CTR Dirtbag Of The Week (W6): Arneil John Mercado

He showed up at Bagsakan in Pamutan to join one of the recon runs for the first Fatass trail run some five years ago, and just decided he wanted to be a badass ultra trail runner. True story. AJ "Wawa" Mercado runs as part of a very serious weight loss program - because he was dared to lose some weight in exchange for one whole lechon. Nothing more... well, that's before he stumbled upon a very inspiring video of Kilian Jornet on Youtube, "This. I want to do this!": his exact words after watching that video. Then started to take trail running a bit more seriously. Like, two H1 finishes and 4 CM50 finishes, serious.

While others are busy racking miles and religiously covering hours-on-foot on weekends, AJ runs 10K's and half marathons at local fun runs. Yes, you seldom see him out on the trails on weekends, and he spends most of his free time at the gym strength training or some yoga session. That's it - no dates, no clubbing. That's about the most SINGLE lifestyle you'll ever hear. Well, aside from investing in Salomon trail running gears because he has no one to buy a gift for, or go out on a date with. Sorry, friend. He is a fast road runner which can be credited to his ever growing obsession to chase people. He is one of those who always makes a race out of a small backyard event. Competitive is an understatement.

There is no question why AJ picks races in the north as his personal favorites. For him, the best trails are found in the Cordilleras, and the north in general. In fact, he did H1 three times already just to have an excuse to travel to Kayapa and socialize. He finds joy in rubbing elbows with the country's hardcores. By the way, CTR folks call him "Friend". Self-explanatory. Not to say he stays in the friend zone for too long and actually believe he has no Asshole bone in him, no. He loves being single and friendly. There. Kidding aside, he considers H1 2018 as his most challenging race. His feet was already riddled with coin-sized blisters before tackling the last big climb to Mt. Ugo and was on the verge of giving up and no one is there to push him since he had no pacer. Facetime came in handy! After that, it was the longest 18K hike of his life. Well, maybe longer since H1 is more that 160K.

AJ's work ethics is rather crazy. Check his strava logs and see why. His off-season log looks like he got hospitalized or something. Almost zero! And during the months leading to a big race, it's all green... in most days, he logs multiple runs in a day! Much like his training, his race day antics are also kind of eccentric. He does this weird 8-10K warm up run hours before the start of the race. No hard-boiled eggs, only gel, tailwind and nuun for nutrition. He relies heavily on his pre-race snack... half a gallon of ice cream!

His journey from a really heavy teen to the young  and buff software developer friend we know now is truly inspiring. Apart from his curly locks (only a miracle can straighten that), he managed to turn everything around by putting in the time and effort.

CTR Dirtbag Of The Week (W5): Marquem Jay Mondido

I'm sure you've heard his battle story before - the runner who badly sprained his ankle early in the race and still managed to snatch 4th place, limping his way to the finish line of this year's Pamutan Trailfest. Only a handful can pull this off. Kinda like Jurek at Hardrock in 2007. The grit: different level, so don't get any ideas - he is a seasoned athlete. Marquem Jay Mondido started his journey to the dark side two years ago at the manicured trails of Foressa in Balamban, Cebu. He fell in love... with the sport. It is worth noting that this dirtbag is still single and is probably planning marry Spartan Trail someday. Yes, he is in a relationship with Spartan Trail. True story. 

He carries a very impressive resume for an up-and-comer, with strong finishes in some of the toughest trail races in Visayas and Mindanao, with Pamutan Trailfest 2019 as his favorite and tagged as one of the most challenging in his list. Marquem's signature blue top - black short shorts combo has conquered Mapawa Trail 50 2018 (his first ultra) placing 6th in a very stacked field, and Puncak Tanawan and Mt. Talinis Marathon on Negros, 3rd and 2nd respectively, Torrent FKT Muspo Trail Run in Bukidnon, 2nd place. Our local trail races are in his hit list too. He placed third in Sugat Trail run in Minglanilla, and shared a 3rd place finish with his teammate Christian Opone at MagMa last year. This young Field Service Engineer has yet to taste trail ultras longer than 60KM but he made sure he does his progression perfectly. No backlogs. Paying attention to details, from nutrition to his choice of trail running gears. His 2018 CV is an amazing 75% top 10 finishes and 75% of those are podium finishes. 

Marquem is big believer of "if it's not on strava, it didn't happen". That explains his workout log... off-season and race season looks exactly the same. But if you look closely, you'll spot the slightest difference - the number of #SMR poses on each workout. On a more serious note, he is one dedicated Goat and a determined athlete. Type-A personality some say, with symptoms that include uncontrollable urge to break all existing FKTs around Pamutan; consistent podium finishes in almost all races he signed up; and obsession to all things Kilian Jornet, even occasionally yells Allez! Allez! for no reason.   

  

Though Marquem is still new to the sport, he already made an indelible mark in the community. Just this year he was chosen as Salomon's go-to person in Cebu for their community activities. He is also a member of Cebu's alpha trail running group, CMG (Cebu Mountain Goats), the first group to ever apply  auditing skills to plogging.

His most recent injury kept him from racing recently but he is almost back to 100% race-ready. We can only imagine the anxiety. MagMa Trail Run 2019 will be his come back event. Some people lose their appetite for training as soon as injury hits them. Not Marquem. His will is as loud as his snore! Kidding. He finds pleasure in self-improvement, a trait he shares with the greats. Even his happy disposition can be mistaken as complacency, exactly the opposite of what's burning inside him. There is just no quit in his blood.   

