Early morning surprises

It’s no secret that I do my long runs on Saturdays, starting at around 4:30 am, in preparation for the Cebu Marathon.

My runs are long and lonely, hard and hazardous, tiring and troublesome and full of surprises.

Now I know what Jess Taborada meant when he said the city has no more sidewalks. The sidewalks are now the real estate of families and children who use them as bedrooms. Last week, I decided to run on the sidewalk for a change, but went back on the street after a kilometer or two.

I almost stepped on two youngsters that were soundly asleep in front of the PLDT building along Jones Avenue. They were dirty and had nothing to cover or protect themselves from the elements.

After almost a kilometer away, I found other sidewalk dwellers. This time, it was a family of five, snugly sleeping, sharing a piece of cardboard. Sandwiched in between the parents (I assumed they were the parents) was a little baby, maybe less than a year old!

On my second lap, along Ramos Street, I came across a group of call center agents. You could hardly miss these guys, they’re young, ruggedly dressed and are usually noisy. They were on their way to a coffee shop for a sip of coffee while I would kill for a glass of water!

As the day was emerging, I almost bumped into a guy who was texting. He was so engrossed with what he was doing he didn’t see me approaching. I tried to avoid him but when he finally saw me coming he instinctively turned left when I turned right and turned right when I turned left! I’m thankful there’s no CCTV camera that caught what we’re doing to avoid collision. It would be good material for a funny video.

By my third lap, the streets were abuzz with people and vehicles. I had to be extra careful because some weeks back, a van nearly hit me while approaching Fuente Osmeña Circle from Robinsons. I waved to signify I was approaching and the driver slowed downed. Then, all of a sudden, the driver stepped on the accelerator and almost hit me. I didn’t know I looked that scary at around 6:00 am!

My last lap was a bit dramatic. At this time, people were lining up the streets for a ride to the office, market, etc. On my way to Capitol, I saw a couple quarreling over something. I could sense that it was more than an LQ because the couple was shouting at each other on top of their voices and the girl was collaring the boy!

I admit I stopped to look but then started running again, as if nothing happened, when the girl gave me the dagger look!

Except for the vicious drivers, the other dramatis personae I meet during my long runs on Saturdays make or break my day.

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CONGRATULATIONS to Jess Taborada, John Pages, Dodong Sulatre, Annie Neric, JR and Rovie Aguilon, Steve Ferraren, Joel Juares, Dr. Raymund Bontol, Bro. Carlo Bacalla, Haidee Acuña, Raffy Uytiepo, Atan, Jeson, Jerry Guardo and Joel Garganera for completing the hell (literally) of a marathon that was Quezon City…KUDOS as well to Dr. Vic Verallo, Dr. Albert Santos, Jacs and Perl Jacalan, Andrew, Veronica and Jane Ong for completing the more comfortable Amsterdam Marathon, where they all submitted their personal best timings!

After their experience in Quezon City and Amsterdam, I know Jess, John and Jacs; will make certain that the Cebu Marathon will be a better event.

For comments, please e-mail [email protected]. – THE FREEMAN