The marathon craze

My children were talking of nothing but the accomplishment of their brother, Junjun, who happens to be my junior for finishing the 119 th Boston Marathon over the weekend.

This is extra special for us and for Junjun especially who was born with chronic asthma. I don't think any of us, including my late wife, ever thought Junjun would become athletic since he was always in and out of the hospital when he was growing up.

In fact, all throughout his school years, he always had a supply of inhalers. But in fairness, Junjun knew early on that he had to do something about his asthma and at a very young age, along with his siblings, he started swimming. That strengthened his lungs and from then on he was unstoppable.

In elementary, he played soccer and then went on to play basketball which he was good at and while working then for Landbank, he was part of their official basketball team.

Junjun was also a member of the Filipino basketball team in Dublin, Ireland where he now lives with his family. He played alongside former Negros Slashers' player, Erwin Framo who also lives there now and they've won a couple of tourneys and I was able to witness one league when I visited years ago.

I can't remember exactly when his love for running started. All I know is that he got inspired seeing his cousin, Alan Llavore, who has been running marathons for years, mostly in California where he resides.

Soon, even Alan's younger brother, Dennis and his wife, Mayra, got into running and so did another nephew, Atty. Graciano “Junjun” Espina who is based in Cebu.

My son trained rigorously to a point that his siblings would berate him for overdoing things. He was borderline obsessed with this sport and even had a track suit custom-made here in the Philippines with “Nanay” printed on his back since all his runs he offered in memory of my wife.

Junjun and his family would come home for a long vacation every couple of years. With three kids, a vacation together was quite expensive. But we noticed in the past years that he coincides his vacations with marathon events here in the Philippines.

In fact, last summer, he went off to participate in four marathons here. One in Cebu, one here in Negros, another in Manila to Los Banos and the last one in Quezon City.

He would always talk about the Boston Marathon and even post the bombing incident that killed and injured several people, Junjun made a promise that he will someday make it there.

Last year, when he topped the triathlon event in Ireland, he became qualified to participate in the most coveted marathon event in the world. As part of his preparation, he also did a 10-day marathon amidst cold conditions in Ireland.

He did not finish an event without any scratch. He got an infected toe from that 10-day marathon. He developed chills and fever in some events but he persevered and his efforts paid off. Now that he has accomplished what he has initially set out for, I wonder what he will do next.

Nevertheless, we are all so proud of him for staying focused and for following his dream at all cost.

After Boston, he will spend time with his brother, our youngest child, Jay who now lives in Canada with his wife, Bingbing. It will be a weeklong reunion for them along with their cousin, Jojo Espina who lives in Edmonton, Canada also.

She may have left us a long time ago, but I'm sure Nene is equally proud of our Junjun, if not, prouder than any of us knowing that that run and all his other runs have always been dedicated to her.*

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