The First Running Specialty Store In The Philippines For Runners, By Runners

July 19, 2010

Jeremy Go comes up to me one March afternoon and asks me, “Are you part of the Epic Relay?”

“No.” I answered.

“Well, now you are!” says Jeremy.

Just like that, I became the tenth member of the Secondwind team for the Chris Sports Epic Relay. And that’s where my Epic Relay story begins. While the Epic Relay may be a story of running 250 kilometers with 10 teammates in 2 vans through scenic routes in Subic, Bataan, and Zambales, mine is a story of friendship. It’s also a story of how a friendly rivalry was formed. And it’s a story of what it means to be a part of a team in an individual sport.

Team Secondwind was composed of 10 people, almost all of whom I didn't even know existed more than a year and a half ago. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know each member through countless training sessions, numerous races we decided to join, and a few General’s Lechon (which, according to Bobby Go, is the official Secondwind wager) celebrations / get-togethers within the past year.

My co-captain, Paolo “Jazz” Manuel, who I have known since elementary, along with Jeremy Go, Paolo “Civic” Manalo, and Carlo Mostoles, have been a few of my training buddies since last year. Roxy Cipriano would also join the group in some of the early evening U.P. runs and eventually became Carlo’s girlfriend. Ugi Maranon, who happens to be Jazz’s business partner, is somebody I would engage in a friendly chitchat with either in the starting corral of a race or at a Secondwind party he would attend with his wife Eya. I met Thea Torres and Mayen Moraleda while they were training for their first marathon earlier this year and they both have been constantly present in the most recent Secondwind gatherings since then.

I think I speak for every member of the team that, going into the event, it seemed natural - in fact, it was a no-brainer - that the only way that we were to take part in this event is if we did it together and as Secondwind. I, personally, couldn’t even begin to imagine being cooped up in a van filled with complete strangers.

Being familiar with each other, we had the privilege of forgoing having team meetings, practice / training runs, and getting-to-know-you gatherings. Getting to the day of the event, the only exchanges we’ve had was through phone and by e-mail.

The team agreed to meet in Carlo’s place in Valenzuela on race day. There we were, at 3 in the morning, distributing the team’s supplies and dividing ourselves according to vans based on our leg assignments. Roxy, Carlo, Jeremy, and Thea joined me in the first van while Ugi, Eya, Jazz, Civic, and Mayen crowded into the second van.

We arrived The Lighthouse in Subic, which was the venue for the start of the race, just before 7:00am. After I gathered the entire team, we made our way to the registration tent to collect our race packets. Under the tent and behind the registration table sat two race officials. Before I could introduce ourselves, one of the two women behind the table asked, “Secondwind?”

“Yup!” I answered.

With a look that I can only describe as a mixture of harassed and slightly annoyed, she said, “Finally!”

They then proceeded to register each member, distribute our race bibs, and attach our race bands (irremovable bracelets which would signify which legs of the race we were assigned to run) to our wrists. When we finished with our registration, we went to the starting line to watch and cheer on Roxy who ran the first leg to start our Epic Relay race.

While the runners from our van were busy running the race, the second van drove ahead to scout the routes and to look for lodging, which would serve as our temporary home base for the inactive teammates to eat, rest, and freshen up. Co-captain Paolo Jazz would constantly update us of any progress on their part and to give us a heads-up on the route that we would be passing up ahead.

While the second van accomplished their task of securing a home base for the team, the runners from our van just continued to run our race and enjoy this unique experience. Nobody was thinking of who we had to run after nor did we have any specific goal in mind. We simply had to do our assignments and proceed to finish our race. Things were still quite simple at this point.

It was exhilarating to find out that by the end of the first five legs, not only were we the second team from the 7:00am leg to reach the first Van Exchange Point, but we managed to overtake some teams which started the race at 6:00am as well. Little did we know that looming somewhere close behind us would be a team that would later on change the way we ran the Epic Relay.

While our van was resting, having “brunch,” and taking our refreshing showers in our team’s “secret stop-over resort” near Pawikan Center, Paolo Jazz gives me a call.

“Migs!” he says. “Good news! I managed to overtake some more teams during my leg. But someone from Team Yahoo! overtook Civic!”

At that point, Mayen was about to start running her first leg and we were instructed to head to the peak of Mt. Samat, which was the venue for the second Van Exchange Point and where the members of my van would start running our second leg. With our much-awaited rest cut short, we voyaged to Mt. Samat. Co-captain Jazz would constantly call us to check where we were and to update us of how the race between Secondwind and Yahoo! was developing. We were informed that Ugi recovered the lead for our team while ascending the unforgiving inclines of Mt. Samat. While waiting at the exchange point, we witnessed our teammate get there first. Team Yahoo! realized this as well. It was at this point that the rivalry between Yahoo! and Secondwind intensified.

Rivalries make competition more interesting. I think it’s because there’s an unspoken common objective made by two sides (which in this case is both teams) to come out better than the other. Rather than pursue a seemingly unreachable goal of finishing first or settling to merely finish the race, the rivalry created a more specific and immediate goal for the team… or maybe even both teams. This emerged from the realization that both sides were evenly matched.

Athletes seem to perform their best when they are pitted against their rivals. A lot of people would look forward to a showdown between the Lakers and Celtics in the NBA. Spanish Football would always anticipate the El Clasico, the FC Barcelona and Real Madrid rivalry. Even in the local college level of the UAAP, the most intense and watched match-ups are those between Ateneo and La Salle. Rivalries change the way the game is played.

