I Run This (Science and Nature) Town

A beautiful lady is said to haunt the mountain overlooking my town!

When not travelling, I call a first-class municipality 63 kilometers south of a major metropolis my training base/
temporary home town. Sandwiched by the country's biggest lake and a 1090m-high dormant volcano, my town is a favorite destination of tourists, both local and foreign, due to its therapeutic thermal springs-based spas and resorts, a lush and still-virgin forest mountain, a botanical garden, an international scout jamboree site and various picnic grounds, a mysterious magnetic hill, and a museum of natural history exhibiting over 200,000 kinds of local flora and fauna.

A large expatriate community and I call this town temporary home.

The vigor and idealism of thousands of young local and foreign students, the wisdom and sophistication of hundreds of expatriate staff working in international organizations, and the grace and hospitality of the local population never fail to bring about a unique kind of vibrancy and aura to the town's atmosphere that is especially noticeable and felt when school is in session. Self-sufficient and pollution-free as a residence, but with cosmopolitan pleasures ready and waiting only less than an hour's drive away, you get the best of both worlds if you live in my town.

Concrete or dirt? Flats or uphills? You can take your pick in my town!

It is written that my town presently hosts the largest scientist community in Southeast Asia.  Academics,
students and those seeking deeper meaning, truth, and enlightenment find my town their personal mecca. A major state university and several national and international research centers co-exist side by side in the locality, feeding off each other's eternal fountain of knowledge. 

The King Cobra calls this nature park right in my town its home.

In 2000, the national government declared my town as the country's first "Special Science and Nature City", recognizing it for being a national and international center that has generated and continues to deliver science and technology-based innovations for globally developing agriculture and preserving the environment. Rustic in setting, my town is truly a place where the intellectual prowess of the science community and the wonders of Mother Nature, including the King Cobra that calls the local rain forest home, are in a balanced and thus sustainable symbiotic relationship.

A giant fertility tree :-) adorns a quadrangle with 2 ovals in my town.

Running and hiking are popular sports in my town.  You can run in the morning, in the afternoon, or at night and never lack for company in the most favored running center of all- the university campus.  There is a  400m grass track oval where one can do intervals, an 800m oval-shaped quadrangle with a 100m stretch that is perfect for strides and fartleks, a 2K oval route with moderate incline along student dormitories, a steep and hard-to-run route to forestry and biodiversity parks very much suited for hill training, and a smorgasbord of traffic-free rolling or flat long routes that are perfect for LSDs or just regular or easy running.  Prefer running on trails, grass, or asphalt?  Solitary or with others? Along forest trees or rice fields? With magnificent views of a mountain or a lake? No problem, all. Variety is what you will have if you run in my town.

Biodiversity Run on September 4, 2010.

Over the next two weekends - on September 4 and 12, there will be two races in my town- hence this blog post of support. The first race is the Biodiversity Run 2010 being staged in line with the global celebration of 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB).  Organized by the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity in collaboration with the Macrunners Sports Inc., the race specifically aims to promote the rich biodiversity of Mt. Makiling Forest and nearby ecosystems while advocating road running as an affordable path to physical fitness, mental well-being, ecological awareness, and enhancement of local tourism. Participate in this run and you would have helped in raising funds for biodiversity programs while contributing to the IYB global celebration.

Makiling Challenge 9 on September 12, 2010.

The second race is the Makiling Challenge, one of the longest-running competitive foot races in the country.  First staged in 2002 by the university student organization Makiling Campus Runners (MACRunners), the race that is now on its 9th edition, has attracted runners from all over the island with its increasingly challenging and unique routes that always feature uphill climbs along forested roads.  This year's edition continues the MACRunners' tradition of promoting running as an affordable means to attain fitness while presenting my town as a viable venue for running events for students and fitness enthusiasts alike.

Nature Run, November 2009: Running thrives in my town.

So, if you happen to live near my town, or be from the same major island, come run with us over the next two weekends.  Not only will you be guaranteed to run in routes that are far from being run-of-the-mill but, for a change, you will be running in an environment with clean and fresh mountain air. 

Prepping for 50:50 uphill/downhill run deep into a rain forest park!

After each run, you can always soothe those tired muscles by wallowing in one of the town's hot springs and spas.  But if you do not know how to get here and by now still haven't figured out what the heck is the name of my town, then the following clue should give it all away - as a bonus, you can take home our famous product that tourists flock here for- a box of young coconut meat pie!

Route of a 32K LSD run: My longest so far in my town.

If the town's name escapes you still, then simply click the following links (Biodiversity Run and Makiling Challenge 9) or better still, simply
Go Elbi!

Kita kits!