In less than 12 hours, I will begin my last Unreasonable Mental Challenge for 2023. It is the 50 km ultra from Calamba to Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

This annual ultramarathon race derives its inspiration from our national hero, Jose P. Rizal, which is why it starts in his birthtown. The race ends in Sta. Cruz, Laguna sports complex, where the tallest Rizal monument is, built for the 2014 Palarong Pambansa, depicting Rizal as a sportsman.

The ultra event, organized by Run Mania, has common elements from the 3 previous ultras that I have completed with this respected sports group. I will no longer be surprised with the following race features (1) a running bonus of +/- 5 km making the race actually 55km, with the bonus occuring at the end of the race in an uphill reward (2) unmarked turns along the routes which will test your intelligence and street smarts asking surprised townspeople, “Saan po yung mga runners?”… (3) aid stations that are 10km apart unlike the normal fun runs of aid stations every 2 km (4) generally crazy runners who enjoy the torment of longer distances.

But for a “veteran” (read as: 58 year old) runner like me, I know that each run is always different from the other. Even if I run exactly the same route with the same running gear and exactly the same race preparation, each race has its own unique story. And the uncertainty of the result is what excites me to run this race, again, for the first time.

I am tempted to put my excuses now, before the race begins, as a fallback or fail safe in case I DNF (do not finish) the race. I have had my share of DNF before – the Clark 50k, Cebu 42k and San Mateo Trail 21k. But finishing these would have meant increased risk of injury. I chose to NOT finish these to run another day.

I know I will go deep down to my inner self during the entire 10 hours that I am allowed to complete the 50k race. During this time, I will transform from Hero to Villain to Hero, using the superhero powers that I developed from the many races I have run before in this game we call life. While I have my DNF stories, I do have much more “Finisher” stories that will empower my belief that I can finish a race, one step at a time. The last Finisher story was the Crazy 24 hours 3 weeks ago, where I completed 70km in 12 hours. The difference then vs. the Hero race, is that I was able to run for 12 hours, and rest for 12 hours within the 24 hour period.

I know I am violating a personal race rule I created in 2017 when I tried to run 2 ultras, 2 weeks apart. I finished the first one and DNF on the 2nd one. But these are my rules, my own story, and I know that I am not breaking them tonight. I am simply upgrading my transformative and empowering conversation.

During one of my Ateneo digital marketing classes, Jonathan Joson, one of the most respected digital experts in the Philippines and a former Google digital whiz, shared how google appears when we need them the most. The premise is that we dont need google all the time, but it is in those moments when we need a question answered, where to buy, what to do, it is in the special moments, when google becomes our best friend. Google called these “moments”…

I know the race of life is long, so I will not be surprised one bit. I expect it to be difficult. I will not be alone, Ken Clouber, the creator of Leadville 100 (miles), one of the most famous endurance trail races in the world, said:

Yes, i ran this race, my 3rd ultra, in 2017 and finished with a smile, injury free. (see bottom right picture).

There will be many great differences with tonight’s story. What I bring together with my tried-and-tested running gear are the good wishes from my family (has always been there) but also from my 2 new families in BNI Abundance and SLS/ Reinvent International. I will run this race with Mr. Pain, and their good wishes. I will never run alone again.

This Hero to Hero, Story to Story, Moment to Moment race is the best possible transition to 2024, where I commit to be outside my comfort zone, in a space of nothing, to help people TransFORMe to their best version of themselves.