25min - 3hrs 55min
50-54 - 3hrs 30min - 4hrs 00min
55-59 - 3hrs 40min - 4hrs 10min
60-64 - 3hrs 55min - 4hrs 25min
65-69 - 4hrs 10min - 4hrs 40min
70-74 - 4hrs 25min - 4hrs 55min
75-79 - 4hrs 40min - 5hrs 10min
80&up - 4hrs 55min - 5hrs 25min

             

            The BAA allows only 25,000 runners thus qualifying and actually running the Boston Marathon could be tricky. I included the 2013 times because the start of registration for 2012 is September 2011. I’m not sure if any of us here in Cebu could beat that schedule. Aside from that, you need to run in a Boston qualifying marathon such as the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon to qualify. You can’t just run a marathon and say you had this time.

           

BEST BASKETBALL CLINIC OPENS 33RD EDITION MAY 16

Young basketball players learn to dribble in this file photo of BEST Basketball Clinic in Cebu.  Photo courtesy of Rico Navarro, director of this annual clinic.

Benji Paras, Zandro Limpot, LA Tenorio, and Keifer Ravena - they have one thing in common - they all attended Best Basketball Clinic when they were younger, when they were trying to learn to play basketball.

            While Paras and Limpot are all retired after colorful careers in the PBA, Tenorio and Ravena are still dribbling and shooting. Ravena is fast becoming a budding superstar for Ateneo.

            I’ve watched him play in Cebu when he was donning the colors of the Philippine 18U Team and all I could say was “wow” every time he scores. Simply put, he’s an exciting player with very bright future.

            If there’s one important concept young boys will learn from this clinic that would be fundamentals.

            Well, if you’d seen Tenorio’s crossover dribble, then you know what I mean.

            A few weeks back, I played basketball at the Temple Complex along Gorordo Avenue. Yes, there’s a basketball court there, at the back of the meetinghouse.

            I played against Wilson Ganir, a temple missionary, of Filipino roots. He’s 61 years old but he could still play four games without even gasping for air.

            I teamed up with my ward’s young men and single adults and after the game, I pointed to Wilson. I told them how he adept he handled the ball and issued perfect go-ahead passes.

            There’s no secret that he played guard for Brigham Young University-Hawaii Campus in Laie, Hawaii, where he learned the fundamentals of the game.

            Back to Best Basketball Clinic.

            This Milo-backed clinic will open its 33^rd edition in Cebu on May 16.

            Rico Navarro, a good friend and director of this annual basketball clinic, e-mailed the details.

• May 16-21, 2011 (Mon-Sat)
• Venue: Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (Mango Ave Campus Gym)
• Fee: P2,300.00
• Levels Offered: 1-4
• For ages 9-up
• Time: 8am-12nn; 1-5pm* (*All students are required to be there at 7am on May 16. The coaching staff will divide the group into half-day sessions/classes based on levels and ages.) 
• Registration period:
• May 9 onwards at the SHS-Ateneo de Cebu Mango Campus.
• Early enrollees may also register and pay at the Athletic Dept Office of the SHS-Ateneo de Cebu, Canduman, Mandaue City.
• For more info, please contact: 583-7196, 0908-895-2933, 0923-342-8193 (SunCel users)

Rico said they had Ompong Segura and Bunky Bacay as coaches last year, but added that he has yet to confirm who will conduct the clinic next month.

Whoever the coaches will be, if your son has potential for the game, enroll him at Best Basketball Clinic. You will never regret your decision.

           

           

HERE COMES POLAR RCX 5

The new Polar RCX5

Multi-sport athletes can now train or compete with confidence with the introduction of Polar RCX5 heart rate monitor. This new product has some “hot” features these athletes would love.

NEW HYBRID STRAP

This hybrid heart strap allows athlete to monitor his heart rate even while swimming in salt water. It allows facility to transmit in different frequencies – 5kHz and 2.4 MHZ. The W.I.N.D. technology makes sure there will be no interference in signal transmission. In the past, triathletes complain that electric wires and transformer interfere with transmission.

