THE 'ORIGINAL' BDM ULTRA-MARATHON

Ed Paez (holding the American flag) runs with Ron Delos Reyes (with Philippine flag), Raffy Uytiepo and Roy Vence.

Today, the nation commemorates Araw ng Kagitingan as a tribute to Filipino and American soldiers who gallantly put up their last defense in Bataan and Corregidor against the invading Japanese Imperial Army in 1942.

There’s an annual ceremony at the Mount Samat Shrine in Bataan and in almost all major cities and provinces in the country to mark this historic event.

I’d like to draw attention, however, to a different kind of commemoration started by a group of runners twenty-five years ago.

In 1986, Edmundo “Ed” Paez, a sportswriter and president of the San Fernando Runners Unlimited Inc. (SAFER RUN) started retracing the original trail of the infamous 1942 Death March.

More than 10,000 Filipino and American soldiers died from torture, disease and starvation during the trek and more would die in prison camp in Capas, Tarlac. 

Paez’s foray into the trail was rather forced. Two years back, in 1984, Max Telford a New Zealand ultra-marathoner tried to retrace the trail. According to Paez, his group had “to put up a supporting role by trying to escort Telford out of Cabalen country in 1985.” Telford, however, didn’t allow local runners to run with him, asked them to run behind their back-up vehicles and so they withdrew and left Telford on his own. Without a guide, Telford tried twice but failed to retrace the original route.

Paez then painstakingly made his own research – reading books, visiting historical sites and interviewing Death March survivors – then organized the first Bataan Death March Ultra-Marathon.

He wanted that that a Filipino would be the first to retrace the route of the Bataan Death March of 1942.

Armed with dogged determination, Paez organized the first batch of ultra-marathoners, in all composed of 29 members of SAFER RUN. In that first staging of the run in April 8 and 9, 1986, the runner had only P500 for pocket money and subsisted with “binalot na dahong kanin, canned sardines, boiled eggs, drinking water, smoked and dried fish.”

With a dump truck as their back-up vehicle (donated by the late Pampanga Governor Bren Guiao) the group ran (the marathon is non-competitive) until they reached the marker at San Fernando, Pampanga or a total of 102 kilometers. 

 The group, this time with more back-up vehicles, again hit the road.

According to Raffy Uytiepo, one of the original members of the group, they would run like a relay team – one runner starts – then others would take turns to run the distance. The tired runner would take needed rest aboard the dump truck.

The runners passed through the towns of Limay, Orion, Pilar, Balanga, Abucay, Samal, Orani, Hermosa, Dinalupihan, all the way to San Fernando, Pampanga. For the final trek to Capas, the runners would board their back-up vehicles, then run the final 12 kilometers to the marker and meet the veterans waiting for them.

Raffy said he had run this ultra-marathon with some of the biggest names in Philippine sports like Mona Sulaiman, Orly Bauzon, Ian Cruz, Susie Quibol, Lorrie Bauzon, Carolino Gonzales, Rey Antoque, Jona Gayumba-Atienza, Cresenciano Sabal, Bernardo Desmito, Jr., Josie Bauzon, Cesar Guarin, Ron Delos Reyes and many others.

Raffy said the run would usually take two days, thus they would start on April 8. He recalled that the runners would hoist the Filipino, American and Japanese flags along the way.

He also said that they would wear costumes during their runs. Because he was fairer than most of the runners, he would always get the part to play an American GI.

“We were running, and I couldn’t remember when it was then, but one of the runners was dressed up like a Japanese soldier. Out of the blues, an old man started throwing stones at the runner because he mistook him as Japanese! We have to restrain and explain to the old man that we were Filipinos that we were just trying to commemorate the Bataan Death March,” Raffy recalled.

Raffy also said that when they reach Camp O’Donell in Capas, Tarlac, veterans would greet them. He said the number of veterans have dwindled through the years. He related that every year he would see less and less of these veterans.

This year, on its twenty-fifth anniversary, a commemorative passing of torch will start with a send-off at Kilometer 0 marker on April 8. Abraham Regala, a WWII veteran and post commander, will hand the torch to Ed Paez.

From there, runners will run through the province of Bataan, get a night’s sleep in Lubao, Pampanga. The next day, they should be able to pass through Guagua and BacolorSan Fernando, Pampanga.

Again, SAFER RUN heads the group runners, who will now be joined by Caloocan North Running Club, City of Sta. Rosa Runners, Tarlac City Runners, Philippine Army Special Services Unit, Light Armor Division, 2^nd Infantry Division and other running clubs from the Running Confederation of the Philippines (Run CPI).

 At the Capas, Tarlac marker with some of the living WWII veterans.

From Pampanga, the runners will motor to Capas, Tarlac, where they will run the remaining 12-kilometers to the Capas National Shrine where the runners will light the urn. (Why another ceremony at Capas, Tarlac? The soldiers who survived the Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga march where herded into trains and transported to Capas, Tarlac where they were incarcerated for 41 months.)