Guarin takes failed Olympic bid farther

How do you deal with a dream that fell short? For Cesar Guarin, it was by taking that dream farther.

Guarin’s name may not ring a bell, but this 5-foot-6 fellow has run farther than any Filipino, literally. It all started in 1978 when a young Guarin, then studying at the University of the Philippines, holding an ambition to become the first Filipino Olympic marathon gold medalist. “It was more than a dream, it was my obsession," said Guarin when GMANews.TV interviewed him at his office in Kamuning, Quezon City. The fine arts graduate put most of his time and resources to achieve his dream of running in the Olympics until he ran into a brick wall. He earned the chance of making it to the Olympic marathon competition but an injury he acquired during the 1980 Batulao Marathon ended his dream. That same injury prevented him of qualifying in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. To cope with his disappointments, Guarin began to run longer distances. "I started running longer distances to take the frustration out of my system." And that is how he found his new "obsession." So far Guarin's "obsession" has brought him running from Zamboanga in Mindanao to Baguio City in Luzon. “That was my first ultra-running experience. We called it Trans-Pilipinas." The first Trans-Pilipinas run happened in 1983 where Guarin took the challenge of conquering the 2,100 kilometer distance from Mindanao's City of Flowers to the Philippine's Summer Capital. Guarin finished the Zamboanga-to-Baguio run in 37 days running 60 kilometers a day. "Former Gintong Alay top man Michael Keon was a running buddy during my UP days and it was him who welcomed me at the Burnham Park," noted Guarin. Guarin, who heads the clothing company that owns the Botak line, stopped not after that adventure and admitted that it was like he has acquired an incurable virus. "Running is very addictive. Once you got into it, I'm sorry but there's still no detox available to cure it." And Guarin, of course, was deriving those words from his experience as a true-blue running "junkie." After that Trans-Pilipinas feat, Guarin tried the Trans-USA run. This was in 1987 where he covered the East Coast to West Coast route in 87 days. "I started running at around April and my target was to negotiate and finish the route on June 12, the Philippine Independence day. But because of restrictions in the free ways and other things, I finished the run on July 4, the American Independence day," said Guarin. That New York-to-Los Angeles run, which covered 4,600 kilometers, was the first foray of any Filipino to a Trans-USA run. In 1992, the running "itch" again attacked Guarin and he took a five-nation, Trans-Europe run. "I started in Barcelona, Spain passed by France, Belgium, Switzerland and finished in Italy." That Trans-Europe journey lasted for 63 days with Guarin running an average of eight to 10 hours a day. Guarin's dream now is to finish what he calls the Europe-to-Asia run that started when he took that Trans-Europe feat. "My dream now is to finish what I have started. I hope to run from Europe to the Middle East and finish here in Asia." Guarin even used a world map to show where he wants to run again and where he wants to finish. "When I can finish it, I don't know, only time will tell. Pero nandiyan lang 'yang pangarap na 'yan." Will he stop running, that is the question most people would probably ask. "I don't see myself stopping from running because I enjoy the meditative part of it. I do long distance running not only for physical fitness but also in order to meditate." "So kahit may edad na tayo, I believe I will still run. Wala naman pinipiling edad ang pagtakbo." – Perry Legaspi, GMANews.TV