Pinoys’ bid in Mont-Blanc ultra trail race culminates in triumph and heartbreak

The ambitious bid of five Filipinos in what has been described as the world’s toughest foot race ended in triumph and heartbreak last weekend in Chamonix, an Alpine town at the junction of France, Switzerland and Italy.

Two of the Filipinos—triathlon coach Miguel Lopez and Roland Wangwang—crossed the finish line together on Sunday to become the fastest Filipinos to finish the gruelling Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, a 170-kilometer trek through the rugged valleys, peaks and glaciers of the Alpine trail that straddles the three countries. They finished side by side, completing the course in 41 hours, 10 minutes and 48 seconds.

Lopez caught up with the swifter and nimbler Wangwang in the last station, some eight kilometers from the finish, and the two Salomon-Suunto teammates negotiated the last mountain together.

Almost 20 hours earlier, Xavier Thevenard of France crossed the finish line first, clocking 21:09:15. Nathalie Mauclair, also of France, took the women’s title in 25:33:15. Scaling heights of 2,500 meters with a total ascent of almost 10,000 meters, the race started and finished in Chamomix, a French Alpine valley that hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924.

The three other Filipinos in the race suffered various misfortunes in different stages of the race.

Lopez said Xerxis Tan, the Canada-based trail runner, was the first to fall, failing to make the cut at around 40 kilometers. George Javier, a printing businessman from Los Banos, suffered a bad fall when another runner suddenly stopped in front of him, forcing him to trip on the rugged rocks. He was cut at 96 kilometers. Both were victims of tight time cutoffs in the early stages of the race, Lopez said.

But the most heartbreaking story of all was that of Mia Constantino, who was within a few kilometers from being the first Filipina to finish the gruelling contest against nature, time and one’s physical and mental limits.

Constantino, a Canada-based 27-year old student, had reached the last station with only eight kilometers and one more mountain to go when doctors stopped her and barred her from continuing. Severely dehydrated with blood clots on her lips and nose, she pleaded for an hour with the doctors and organizers to let her finish the race, to no avail.