No sickness can stop Salaño

Richard Salaño knew something was wrong even before he toed the starting line of the men’s marathon event of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.

But with months of preparation behind him and no other event on his schedule, the 34-year-old Filipino marathoner refused to let flu-like symptoms spoil his long-awaited Asian Games debut.

Salaño endured the 42-kilometer race at Paloma Mizuho Stadium, eventually crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 20 minutes and 34 seconds for 14th place behind Japanese marathoner Ichitaka Yamashita, who won the gold in 2:10:49.

He said he was so sick that he had to take paracetamol just to get to the starting line. Also, his in-race energy intake did not sit well with his ailing body, causing him to vomit during the run.

Still, he refused to surrender, especially after learning that his teammate, Sonny Wagdos, pulled out of the race after suffering the same illness.

“I didn’t have any other event, so I said, ‘I’ll just endure this. The day after is up to me,’” Salaño said in an interview on “Off the Court,” the weekly online sports show of DAILY TRIBUNE on Thursday.

“My body really wanted to stop but I just wanted to finish the race.”

The result, however, hardly reflected the battle Salaño went through during his Asian Games debut.

“This is my first Asian Games. That’s why I know that I won’t give up, even if I have to run,” said Salaño, who is known as the long-distance runner who broke the two-decade record of Eduardo Buenavista in the Tokyo Marathon last April.

Salaño added the experience should push him and the team to work harder for their next major competitions while taking extra precautions to stay healthy.

“We’ll be more careful, especially in the upcoming events. We need to double our efforts in training because when it comes to the Asian Games, it’s a tough battle,” Salaño said, setting his sights on the 34th Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia next year.