   

CTR Dirtbag Of The Week (W4): Lyra Valles

You probably haven't heard of this event called Pamutan Multi-day Trail Ultra A.K.A. The 5 Trails challenge until today. Yes, there is such a thing, and our featured dirtbag of the week is one of only two runners crazy enough to complete it (they were both women, by the way). Her name is Mandreza Lyra Valles. An ALS (Alternative Learning System) instructional manager for an NGO, and a full time outdoor sports junkie. And probably the friendliest trail runner in the community. Well, aside from AJ of course. 

Her path to trail running is something most of us can relate to. A hardcore mountaineer for almost 20 years who also does road runs for conditioning - typical you and me, right? Nope. She does road ultras after successfully hitting the summit of some of the biggest mountains in the country! One of her most notable crazy feats is being part of the group who did 7 marathons in 7 days, 7/42. And that's adding AWUM in the equation, less than a week after. Kalasa ug congrats oi. But seriously, who wakes up early 7 days in a row... and run a marathon every day? Oh and, they added 1 more day the following year making it 8/42!

Manay Lyra's transition to trail running was seamless and she went to out to slay a beast named TNF 100 in the same year for a respectable 8th place finish... not bad for her first trail race. From 2013 to present Ta-Lyr has already racked in a number big finishes here and abroad, including the prestigious BDM road ultra and the Badass badge at CM50. She was not spared from painful DNFs though, but she makes up for it by bouncing back strong. Really strong.

Manay is one of those who deliberately deletes 'off-season' from their vocabulary. Although she admits she does not have a specific training plan in place, you can always find her training with some of the fastest runners in Cebu. She even added another discipline to her already full activity schedule: OCR. That's after tasting mud last year competing in the Spartan race at Foressa. This ball of energy finished many more OCR events within just a couple of years - Spartan Trifecta, Ultra Beast, Hurricane Heat 24 hours, to name a few. And some podium finishes too.

Her race calendar nowadays looks pretty similar to the Spartan race calendar, with Spartan Hurricane Heat 12 hours in Sarawak Malaysia at the very top of it, but as we scroll down a big race is still italicized... her unfinished business, Pulag 100. 

Lyra is no doubt a pioneer of the sport. The first to learn from the pillars of trail running in Cebu, Nap Dela Torre and Meux Cordova. The perfect Padawan who went on to share her knowledge in trail and ultra running and mountaineering... even applying them to OCR. She paved the way and served as the inspiration to many of our female trail running champions. On many these milestones, Lyra wore her Fenix 3, but she's yet to figure out how to actually use it. No kidding. Ok, that's unnecessary but that really cracks us up every time. Sorry Manay. Lyra is a true "Lamang bukid", always out there either as a racer or a volunteer. 

CTR Dirtbag Of The Week (W3): Rex Gonzales

Idol : /ˈīdl/ - noun - A person greatly admired and revered by many.

We call him "Aydol" for a reason. Don't let his soft infectious smile and cheerful demeanor fool you. He is Rex Gonzales and he is the most badass ultra trail runner in the island. 

Before locking his sights on trail running, he was one of the pioneers in Cebu's ultra-running scene, and has been a consistent podium finisher in local road ultras. A member of Danao City's Team Laspag - a group of really hardcore long distance running enthusiasts. Rex first tasted dirt and mud in 2014 when he joined TNF 100 in Baguio City. He can still recall how he almost cried because it was not what he expected - he thought it was ridiculous to call it trail running when all they did was hike... but it hurt like hell. This experience is enough for a sane runner to say 'no mas'... Rex is no ordinary runner. Nor is he perfectly sane. He craved for more pain. "Ganahan jud ko masakitan ba hehehe" - his exact words. That, and his fascination for beautiful scenery, the absence of pollution and the degree of difficulty (he actually means the possibility of getting badly hurt) kept him tethered to the sport.

While he keeps everything very low key, evidenced by his Strava log that he intentionally set to private, he actually likes to share his playground in Danao. In fact, when he was asked to direct a fun run to raise funds for the renovation of Manghilao Church (Pedro Calungsod Parish), he offered his beautiful practice routes. MagMa Trail Run was born. His pride and joy.

Rex is arguably the most decorated trail runner in Cebu. One of the first to finish the KOTM's K300 series and a Hardcore Hundred Miles (H1) Hall Of Fame candidate. Under his belt are countless local trail and road races, with distances ranging from marathon to hundred-milers, and even a 280-KM road race! International races are also in the menu - Tarawera 100 (NZ); Old Ghost 100 (NZ); and of course, one of the toughest trail race in the world, the Northburn 100 Miles, his favorite race. He is a real student of the sport who values serious preparation over applause in social media. Somewhat in contrast to his running heroes, Anton Krupicka and Tim Olson, but they have similar work ethics.

His weapons of choice is kind of pricey to be honest. The armory looks more like a Salomon outlet than an actual normal-person closet - a couple of S/lab Skin vests here, [many] pairs of S/lab wings and ultra shoes there; Black Diamond Storm headlamp is his go-to light source (I know he wants a 500-lumen spec). These things may cost so much but he says his wife Malou and his mini-me Raine supports him all the way and approves his purchases. His race day nutrition is really simple - it consists of solid food... served at the stations. 

It's hard to tell when his off-season starts since his calendar is always full. But you get clues like weekly wanbats sessions and frequent shady invites to try his new dish - it still means wanbats, he's a great cook by the way. But these activities are currently on hold because he still has a couple of big races this year, DaSal in Davao and his 4th serving of the badass race, CM50 in Clark. He also has big plans for 2020... he wants to do the Northburn 100 Miles again, UTMF and H1. Big races this down to earth Radiologic Technologist can definitely handle.

"Dagan lang gyud ta ug enjoy, dol. Kung ma finish, maayo. Kung dili, plano ta ug usab unya study kung asa ta nag kuwang."  - Aydol