Fair Play: Crazy people these ultra-marathoners

BY THE time you got to this page, I�m sure you�ve asked yourself this question: How the heck do you run 65 kilometers?

The answer?

I don�t know.

I want to know, but I don�t think I really want to know.

It has got to be one of the craziest things anyone can do in a lifetime and I�m pretty sure when the folks who saw these crazies start the run in Toledo City learned where yesterday�s run was supposed to finish, they all shook their heads and said, �Wala na sila�y mga lingaw?�

Crazy. Sixty-five kilometers on foot? And they�re not even running for any prize at all!

I think they should have their heads checked for a few loose marbles.

Last Saturday, I was reviewing photos of the first Cebu ultramarathon, which was �only� a 50K compared to yesterday�s 65K, and the photos convinced me. They SHOULD have their heads checked.

In almost all of the photos, these folks were smiling. Smiling while doing a 50K, imagine that! Sure, there were a few stern-looking folks, and one who seemed to have difficulty staying upright but for the rest, they looked like they were having a day in the park.

If not for the folder named �ultramarathon� you�d think you�re viewing pictures of a Sunday stroll.

Like I said, crazy people these ultra-marathoners.

Which is why only 226 signed up and I�m hoping every one of them finished the race.

You see, crazies or not, we can learn something from the runners of the 65K.

Some things that seem impossible are not, if you�re just determined to do it.

Impossible to break a habit? To pick up a sport? To start running? To quit smoking? To start studying?

Impossible? Really?

If some harmless-looking lady, or frail-looking dude can run 65 freaking kilometers, perhaps those things are really not that impossible.

Crazy people these ultra-marathoners. They�re showing us some things are not as crazy as it seems. Especially if you have your friends looking out for you.

So, what�s crazier than running a 65K? Try 100.

CLASSIC MATCH-UP. So it�s Boston vs. Miami. A match-up that has so many sub-plots it seems it�s a series designed by Hollywood.

The veteran Big 3 against the latest version, the aging champions against one hyped to rack up title after title. And there�s Shaquille O�Neal. The guy who the Lakers traded to Miami and then showed LA how wrong they were by leading the Heat to its first NBA title.

Shaquille, who has since bounced to Cleveland to play with LeBron, will now face the Heat, who now has LeBron, who got eliminated by Boston last year.

I hated Shaq when he was young, but now I�m a big fan. Who couldn�t like this Big Diesel? Though I�m hoping he�d have one final playoff push, but against the young Heat, I see the big guy and the Celtics crashing out in six games.

I�m so confident that I�m willing to bet to spend an hour, four to five times a week, running in Abellana till I reach 65 kilometers or till they close the oval for repairs, whichever comes first, if Miami loses.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on May 02, 2011.