Wayne's World

It's been almost a month that I haven't posted a write-up. So please bear with me as I will make a series of write-ups in the next few days or so.

Wayne with Doc Reel

The month of November was one of the best months ever for me... not to mention the fact that it was my birthday month but also because a good friend was here in Cebu to visit us and give motivation and inspiration to the running community.

Wayne Plymale hails from San Francisco and was here in Cebu last  November 16. I had the opportunity to see him first as I fetched him at the airport. Thanx to Sir Jerry Chua and Epoy Perral for setting up the transportation needs for Wayne's arrival. Wayne was donning his PAU orange finisher's t-shirt. He was so proud to share his experience from his first ultramarathon. He joined the 50K run from Nasugbu to Tagaytay Sunday before he arrived here.

Dinner with TTB

The sumptuous meal at Spice Fusion made Wayne love Cebu more. Thanx to Epoy (again!) for hosting the dinner. We were so lovin' the food. Wayne shared his experience with the running sport with the members of TeamTytsBogdo. 

Wayne with TTB (photo courtesy from Doc Tata)

Run for Wayne

Wayne with his Yogo

Eric Agaton and I had a previous ran with Wayne from Mango Park Hotel to IT Park in Lahug on Wednesday. A Run for Wayne was held on Thursday with TTB and some friends in the running community. We started at the Coffeecat in IT Park and ended at Onze (TTBs and Ungo's tambayan!). Wayne had fun and he admitted he isn't used to running at night. After the run, we had some re-hyrdration Cebuano-style! The RH really had a kick at Wayne. He drank 2 bottles of Red Horse beer while also trying out the local Balut (duck embryo).

Friday Night Ungo Run

I had the honor to introduce Wayne to the members of the Ungo Running Cub during the Friday Night Run. It was a short but simple introduction. But it was Wayne who was actually nervous in his inspirational talk. He just went ahead with a short talk and a Q&A after that. He answered one question from Bikik Besavilla that made every jaw dropped. The questions was "How many pairs of shoes do you have?". Wayne's answer was "Ive got more than 90 pairs of shoes already since I started running!". I'm like.... what?!? I  only have 2 shoes and 2 VFFs since I started running last January. Amazing isn't it.

Wayne with the Ungo Runners

The usual run ended at IT Park with all Ungo making all smiles during the photo ops with Wayne. Of course, another round of Yogo at the Coffeecat ended the night. I also celebrated the first minute of my birthday with Wayne and some Ungo friends.

Well, I hope I got my stats right for Wayne:

• started running since he was in middle school
• ran more than 70,000 miles
• had more than 90 pairs of shoes
• ran 24 full marathons
• ran 25 half-marathons
• ran his first 50K Ultramarathon from Nasugbu to Tagaytay
• RunRio 32K was his 1000th race to date
• need I say more?

Check out Wayne's blog: Crossroads Of A Long Distance Runner

Thank you Mr. Wayne Plymale for the inspiration. Till we meet again on CCM2012.