Back to my first love

Before I entered the world of disputes and litigations as a lawyer, I thought I had a budding career as a freelance journalist. Even before I could finish my journalism degree at UP Diliman, I was already doing some freelance writing. In fact, the highlight of my fourth year in college had nothing to do with school, but getting the much coveted Press ID from the National Press Club.

But then law school beckoned. And after the bar examinations, I immediately plunged into the world of disputes lawyering, which I practiced continuously for the last 29 or so years.

Running? I hated the sport.

In college, I took up running as an elective PE, thinking, “how difficult could it get?” Guess what, I flunked the final exam consisting of running several laps around the track oval. I was pathetically the only one who didn’t make it.

Fast forward to 2018 when, in my late 40s, I rediscovered running.

After a health scare that involved a benign brain tumor, I vowed to transform my sedentary lifestyle and begin moving more.

Since I had already proven that I had no sports skills whatsoever, I told myself to take up what I thought was the easiest to get into, the one subject I ever flunked in my life. At least now, I thought, nobody would be grading. I could run at my own pace and time.

I also remembered that despite the misery of flunking the subject, I felt an inexplicable high every time we finished our running sessions. Yes, that runner’s high.

Thus, with no training other than occasional runs on a treadmill, I signed up for my very first marathon and nearly died — or at least, it felt that way.

Past the halfway mark, I was limping and cramping and basically dragging my whole body to slowly inch forward. Every single part of me was screaming for me to stop killing myself.

When I crossed the finish line after more than seven hours, I was severely dehydrated and had to be confined at a hospital overnight as I was exhibiting symptoms of Rhabdomyolysis, a condition where muscles break down and release protein and electrolytes into the blood.

Strangely, it was then that I knew my love affair with running had officially begun.

The rest, as they say, is history.

I have run nearly 30 marathons, including five world majors — Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago, New York and London. I had run in every imaginable terrain — muddy trails, gravel, and, quite recently, the snow and ice capped surfaces of Greenland.

From the mountainous slopes of Batanes to the city slopes of Cebu, I have thoroughly enjoyed every kilometer I have trodden.

Last year, too, I ran my first ultramarathon in Baguio and my longest ultramarathon from Bataan to Pampanga. The latter was a commemoration of the Bataan Death March and it consisted of 102 kilometers of pure, unmitigated torture.

Yes, I’d like to think I’ve earned my running cred even though I have never ran professionally. That’s exactly what I love most about this activity.

Indeed, in what other sport can a non-elite like me run the same race as some of the world’s best? When I ran the Berlin Marathon in 2019, I crossed the same starting line as Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.

In London, I ran the same race where the late Kelvin Kiptum established the still unbroken marathon world record. How cool is that?

So take heart recreational runners, spectators, and those who are curious about the sport. This column is for you. I dare say we are the fastest growing demographic in sports. Just look at the number of joiners in road races locally. The recent 7-11 Run reportedly gathered nearly 40,000 runners nationwide.

Races are happening practically every weekend and the sale of running merchandise is experiencing an unprecedented spike. Running clubs are sprouting up everywhere.

And for those whose interest has not yet been piqued, this column might just do it for you.

Once you have experienced Runner’s High — that part of a run where you go past the point of fatigue, time seems to stand still, and all your senses are heightened — it’s difficult to let go.

Indeed, there are only a few things in life that can equal that feeling.

“I’ll be happy if running and I can grow old together,” Haruki Murakami once said.

Runners all over understand.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Estrella “Star” Elamparo is a topnotch litigator who earned her Journalism and Law degrees at University of the Philippines Diliman. She is also an avid runner who had competed in the world’s most prestigious races from Tokyo to Berlin, Chicago, New York and London. She will share her running adventures — the joy of victories and the agony of defeats — every Sunday at Daily Tribune.