The Day I Took on The Valley Trail Challenge

*As published in the August 2011 issue of frontRUNNER magazine Philippines

For someone with a status like mine - a full time homemaker, mother of a 3 year old boy, living away from my own country, away from family and friends I grew up with - running means much more to me than just a means of getting that cute ass. It is a way of redeeming myself from a sense of purposelessness, a way of levitating myself to a meditative state to take my mind away from the monotony of mommyhood, and a way to connect with the most wonderful people of our city, Clark. And it is this last aspect of my many joys of running that I treasure the most - Team Clark - a great team of enthusiastic, fun loving and competitive athletes. A bunch of friendly folks :) It is through members of Team Clark that I got to know about The Valley Trail Challenge at Nuvali, Laguna. Initially, I wasn't sure if I wanted to join the 25km run, since I had just come back from a long vacation from India (where I had trained very little) and I had also heard that the trail is quite flat and not at all fun. But thanks to some ever encouraging friends, I still booked my slot. Encouraging still was the fact that almost the entire Team Clark had registered as well! Around 15 of us started from Clark in a bus at 12:30 am on race day! I cursed myself as I settled down for a long drive to Nuvali, Laguna. It had rained the entire previous evening and the weather was perfect to remain wrapped in a warm, cosy blanket. Anyway, we reached two hours ahead of gun start which gave us plenty of time to have breakfast, stretch, look around, wash and change and click plenty of pictures. I was still whining about my lack of sleep when I first set my eyes on Mt. Makiling. It was breathtaking! Suddenly, my slouch was gone, I was wide awake and my nose was smelling for adventure. The beauty of the sight and the atmosphere of the venue told me this was going to be worthwhile. We gathered at the start line sharp at 6 am. I saw a lot of familiar faces from my previous runs - PAU Mt Pinatubo, Fat Ass 2011 and Salomon Extreme Trail Run. I guess that's what make trail runs and ultras special; you are never lost in a sea of strangers. In stead you feel the strength of brotherhood and camaraderie.

So at the count of zero, my journey away from reality to a state of complete detachment started. With every step into the trail, I began to blend into the environment, just as always! The first couple of kilometers were on this narrow goat trail through tall grass fields and we were forced to run in a single file. This was followed by alternating stretches of dirt road, wild grass fields and asphalt. Though there were no steep uphill or downhill climbs, the trail was not flat either. The long undulating stretch of the trail (fittingly named as New Zealand) was at the same time beautiful (with Lake Laguna and Mt Makiling in the backdrop) and strenuous (with the sun shining brightly by then). Whoever said the trail was flat and boring must've been kidding! The texture, gradient and the direction just kept changing every few kilometers - keeping even the best runners on high alert. There were water stations at every 5-6 km and that was my only way of knowing the approximate distance I had covered. As I got closer to the 25km mark (and what I thought would be the end of the run) I ran with my feet in sync with the music on my ipod - boy! I felt happy and strong. But I was shocked, when I reached the 25km mark, to see that instead of a finish line, there was a poster saying "Smile Pare! Your freebie miles start now"! Damn!!
But it wasn't so bad after all. Even though the sun was unforgiving and I was running beyond the finish line I had in my mind; I found the strength to keep pushing myself forward because I knew I wasn't the only one going through this grind. Though I walked some stretches of this 3.5km of "freebie miles", I made it a point to cover the last 500 meters to the finish line running and smiling. As Jim Morrison insisted that I "Show me (him) the way to the next whisky bar" into my ears, I finished a very satisfying run of 28.5km in 3 hours and 57 minutes. I got to the other side and decided to oblige Jim later that evening :))