Will Margarito retreat or freeze, and other run-run events

MANNY PACQUIAO has been listed among the entries (10K) in Sunday’s “Run for the Pasig 10.10.10” that aims to break a Guinness World Record for the most number of runners in a single race. Madame Gina Lopez, spearhead of the incredible crusade to restore the dead Pasig River to its pre-wartime glory, says they are batting for a total of 120,000 participants, or 10,000 more than the standing world record set in the “Bay to Breakers” race in San Francisco, California, in May 1986.
To those who wonder how Ms Lopez could gather that tremendous number, the reported participation of Representative Pacquiao alone augurs well and should ensure a big field.
Bus operators have offered to shuttle participants free to three different starting points of the race that will culminate at the SM Mall of Asia complex.
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Ms Lopez, needless to say, is singularly possessed by her saintly vow to save and revive the Pasig.
El Shaddai has promised to field 50,000; and although no word has been heard from the CBCP, Catholics are expected to pour in droves in support of Ms Lopez’s aim to tell the world “We want the Pasig River clean.”
Anyway, regarding Pacquiao, it’s easy to believe he also agreed to involve himself in Madame Gina’s crusade as part of his advocacy for the environment.
Another thing. The Pacquiao run should, in a way, help goad him back to full-time running and no-nonsense preparation for his forthcoming clash with Mexican Antonio Margarito in Texas.
For one, we refuse to believe that Pacquiao had tarried before going full stride in training because he was underestimating Margarito, maybe one of the easiest to hit among today’s bigtime prizefighters.
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The very accomplished Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s American trainer, has been quoted as saying Pacquiao was not in his best shape.
Not yet, of course.
There’s still ample time to hit peak form.
The only danger is if Pacquiao, given his tight new schedule, ends up cramming.
The Pacman need not be told (by Roach) that Margarito cannot be expected to go out there like Oscar de la Hoya or Joshua Clottey, or both.
These two “bigger” foes of the Pacman simply froze like stone statues, suffering instant paralysis under the fury of Pacquaio’s killer lightning offensive.
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Roach is right. Unlike De la Hoya and Clottey, Margarito can only be expected to jump in.
He will throw his weight around.
Margarito may indeed be less skillful than any of past Pacquiao’s victims, but the Mexican former world champion will use his superior height and greater build to bully Pacquiao all night long.
Should Pacquiao be super fit for the underrated Margarito?
He should be at his peak, period.
He must also avoid losing steam in the closing rounds, in case he fails to nail down his foe, as Roach had predicted, before the 10th.
No need for the Pacman to engage in a mindless slug-out.
He must be more evasive, while using selective punching.
Roach has obviously warned him, and Sunday’s Run for the Pasig should help goad the Pacman to perfect fighting form.
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By the way, not a few bystanders, including those who have grown old by the lonesome Pasig, had tried to label Gina Lopez’s crusade as both unbelievable and quixotic.
But we should be able to see by Sunday, with no less than the world’s biggest boxing superstar on the lead, where Madame Gina’s quest will lead.
Now, regarding impossible dreams, let’s hear from multi-awarded poet-novelist Erwin Castillo on another modern-day seeker of meaningful change: 
“Retired police Gen. Samson ‘Sammy’ Tucay has another seemingly quixotic adventure to fulfill.  A decorated police officer with much storied experience in Special Operations, Sammy Tucay has become more famous as the founding chief of the PNP’s vaunted values re-orientation school, where scalawag policemen are given a last chance to straighten out their lives and careers. Here, one of the important tools of this re-training proved to be long distance running.
“Now Sammy proposes to run the 2,500-km Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlikha Highway—literally from Aparri to Jolo—to draw attention to his personal causes: Value formation, national unity and peace. The PNP, especially the many hundreds of grateful students of Sammy’s school, will give limited support. Sammy Tucay will run 5 days a week for seven months, and is inviting companions to run with him, for as long as they wish: a kilometer, a day, or even—for the strongest—the entire long and winding road.”
  Please stand by for further announcements.
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(QC INT’L MARATHON: A most anticipated event, reports Roni Tapia-Merk, is happening in Quezon City on Dec. 5. It’s the Quezon City International Marathon, now on its second year. The event is organized by the Executive Runners Club and is supported by the Quezon City local government headed by Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.
Recreational runners, professionals and beginners will race in the 5k, 10k and the 42k. Registration at the Chris Sports Outlets, Quezon City Hall, Runnex Office at Rm. 304 Bulwagang Halina, UP Diliman, ends on Nov. 7. For more details, call (02) 4355291 or visit www.runnex.org).