Such was the case with our Epic Relay experience. As the race continued with the descent of Mt. Samat, we decided to keep a closer eye on Team Yahoo! No longer were we leisurely cruising through the race route. Our Epic Relay became a team effort to come out as the better group. Every lead that we lost would be a collaborative effort to shorten the gap or even regain the lead, which Jeremy eventually did as we made our way back to Pawikan Center.

Our return to Pawikan Center would signify a brief moment’s rest for our van. This time however, as our entire team would make its way back to Subic, the second van would run the opposite direction of our first route while we were assigned the task of finding and booking hotel rooms for the team. After a frustrating effort to find rooms along the stretch of Waterfront Road (this was at around 9 in the evening but then, there’s such a thing as wishful thinking), we resorted to getting a couple of rooms at Subic International Hotel. Each of us could hardly ignore the exhaustion we were experiencing from this race as we ate our take-out Jollibee meals in complete silence (with the exception of the television set). Each of us would utter something out of disbelief every time someone’s phone would ring expecting that it’s the other van telling us to prepare for our next legs.

And then the inevitable happened - we had to start running again. We all crawled out of our beds and sluggishly returned to our van. As we made our way back to The Lighthouse to meet the second van, watch Ugi complete his leg, and for our van to continue our race, we were informed that all the teams would reconvene at 3:00am to finish the last 10 legs of the race.

After a really brief nap in our hotel rooms, we returned to The Lighthouse at 3:00am to conclude the race. With all 24 teams present, it seemed difficult to keep an eye on our rival team. But as the race progressed, it was evident that both Team Yahoo! and Secondwind were evenly matched as our teams ended up running in close proximity. In this seemingly endless neck-and-neck battle between both teams, it would no longer be a surprise to find the now familiar faces of Team Yahoo! staring back at us in every Runner Exchange Point. I could feel the tension every time we see a Yahoo! runner hurry off to continue their race and I couldn’t ignore the enthusiasm coming from my teammates every time they dart off ahead of a rival runner.

Towards the end of the race, whenever I would come across the now-familiar faces of our adversaries, we couldn’t help but smile back and exchange one-liners to each other. At the end of such an intense back-and-forth battle for nothing more than simply team pride, one couldn’t help but feel that you get to know the opposing team more. In fact, it felt that the Epic Relay simply revolved just between both teams and after being in a constant battle for so long, a mutual sense of respect is created between the two teams.

We watched Thea finish her quick 3km leg along a national highway in San Felipe which put an end to my van’s running responsibilities. It was now up to Jazz and the rest of the members of the second van to put an exclamation point to our race with a strong finish and the hopes of being the better team. With our responsibilities now over, we headed back to the hotel to gorge on what we considered as our well-deserved breakfast. After a quick shower and a short nap, we received a call from the other van to meet them near the finish line.

We made our way to the last tent, located near The Lighthouse, which would signify the completion of our Epic Relay. When we got there, we saw some familiar faces, a few members of Team Yahoo!, who were seated and waiting for their last runner to finish the final leg of the race. Both teams silently waited for the last runner to arrive, both hoping that their respective teams would come out on top.

“Sino kaya unang dadating?” Francisco Navarro, an eXtribe official, wondered out loudly. “Black and yellow ba o purple?” (Who will arrive first? Is it the black and yellow or is it someone wearing purple?).

At that point, I was praying for a miracle to happen and that Ugi would still have the strength to finish ahead of our rivals. But we didn’t get our fairytale ending. As we watched the next runner to arrive, it wasn’t a man sporting the black and yellow singlet my team proudly wore. Rather, it was some guy who was being followed by a van filled with men in purple. Team Yahoo! came out on top in this race.

After a mere minute, we caught site of Ugi and all our feelings of disappointment just vanished. We accomplished what we set out to do in Subic. We finished running the Epic Relay. At that moment, it no longer mattered if we came up short of beating our rivals. We have forgotten about the exhaustion and the body ache that an overnight race brought to us. Running together, as a team donning the black and yellow, we crossed the finish line at The Lighthouse as Team Secondwind.

After countless shots from different photographers awaiting our arrival at the finish line, Paolo Jazz shouted out, “Bioman pose! Bioman pose!” Just like that, each member just knew what they had to do. Once again, just like how natural it was for us to be part of the same team, everyone contributed to create a pose which can only describe as being “sooooo Secondwind.”

Looking back, I’m proud of how each of my teammates took the initiative to go beyond what they were capable of doing.

There was Roxy who, despite the constant nagging migraine attacks, ran an incredible race.

Carlo struggled through an emerging knee injury.

Thea, who just finished her first marathon, was larger than life as she mustered the strength to keep the team in the game.

Jeremy, who did a few of the longer and more difficult routes of the race, ran in a way that I’ve never seen him do so.

Eya, who is actually just a newbie runner, did more than her best to keep up with the more experienced athletes.

Co-captian Jazz, who constantly kept the team’s competitive spirits alive, decided to run all-out since the start of the race.

Civic, who I would consider a strong runner, surprised even himself by running faster than what he thought could be his fastest run.

Mayen ran hard through the rolling roads of Bataan despite her recurring hamstring injury.

Ugi, who ran the race’s most grueling and difficult legs, gave it his all even when the odds seemed to be against any person’s physical capabilities.

None of us had to do this.We didn’t have to perform the way we did. On any other given day, we would have slowed down, started walking, or maybe even quit. But this was different. Having others counting on your performance gives you a reason to push towards the next step even harder than you ever have in the past. It makes you go the extra mile even if you have never done so before.

Team Secondwind finished sixth out of 24 teams. Not bad for a group of friends. Co-captain Jazz said it best:

“We came in looking to have fun, but ended up competing!”