Not so bad finishing last in Subic marathon

SUBIC, Philippines – It was already past midnight, the field near empty and the music had stopped when this school clerk from Manila crossed the finish line of the Smart Subic International Marathon here.

It took Jonathan Gener seven hours, 56 minutes and 17 seconds to do it. He walked into the Remy Field of this former American naval base knowing that he’d go down in the record books as the last finisher of the 42-km footrace that was flagged off at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

But Gener, a clerk at the Far Eastern University, and barely in his thirties, raised his arms and smiled as he strode to the finish. He was met by just a handful of race officials, including Smart Sports head Pato Gregorio.

The rest of the participants, close to a thousand of them, must be sleeping inside their hotel rooms when Gener, in his first full marathon, checked in and showed that finishing last in a race everybody wanted to win is something else.

“I wanted to see how far I can go. I ran the first 20 kilometers, and the rest I had to walk,” said the runner who wore No. 1099 across his chest. Gregorio was moved by his will to finish the race, that the resident of Bulacan was rewarded with a brand-new Nokia cellphone.

“No one else got a cellphone here except you –not even the champions,” Gregorio said as he congratulated Gener, who, by this time, was smiling as if he were the first to cross the finish.

“You did not quit when you could have quit. And now you’re here. ‘Yan ang tunay na Pinoy,” added the Smart executive, the man behind the running of this night marathon.

The Kenyans glowed in the dark, and swept the top places with Vincent Chepsiror winning the men’s side with a time of 2:27.54 and Doreen Kitaka topping the women’s division at 3:01.12. The top Filipino finishers were Hernani Sore (2:40.20) and Ailene Tolentino (3:29.01).

Birth pains were recorded during the race, that some participants rued the darkness and the lack of water stations.

“Next year we will know better. This is the first time Smart, which is already into basketball, boxing and other sports, was involved in running. Our chairman and president, Manny Pangilinan, believes in this sport. It’s actually an advocacy to help the sport. It’s not about counting the billboards,” said Gregorio.

The example set by Gener, according to Gregorio, will push the telecommunications giant into pursuing a wider involvement in the sport, probably as wide as going to the grassroots level.

“Itutuloy namin ito,” he said.

“I’m so happy to finish the race,” said Gener. “I was lucky that along the way there were runners who helped me, those who gave me chocolate bars and water. I had to thank the escorts, too. They were very patient with me,” said Gener.

He said he’d be glad to come back next year.

“I will prepare harder and improve on my ranking,” he said. “Maybe next year I’d be the 10th before the last.”