Runs, PacMan and Gun Ban

Let me be particular and stay grounded locally, although chances are, the same things are happening around the country. What exactly is brewing? Well, since the middle of last year, almost every weekend of every month we see different groups host running events with their corresponding themes benefiting varied causes.

As always, local running stars spiced with a sprinkling of foreign nationals dominate the field composed of the very young and amazingly fit 70-somethings, from the swift and bamboo-thin runners to the acacia-like converts huffing and puffing along the way. Then there are the costumed entrants and the passive runners who show up not really to run but to model and strut their new, for-the-event outfits.

If running shoes were made like saws and with the frequency of the runs, the city will have corrugated roads.

It's a cheap sport, unless of course we go for the high-end equipments available. 

All we need is a safe place to run, the proper gear and we're off. It's really nice to be conscious of our well-being. Come to think of it, we could grow old trim and fit, and since we're all healthy, by the time we reach 90-plus, we can be lying on our hospital bed, wondering, dying of nothing.    

Me and all of my 195 pounds had wanted to take up running but the most I can do is about 500 meters. Add to the fact that my doctor advised me against it, I'm just doing some brisk walking in the afternoons, sometimes with the wifey. 

All of us have our preferred venues to produce sweat and with several others who live up north, we do our thing at the Manila Memorial Park in Liloan. One circuit is about 2.2 kilometers and we don't have to worry about vehicles approaching front and back. The residents are also peacefully quite and they really don't mind people exercising inside their subdivision. There is ample lighting if it gets dark, but since the neighborhood is serenely tranquil and residents are all underground, it would be best to stay on the main block within view of the guards. 

I'm longing and waiting for the day to run and finish my first 5k. With some practice, I just might.

* * *

Congressman PacMan has been legislating(?) and training for sometime for his upcoming November 13 fight with Antonio Margarito. Compared to the last time, I think the Cowboys' Stadium in Dallas will have a record number in attendance considering that Margarito is at least 3 inches taller and has 6-inch reach advantage.

As per reports, PacMan's sparring partners, who are both world class in light middleweight Michael Medina and undefeated welterweight Glen Tapia, are in awe with our pound-for-pound king. Both are young, are power-punchers and quick. Tapia was brought in precisely to mimic Margarito's bullying style.

Claiming he witnessed Margarito train, boxing analyst Doug Fischer, in an article posted by Philboxing.com said that PacMan's opponent has gotten "quicker and moves a lot more than he used to in previous fights." Margarito has in his game plan a huge volume of body shots, lots of head weaving, footwork and evasive maneuvers.

We are in for a big, strong, rough and some experts say, a dirty fighter. Although odds slightly favor our honorable boxer, we could not afford to blink, to borrow a line from Recah Trinidad. No more basketball and marathons for Cong. PacMan this time. Time to be serious this few remaining weeks. You know. Mahilig ka namanumaray.

* * *

Not a day passes that we hear about gun-related incidents, often with fatal results.

What has the COMELEC-imposed gun ban resulted into? Zilch. If claiming confiscation of firearms and bladed weapons on checkpoints as a success, I beg to disagree. There are existing laws already prohibiting unauthorized carry anyway.

Righteously sane and law-abiding mortals (including judges) are ridiculously held hostage by this prohibition. The irony of it all is that lawless elements bordering on the insane are still taunting the authorities by flaunting their unlicensed weapons, preying on the haplessly unarmed.

There were proposed laws presented for deliberation at the hallowed halls of the Provincial Board that, as per admission of the proponent, were "out of the box."

Why not dream and invent something that could bring us out of the dark?

A proposal countering this ban is much better than putting a mandate on a person's inclination to high-calorie consumption or limiting a man's desire to enhance his loins and groins. 

Meanwhile, if somebody approaches and points a gun at you, better give him what he wants and then run faster than PacMan.  

Email: [email protected], [email protected]