2nd QCIM: My City, My Run

BY GISELLE ELGINCOLIN

I look back at October 18, 2009 with much regret, not having been able to enlist in the first Quezon City International Marathon (QCIM). Every time I would ply my usual course, the banners and streamers announcing the QCIM would beckon me; I had to look away to hide my envy. Why wouldn’t I? It was the first running event of its kind in the city I knew as home. And I wasn’t in the running.

Now that the starting line is set for the 2nd QCIM on December 5, 2010, I am making sure that all my roads lead to this prestigious event. The race route is significant to me, with the landmarks bearing affinity to milestones of my life in this city.

You see, I was born here. I grew up playing in the streets of Visayas Avenue where many government offices lined the then secluded road, as if standing at attention to salute the Quezon Memorial Circle on the Elliptical Road. It is the site where QCIM2 race participants will converge to run towards their dreams.

Being the daughter of a marathoner back in the early 1980s, my father would tirelessly wake us up at dawn so we could join him in his weekend jog at the Quezon Memorial Circle where the late president Manuel L. Quezon’s monument stands tall and proud. Back then, I wasn’t interested in the sport; it was the Circle’s trademark fountains I was drawn to. Every time we would drive home at night from a family outing, my parents would wake me and my siblings up when the fountains of the monument were in sight. The entertaining display of dancing water and lights was always a fitting finale to cap the day. It was a signal, too, that we were almost home.

Within spitting distance from the Circle is the University of the Philippines, Diliman, another leg in the QCIM2 route. Back in college at this state university, I longed for leisure walks along the Academic Oval when I wasn’t late for class. A backpack and my Trapper Keeper notebook in tow, I was always awed by the natural canopy that the Oval’s trees served. Today, the same university provides the avenue for my budding passion for running. Almost across the College of Mass Communication where I graduated from, the Executive Runners Club of the Philippines (RUNNEX) meets every Sunday for its free running clinic. Clad this time in my running shoes, the state university now serves as sacred practice ground for my new-found wings.

U.P. is bounded on one side by Commonwealth Avenue, the widest highway in Metro Manila that could lodge as many as 18 lanes. To me, no full marathon could be had in Quezon City without traversing through this famous road. I can’t recall how many times I have driven here on the defense amidst a sea of cars; this time I will simply steer myself through this runway and marvel at the many changes this part of my city has undergone. This experience affords the race participants a rare chance to sprint, skip, and hopefully, smile while conquering this otherwise busy freeway, which then takes you to La Mesa Ecopark.

42K runners navigate inside this 2,700-hectare watershed which provides water to about 12 million residents of Metro Manila. As a teacher currently practicing my profession in my beloved city, my work brings me to places such as this that instill in our children ecological awareness and love for the environment. The site is a reservoir, forest and outdoor recreational park rolled-into-one, making it a favorite destination for families and schoolchildren. The very idea of exploring the La Mesa Ecopark on rubber-shoed foot gives a semblance of being one with nature in the middle of the bustling city life. I hear that the spectacular view of the forest will send you flying into some pure wonderland.

As I look forward to finally joining the momentous QCIM2, I reclaim the streets and landmarks of my city, my history with it and my future. I will pay homage to the place where my childhood, present family life, and profession poetically run into each other.

This run is personal to me. It is a homecoming of sorts, even if I never really left.

NOTE: Article from a RUNNEX member, is originally posted on QCIM Facebook Fan Page.