And so last Saturday, close to midnight and under the pouring rain, Thumbie Remigio turned from designer to winner after his Team Merrel topped the Manila leg of the exciting Enduro San Mig Light Adventure Race.
"We never expected to win this race," said Thumbie, an adventure race enthusiast for almost a decade now. He has served as race director to similar competitions in the past and organizes other sporting events, too.
The non-stop event sponsored by San Mig Light, the right-alcohol, low-calorie beer, brought 27 teams in the Elite class to 18 stations in gruelling, lung-busting and exhausting fashion as they vied for the juicy P75,000 prize.
Team Merrel needed 40 long hours and 23 trying minutes to win it all, hurdling different tests in orienteering, zip-lining, rappelling, biking, swimming, running and solving puzzles, riddles and other types of mind games.
The participants braved varying weather conditions the moment they were flagged off Friday noon at the Eastwood City in Libis until they reached stations like the Manila Film Center, Makati Cinema Square, Remedios Circle, Intramuros and Montalban, Rizal.
Team Merrel, which included Jojo Macalintal, a caterer, and Popo Natalon, a female triathlete, was the only team to finish the mountainous, watery Montalban leg, which proved to be the toughest among the stations.
But for Team Merrel, it was where the battle was won.
"We planned to finish the leg in five hours but it took us 13 hours from eight in the morning until nine in the evening. That was the toughest part of the race," said Thumbie during the rain-soaked awarding ceremony of the race organized by X10 Events.
It was all worth it for Team Merrel which finished a dead-tired second to Team Iligan in the first leg of the Enduro San Mig Light Adventure Race in the enchanting island paradise of Boracay last April.
"It really took us so long to get out of Montalban," said Thumbie who, like teammates Popo and Jojo, hardly slept for two days.
Food intake was also a big consideration, according to Thumbie. They went carbo-loading a week before the race and skipped eating rice all throughout the 40 hours.
"We didn’t sleep because we were always on the go. And we only had food that were easy to eat like power bars. No rice because it didn’t fit the strategy," added Thumbie after the race, which required the teams to cover all stations in no specific order.
The Sandugo team of Jing Corpuz, Raul Padilla and Fyle Suson checked in 23 minutes behind Team Merrel, in 40 hours and 46 minutes, for second place worth P30,000. Joven, a team made up of Nilo Estayo, Francis Mercado and Marites Bitbit, was third in 42 hours and 3 minutes, good for P15,000.
Fourth place worth P10,000 went to the USTMC-Bidge North Team of youngsters Libert Lumontad, Anderson Tuguinay and Prana Escalante. They had a time of 44 hours and 55 minutes. Game Plan’s Tricia Chiongbian, Rovilson Fernandez and Miguel Lopez took fifth and P5,000.
The race was also backed by Tribu, Bombproof, Rudy Project, Action Asia Magazine, Next Base DVD, Toby’s, Power-up gyms, Dominoes Pizza, E-Z Maps, Fitness First Eastwood City Branch, Cousin Ropes, Jethro Shooting Range, Philippine Canoe-Kayak Federation, Eastwood City and Monster Radio RX 93.1.
Forty-eight other teams vied in the Fun Category, just as daunting and as interesting as the featured class.
Oasis Hydration, made up of Jose de Vera, Jocelyn Saw and Benedict Sazon, had fun only after winning the category. They finished the nine-station race in nine hours and 33 minutes. They took home a check worth P35,000.
"We thought all was lost when Benedict and I got separated with Jocelyn for almost 45 minutes. We actually stopped racing just to look for her. We were already willing to lose the race as long as we find her. Good thing we found her at the Quezon City Hall," said de Vera.
Team Wala Lang of Benson Martinez, Tet Lara and Rommel Bondoc needed 10 hours to claim second and the P15,000 prize while Pyros B, composed of Stephen Chanco, Daniel Quinto and Chadly de Leon, was third 36 minutes later for P7,500.
Indeed, the Enduro San Mig Light Adventure Race produced a lot of winners, and so much fun, thrill and adventure for all the participants, each one of them now hoping to be part of a longer, bigger and tougher race next year.