In the previous posts I made here, you’ve probably known that I have been running for months already. One thing I aimed to tick off my bucket list is to finally join a running event. I wouldn’t be running much lately if I didn’t actually enter our city’s running community.
This week’s the celebration of the 57th charter week of the very university I consider my second home, as I have been studying here since 2014. As I am now halfway through my graduate studies, it’d be nice to have breathers and other means to spend time with some of my classmates, too. Fun fact: about 60% of our batch are running enthusiasts, as well as some of my professors. They’re the ones who spent two days convincing me to register for this fun run, and I thank them for doing so.
And no, I didn’t exactly ease into this one. I went all in with a 7-kilometer stretch simply because I had no other choice. I registered late and this was the only category left open. But looking back—sweaty, breathless, and smiling at the finish line—I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Besides, this was a chance to test how far I’ve come when it comes to long-haul cardio activities. All those early mornings and late afternoons when I laced up without fanfare, just my pair of dusty, dirty white sneakers and some playlists to jive with, processing my life with every step. As I highlighted, this is not just for fitness, but for clarity, for grounding, for me.
One of the best parts? Bumping into old friends I hadn’t seen in years: high school classmates, familiar undergrad faces, and people I never thought I’d reconnect with through something as simple (and sweat-filled) as a fun run.
There’s something beautiful about seeing how we all grow—still moving, still showing up, still chasing something better for ourselves. And doing it in the same city we once roamed as teens? That’s a different kind of joy.
The pictures below seem like a messy photodump of what transpired that day, but who cares?
Here’s to more runs, more reunions, and more messy photodumps that mean more than they show. Hoping I can do some of them outside Iligan, too.
