Botak Paa-Bilisan: Motion Blur

It’s over 30 kms from our house to the assembly ground and it took me the same number of minutes to drive.  I was in a hurry for some unknown reasons, everything just passed by like a blur.  We arrived at the parking lot still dark and cool.  But the summer dawn was short and quick.  Darkness faded in a blip and just like that, it was already light.  The coolness too, was chased away by the rising temperature.

I preferred to run at the Docfit event in UP Diliman but my wife and friends registered to Botak’s 10K event.  And the singlet looked nice and just like that I’m back at The Fort.  I registered at the 5K event with the objective of setting a PR and to photograph my wife’s first 10K.  The woman was getting bolder and braver.

All of the runners were gathered in the corral waiting for the start.  5K and 10K participants mingled in a mixture of red and blue.  There was less fanfare from the program.  The starting signal sounded out of nowhere, unceremoniously.  Quickly, after liberating myself from tangled masses of bodies, I launched to the planned pace of 5min/km.  I prayed that I could sustain it throughout my short race.  It was short indeed!  In no time I was crossing the finish line in a little over 25 minutes.  Time did fly, just like that.

I immediately retrieved my rickety Canon DSLR camera and tracked back to the race route.  I picked a spot to wait for my wife and friends to pass by.  At my vantage point, I became a spectator to an unlikely yet interesting drama.  I observed the runners.  Like a plot with many characters playing different roles, with many points of view, each runner has his or her story to tell.

The Pack. Peer pressure.  Everyone motivated by the other.  Everyone driven to prove.  Hardly surrendering an inch, they move as one, motion blurred…

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The Sharks.  Body streamlined like the feared predators.  Dressed to kill.  They rushed to the feeding frenzy, motion blurred…

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The Mad Dasher. The fast, the few, the proud.  Lapping everyone else as they looked haplessly.  He passed them by, motion blurred…

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The Gym Rat. Muscles not built for the run.  But mass and weight were not hindrance to his goal.  One heavy step after another, motion blurred…

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The Heart Vigilante. All efforts to the good of the heart, to the safety of the heart.  Measured pace after measured pace, motion blurred…

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The Driven. Running easily towards the tape.  She was cheered and egged by team mates and friends to sprint the last meters.  She leaned forward and assumed the competitive stance, motion blurred…

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The Druid. Each step was a connection to the earth.  Each step was an atonement, motion blurred…

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The Achiever. Her first 10K.  Aim was to complete.  When she saw the clock a minute to the hour, she bolted to the finish, motion blurred…

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Motion blur… the push before the climax.  As the runners crossed the line, each had his and her own celebration.  A loud sigh, a long drink, a jump for joy, a hand in the air, a thank to the heavens…

But one expressed it with a bang:  Zorro!

He raised both his clenched fists high, roared loudly in triumph…

Then dropped flat face on the pavement…

Just like that!

Romancing the Rain

The Saturday morning was oddly dim. It was like December season, winter solstice, when the dark was lengthier than the light. Thin rain clouds rolled from the south heralding the coming of rain. The air was heavy with moisture, and the wind was ominously absent. Stillness. That early, I was the only one on the well-developed yet less-used road. I pleaded to the heavens to let me finish my short run before it let go its load. Just a short, quick run. It’s been five days since my last jog and I needed this one, very badly. I started my warm-up walk and droplets of water began pelting the earth. The drops slid off my dry-fit jersey like water slipping on waxy leaves. I raised my hands to test the drips and closed my eyes in resignation. It will be stronger. “Alright! Do your worse, I will not falter on my aim” I defied. I cut short my slow trot and proceeded to my planned pace, hoping to beat the imminent downpour. As if accepting my challenge, the sky sent more drizzles.

After my first kilometer, the rain has become a thin sheath curtain of water.  Not heavy but enough to drench my shirt.  My running shoes were not built for wet and soon my socks were soaked.  The smooth wush, wush sound of the shoes had become a splashing squirt, squirt.  I raked my chilled fingers on my hair and cool water slipped down my neck like a clear stream coming down the mountain.  My eyes were blurred but to my surprise my vision was clear.  The grass and leaves were greener.  The trunks of the trees, thick and thin, were glistening.  The soil was richer like a fertile land ready for plantation.  Everything was coming alive!

The brick wall of a Mediterranean inspired house turned from dull red to bright orange to dazzling red as I went by.  An oldwife at its balcony was looking at me in askance.  “A childish man running in the rain, he’ll get cold for sure!” she seemed to admonish.  I hopped at a break in the pavement and almost slipped on the moss-covered ground.  I did not look back at the lady but I can sensed her sniffing “No, a fool about to break his head!”

An unexpected feeling of gladness settled upon me.  This has turned into a pleasant and revealing experience.  Even the bird sitting on a wire seemed contented.  It fluffed its feather to lessen the wetness.  I can do that too! I shook my head, spraying water out of my hair.  The land has been cleansed and freshness hanged like an early morning bath.

The mighty sun was still hidden but light has prevailed as I finished my laps.  The rain trickled slowly until it too was done.  The rain clouds moved north and west, perhaps looking for another mortal to bless.

I thank the rain god for accompanying me on this run.  It has been a lesson of humility and appreciation. Much has been learned and none regretted.