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Villafria finishes 7th in 65K ultra marathon
Ronald Villafria shows off his seventh place trophy and finisher’s medal in the Cabanatuan City to Dingalan, Aurora 65K Ultra Marathon held last April 29 and 30 in the
Run Saipan’s Ronald Villafria finished seventh in the Cabanatuan City to Dingalan, Aurora 65K Ultra Marathon held last April 29 and 30 in the Philippines.
The 52-year-old longtime Saipan resident negotiated the 40.3-mile course from the former Nueva Ecija capital to the so-called Batanes of the East in 9 hours and five minutes.
Villafria said the hardest part of the ultra marathon was running along the national highway in pitch darkness as he started at 11:25pm on April 29 and he finished 8:30am the following day. He said he also found challenging the steep hills of the course.
Asked what was the best part of the race aside from finishing among the Top 10, Villafria said it would probably be the Philippine’s breathtaking countryside scenery.
Ronald Villafria poses with his Nueva Ecija Runners teammates after the ultra marathon. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
He then thanked the support given him by the Nueva Ecija Runners, namely Miguel and Sheryl Ann Zapatero, Chard Magbual, and Ranzell Navarro.
Villafria said along the nine-hour ultra marathon he was fortunate not to have needed a bathroom break and he snacked on bread and hydrated himself with water and energy drinks.
As always, he was able to endure the long stretches of silence running alone and tiring by motivating himself to run fast and not stop as the thought of running under the Philippines’ scorching hot sun beating on you would surely be an additional hardship.
In fact, on the way home Villafria and his support team saw runners still trying to finish at 2pm with the country’s midday sun in full glory.
Run Saipan president Edward Dela Cruz Jr. again marveled at Villafria’s commitment to soldier on in his running hobby.
“Ronald is one of our most experienced distance runners. It is amazing we have someone from here committing to ultra distance. Congratulations to our brother Ron completing another ultra,” he said.
Villafria’s next challenge is a 10K run in Manila on May 14, before a 70-km ultramarathon on May 20.
He is currently taking up EIM Electrical Installation Maintenance courses under the Technical Education And Skills Development Authority in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.
