THE KING OF A DIFFERENT MOUNTAIN

He is of pure Chinese decent, with the heart of a Tarahumara (running people), and a soul of a true-blooded Ilonggo.  He is already a legend in the Triathlon and Running community in Iloilo. He is well loved by his friends and teammates who calls him "Rocky", "Rockman", or "Bato". His Tarahumara name is "Caballo Chino" and revered as the most colorful triathlete and Ultra runner in Iloilo. He is my teammate, friend, my hero, my idol, and my mentor.

After finishing Ironman 703 Philippines in August of 2012, Rocky stumbled upon the world of Ultra Running thru his friend and mentor Mr. Demosthenes Limbaga. He joined the Philippine Association of Ultrarunners National Championships 2012, which was held in his own backyard -- Guimaras Island, and he finished 15th overall with a finish time of 15:07:08. 

When I was contemplating on joining the King of the Mountain (KOTM) Hardcore 100 Miles Ultramarathon (H1) in Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya, I convinced Rocky to join so that there will be someone among my friends in Iloilo with whom I could share the whole experience. (Well, he was the only guy from our place, aside from me, crazy enough to join H1).

He acceded, and not knowing what lies ahead of him, again asked his mentor Mr. Limbaga to train him in the trails of Guimaras Island and all around Iloilo. Some ultra runner friends also helped and joined him in training.

Upon arriving in Kayapa, a day before the race, Rocky and I, together with some H1 participants managed to sneak in a short run. I was surprised when I saw him wearing only his huaraches (Huaraches are sandals whose soles were cut out of old car tires and binded/attached to the feet of a runner with the use of leather strings or paracord). We were all surprised albeit amused when he told us that he decided to run H1 in Huaraches. When other participants knew that he will be running in Huaraches, they were extremely excited how would Rocky fare in the trails of H1.

We prepared, carbo loaded, rested and toed in together at the start line of H1. Knowing the conditions we were headed for, I was really concerned for his welfare, but I decided to just let him be. As soon as we were off, I bid him farewell, wished him good luck and to have a safe race.

Many hours later, I discovered from one of the marshalls in Babadak Ranger Station (km62) that there have been several people who declared themselves DNF during the race. When I asked who are those runners, I felt a mixed emotion of relief, sadness and sympathy when I was informed that Rocky was safe because he got lost and declared himself DNF. (At this point, I did not bother to ask all the details yet but deep inside me I knew Rocky must have done something crazy to get himself DNF'ed and in that situation)

After the race, I was able to take account of what he did to get himself DNF’ed. I discovered that he and Mr. Alain Llaguno were the first runners to summit, but the sad thing is it was in another mountain. Instead of going to Mt. Pulag, which was the first mountain we were to climb, they went to Mt. Ugo and summited it first. 

Like an aircraft investigator examining the blackbox of Rocky, I talked to him in order to discover what really transpired which brought him and Alain to the summit of Mt. Ugo  thirty (30) hours ahead of everyone! instead of Mt. Pulag which was like more than 80km apart. Like cases of airplane crashes, they were several contributing factors: mistakes and wrong judgment calls piled atop with each other, making this story one of the funniest most epic tales in the history of KOTM as well as the Ultra Running community. 

First of all, during the first few kilometers of the race, Rocky and Alain caught up with each other. They bonded immediately and decided to pace each other. About Eight (8) kilometres from the start was an intersection where runners should exit the paved path and turn right into a single-track trail.They both missed the "turn right" marker and the "wrong way" marker in that intersection; instead, they went straight ahead, taking the path leading to Bundao, Domolpos Village and eventually to Mt. Ugo.

Second, when they looked and checked for markers after the intersection, they followed white ribbons instead of yellow ribbons leading to Mt. Pulag. (Yellow ribbons were markers for the first 62km of the course while white ones were intended for the last 35km of the course). According to Rocky, the white ribbons looked like yellow ribbons during the foggy night. Maybe this was due to the fact that Rocky forgot to change the batteries of his headlamp.

Third, after passing the intersection and missing the "wrong way" and "turn right" marker, a marshal chased them in order to stop and point them to the right direction, but thinking it was another runner chasing them, Rocky and Alain (highly competitive runners) picked up the pace until the person totally lost sight of them and vice-versa.

Fourth, both of them were confident that the other guy knew the course and where they were headed.

Fifth, both of them lost their maps. 

Rocky and Alain ran for several hours and upon summitting Mt. Ugo, actually believed that it was Mt. Pulag so were surprised that there was no aid station and no race crew waiting for them to log in their times. Rocky thought that they really had been running fast considering that the marshals has not arrived there yet.

It was raining, the wind at the summit was ferocious and it was very cold. Rocky decided to go down ahead from the summit and left his thermal blanket to Alain, who tried to find the right course leading to Mt. Pulag. They separated at around 7 a.m. 

While descending Mt. Ugo, Rocky's huaraches were damaged beyond repair, so he threw them away and decided to go barefoot. Later on, Alain, who was still searching for the right trail found the huaraches of Rocky, with Rocky nowhere in sight. Alain was alarmed and concerned for his new-found friend, he hurriedly called the organizers telling them to send some rescuers. He was quoted to say: "please send help! I saw Rocky's huaraches in a cliff and I am still searching for his remains". 

Of course while searching for Rocky's remains, Alain was oblivious of the fact that Rocky had already declared himself DNF and proceeded to the health clinic in Domolpos Village to wait for the marshals to pick him up. The clinic health attendant there comforted him,  gave him dry clothes to keep him warm, and fed him. 

Later on, Rocky convinced the marshals and rescuers to go up to Mt. Ugo in order to find and rescue Alain. They found him as he was already suffering a slight case of hypothermia. 

Rocky and Alain were united around 1pm in Domolpos Village, where incidentally, Rocky was also brought a pair of rubber shoes by the organisers, as he requested. They are very thankful to the people in the clinic, to the marshals and rescuers who extended help to them.

At the awarding ceremony held after the race, Rocky was the butt of jokes. He didn't get a finisher's medal, but he was hailed "The King of a Different Mountain"....and there, the legend was born.

The author with the King

The Legend posing for his fans. He wants to have a return bout with H1. 

(Hopefully, he will leave his huaraches at home)