HEAT RATE MULTI-SPORT ZONE

This feature allows smooth transition from swimming, biking and running. Swimming, biking and running will require different heart rate zones – features offered by the new Polar RCX5. In addition, Polar makes sure it would easy to shift between zones and to access them.

WORKS WITH MAC OR PC

This new product allows use to transfer date to either Mac or PC eliminating need of other software. The product comes with Datalink so data transfer is just a click of the mouse.

BIG DISPLAY

The Polar RCX5 offers big display of basic information like heart rate, speed, distance, etc. at the same time. No more scrolling!

G5 GPS SENSOR AND S3 STRIDE SENSOR

The Polar RCX5 comes with a small G5 GPS sensor that could be recharged using USB. The stride sensor makes sure of accurate stride and distance measurement. There's a separate configuration for bikers.

TRAINING LOAD

Another feature is a training system that creates plan, advice and helps to maximize effort and could be adjusted as the case maybe.

ZONE OPTIMIZER

This makes the athlete train at proper intensity as training could be challenging at times.

For more info, please follow this link: http://www.polar.fi/en/about_polar/news/new_cutting-edge_RCX5_training_computer.

(THIS PRODUCT WILL HIT THE PHILIPPINE MARKET BY SEPTEMBER AND WILL BE EXCLUSIVELY DISTRIBUTED BY RUNNR.)

BROOKS IS NOW #1 BRAND IN THE US

Hitler Dulay of SRI discusses the rise of Brooks as number 1 shoe brand in the US during the Runnr Academy session last week.

Brooks has overtaken Asics as the number 1 shoe brand in the US. This among others was the gist of the presentation of Hitler Dulay of Sports Resources Inc. during a session in the on-going Runnr Academy running clinic at Active Zone in Ayala.

            Citing statistics from statistical reports from SRA, Dulay said Brooks has captured 25.3% of the market in the Spring of 2011. This is a big 3.4% improvement from its previous share of 22.0%. The share of Asics remained at 25.3%.

            Nike is third with 12.4% or a drop of 0.4% from its previous rating in 2011.

            Saucony grabbed fourth place with a share of 12.2% despite a 1.2% drop from its previous rating.

            Mizuno is fifth in the mix with 9.8% rating from a previous double-digit rating of 11.3%.

            Notable among the brands is the rise of Vibram to 0.9% from NIL in 2010. Newton is also making a dash improving to 0.7% from 0.4% in 2011.

            Here’s the complete statistics:

                          2011     2010     Pt. Chg.

BROOKS	25.4%	22.0%	3.4
ASICS	25.3%	25.3%	(0.0)
NIKE	12.4%	12.8%	(0.4)
SAUCONY	12.2%	13.4%	(1.2)
MIZUNO	9.8%	11.3%	(1.5)
NB	7.5%	9.0%	(1.4)
ADIDAS	3.9%	3.8%	0.1
VIBRAM	0.9%	0.0%	0.9
PEARL IZUMI	0.8%	1.1%	(0.3)
NEWTON	0.7%	0.4%	0.4
OTHERS	0.9%	0.9%	0.1

             

            Brooks’ rise to the top could be attributed to some its models getting attention and awards.

            Leading the way is Ghost 3 that won the 2010 International Editor’s Choice Award from Runner’s World. Ghost 3 outranked 90 other performance running shoes reviewed by editors.

Ghost 3

            Adrenalin GTS 11 is another award winning shoes from Brooks. It garnered the Best Update award from Runner’s World magazine.

            Glycerin 8 also got into the award column with an Editor’s Choice award.

            Recently, Brooks introduced into their shoes, specifically in Trance 11, GTS 10, Ravenna 2, Cascadia and Beast their DNA Technology. Here’s the link to this technology: http://www.brooksrunning.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-BrooksRunning-Site/default/Technology-Content?cid=brooks_dna

            My favorite in the Brooks line is the Green Silence. I have the “older” version of red and yellow and it has given me comfort and smooth ride in longer mileage. I'm an environmentalist so this is my statement shoes.

           Brooks has also introduced its racers in ST5 and T7 models. Visit Runnr in Ayala Center to find more models.

Green Silence