Fair Play: Yong Larrazabal's secret weapon
WHEN the running bug bit Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III, his wife would sometimes run out of patience while her husband went off running.
“Pupunta ka ng Manila para lang tumakbo?” was a comment Donna Cruz-Larrazabal blurted out once too often.
When Yong went to New York (Yep, that New York) just to run, Donna’s words of encouragement were, “You are an ophthalmologist, you have a family.”
“Gipakonsensya ko,” Yong recalled when I first interviewed him in 2007.
Now it seems the situation has been reversed.
Yong is the one telling Donna to take it easy.
I met Donna for the first time last Tuesday, when she, Yong and their trainer Harthy Satina, talked with sportswriters about the Macau marathon.
In the middle of the conversation, just after Donna was saying she’d do the marathon once a year, she learned the Cebu City marathon on Jan. 10, 2010 would be a lot flatter and friendlier than Macau.
So Donna, who injured her leg in training and aggravated it in Macau, said she’s going to run it.
Not the 5K, not the 21K.
The full 42K.
Yong quickly said, “You have to let that heal first.”
Donna, it seems, wouldn’t hear it, “Parang kaya ko.”
In a way, running in the Cebu City marathon, would still put Donna on track of her targeted “once a year” marathon sortie.
The Macau run was last Dec. 8, 2009, the next one is on Jan. 10, 2010.
Donna, you see, isn’t like most of the celebrities I see in sports events.
I remember one incident involving one actress, who was more than amply gifted in the right angles. After saying she’ll bike from Capitol to Danao, she sneaked into a van when no one was looking.
There was one actor who smashed a golf car, while a bunch of survivors in a beach volleyball event brought so many alalays it seemed they filled the gallery.
You see, the One Who Runs All Things was playing favorites when He handed out The Gifts.
Donna got ‘em all plus some.
She’s even got the grit and determination some professional athletes lack.
Consider what happened in the Macau marathon.
It was her first full 42-kilometer race, and she did it in under five hours.
Not only that, she ran and walked through the last 20 kilometers with pain hobbling her left leg.
“Umiiyak na talaga ako,” she recalled, “Hindi ko na kaya!”
Her husband was at fault.
The day before, when they surveyed the route, they chose to “forget” to tell Donna that the marathon will pass through a monstrous bridge that will make the Marcelo
Fernan a flat crossing.
I guess, they let Donna tackle the bridge, when she got there.
“Mabuthan gyud ko ani usa ka buwan kung dili siya kahuman,” Yong said.
“She’s very competitive,” he added.
The eye doctor, who has run eight of his targeted 33 marathons, might as well be talking about himself since he owns a competitive streak that rivals the pros’.
The runners passed the bridge four times, and Donna was reduced to walking.
“Naubos ang stamina ko sa bridge,” she said.
But showing the grit and spirit that belies her angelic face, she finished the run, tears and all.
“Ayaw ko talagang mapahiya,” she said.
Donna’s ran her first marathon in 4:49.53, which, as she gladly pointed out, is better than the 4:53 Yong registered in his first.
“Yun talaga ang target ko, to beat his time in his first marathon,” said Donna.
She also said Yong’s time improved dramatically when she started training with him and pointed out that her first 10K was 57.34, which again shattered Yong’s first 10K by more than five minutes.
I was going to ask their times in the 21K, but, well, I guess I’ll let the doctor keep his pride…
“Pupunta ka ng Manila para lang tumakbo?” was a comment Donna Cruz-Larrazabal blurted out once too often.
When Yong went to New York (Yep, that New York) just to run, Donna’s words of encouragement were, “You are an ophthalmologist, you have a family.”
“Gipakonsensya ko,” Yong recalled when I first interviewed him in 2007.
Now it seems the situation has been reversed.
Yong is the one telling Donna to take it easy.
I met Donna for the first time last Tuesday, when she, Yong and their trainer Harthy Satina, talked with sportswriters about the Macau marathon.
In the middle of the conversation, just after Donna was saying she’d do the marathon once a year, she learned the Cebu City marathon on Jan. 10, 2010 would be a lot flatter and friendlier than Macau.
So Donna, who injured her leg in training and aggravated it in Macau, said she’s going to run it.
Not the 5K, not the 21K.
The full 42K.
Yong quickly said, “You have to let that heal first.”
Donna, it seems, wouldn’t hear it, “Parang kaya ko.”
In a way, running in the Cebu City marathon, would still put Donna on track of her targeted “once a year” marathon sortie.
The Macau run was last Dec. 8, 2009, the next one is on Jan. 10, 2010.
Donna, you see, isn’t like most of the celebrities I see in sports events.
I remember one incident involving one actress, who was more than amply gifted in the right angles. After saying she’ll bike from Capitol to Danao, she sneaked into a van when no one was looking.
There was one actor who smashed a golf car, while a bunch of survivors in a beach volleyball event brought so many alalays it seemed they filled the gallery.
You see, the One Who Runs All Things was playing favorites when He handed out The Gifts.
Donna got ‘em all plus some.
She’s even got the grit and determination some professional athletes lack.
Consider what happened in the Macau marathon.
It was her first full 42-kilometer race, and she did it in under five hours.
Not only that, she ran and walked through the last 20 kilometers with pain hobbling her left leg.
“Umiiyak na talaga ako,” she recalled, “Hindi ko na kaya!”
Her husband was at fault.
The day before, when they surveyed the route, they chose to “forget” to tell Donna that the marathon will pass through a monstrous bridge that will make the Marcelo
Fernan a flat crossing.
I guess, they let Donna tackle the bridge, when she got there.
“Mabuthan gyud ko ani usa ka buwan kung dili siya kahuman,” Yong said.
“She’s very competitive,” he added.
The eye doctor, who has run eight of his targeted 33 marathons, might as well be talking about himself since he owns a competitive streak that rivals the pros’.
The runners passed the bridge four times, and Donna was reduced to walking.
“Naubos ang stamina ko sa bridge,” she said.
But showing the grit and spirit that belies her angelic face, she finished the run, tears and all.
“Ayaw ko talagang mapahiya,” she said.
Donna’s ran her first marathon in 4:49.53, which, as she gladly pointed out, is better than the 4:53 Yong registered in his first.
“Yun talaga ang target ko, to beat his time in his first marathon,” said Donna.
She also said Yong’s time improved dramatically when she started training with him and pointed out that her first 10K was 57.34, which again shattered Yong’s first 10K by more than five minutes.
I was going to ask their times in the 21K, but, well, I guess I’ll let the doctor keep his pride…
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