No Turning Back

 Bloodied face of one of the participants

No turning back!!!

This was the subtitle of Immuvit Fearless Challenge's leg 3 last Saturday held inside the Nuvali development complex nestled in the outbacks of the Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

And I'd like to congratulate several participants for living up to that challenge. Some participants  miscalculated the depth of the water in the rock formation. Some were injured and suffered cuts.

Moving on, I'd like to take this opportunity to remind the organizers that it is their responsibility to immediately provide medical attention.


Runners navigating the river crossing were using the required whistle to get the attention of the marshals. Sadly, using the whistle was no of no help.

I also noticed that marshals do not have radios. From my training in disaster management, radios are better communications equipment because it is not reliant on a "service provider'. After talking to other runners after the race, I found out that organizers are unaware of what happened to those runners who needed immediate medical attention. There was no distress call from the marshals and no report what so ever about the incidents.

Hopefully, there would be "no turning back" for the organizers to better equip themselves the next time they are tapped for this kind of event.

Roger Denolo (second from left) shared the limelifht
with fellow Tigers Vilma Sta. ana (third from left) and
Rostum Nava (left).  Also in the photo are coach Jim
Saret (third from right) who designed the course
 and Ian Alacar of Without Limits (right).

I don't want this accident to diminish the feats of the winners, three of whom came from University of Santo Tomas (UST).

Roger Denolo, the winner of the first leg's 10k run, brought his awesome form in action anew with a victory in the 16k men's race.

Not to be outdone was another UST mainstay Vilma Sta Ana, who annexed the women's 16k title.

Another UST Runner Rostum Nava ruled the 8K men's competition while Shane Hamor bagged the women's 8k crown.

Based on UST performance outside of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), I can say that the Dominican-managed university is doing a great job mentoring runners.

After three legs, I can vouch that coaches Jim Saret and Ian Pagulayan are on course to what could be the next big thing not only in running but in fitness.

Hopefully, Immuvit will continue to sponsor such events and provide Filipino "adrenalin junkies' the opportunities to hone their skills and test their fitness.

Warm Up. Participants "warmng up" prior to the races of the "No Turning Back"
 leg of the Immuvit Fearless Series.

Oil Wall. Participants must climb this slippery tarpaulin in order to reach the
river crossing.

Tire Mountain. One of the not so challenging obstacles. However,
if you can't control your balance, you'll have a hard time passing
this obstacle.

River Crossing.  This is a long run or walk through rocks, sand, mud
and water. It is while negotiating this portion of the race that
Yannie Valmero of loqal.ph suffered her accident.

MILITARY WALL. Another challenging obstacle is the milatary, which
you have climb then slide to go over it.

MILITARY MUD CRAWL. Getting dirty is part of the race. And you can
do just that through this obstacle. Going down and dirty has never been
so exciting.

Water crossing. After getting dirty, you can get the mud out of your body
by getting a dip in this water infested with tadpoles. Yucky!!! Getting
dirty has never been so yucky...he he he.