Former NCAA athlete Mark Julius Rodelas shares his sacrifices en route to SEAG glory

PHNOM PENH — In 2019, obstacle course racing (OCR) athlete Mark Julius Rodelas had to settle for a bronze medal in that edition of the Southeast Asian Games after preparing for one year.

Four years later, Rodelas was finally able to hoist the gold medal, though it took a lot of sacrifices on his part.

Rodelas, who was a former NCAA athlete for Emilio Aguinaldo College's athletics team, shared that he had to drop his day jobs — he was a high school English teacher and a full-time gym trainer — in order to prepare for the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.

But that tough decision paid off as he finally copped the gold medal after dethroning compatriot Kevin Pascua in their All-Filipino showdown in the men's individual obstacle race on Saturday.

"Actually nag-start ako mag-training at nagbigay ng oras sa OCR ay after ng 2019 SEA Games. Dati kasi nag-bronze ako so nagsikap ako at nag-aral," Rodelas said after the competition.

"So for four years, pinaghandaan ko talaga 'to ng mabuti. After ng SEA Games, nag-resign ako sa mga normal jobs ko and then nag-full time athlete ako."

("Actually I started to train and give my time to OCR after the 2019 SEA Games. Back then, I won the bronze so I persevered and studied... So for four years, I prepared for this very well. After the SEA Games, I resigned from my normal jobs and became a full-time athlete.")

But Rodelas admitted that to be able to compete for the gold against his fellow Filipino meant the pressure was no longer as high.

Earlier, Julius Rodelas talks about dethroning his compatriot Kevin Pascua in the men’s individual obstacle race. @gmasportsph pic.twitter.com/EPgIJs4Eqm

— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 6, 2023

"Actually relaxed lang po kaming dalawa kasi whatever happened, sa Pilipinas 'yung ginto. So walang pressure, walang kaba kaya sobrang relaxed lang naming dalawa."

("Actually, the two of us were relaxed because whatever happened, the Philippines would take the gold. So there was no pressure, no nerves, so we were just really relaxed.")

Rodelas clocked in 25.19 seconds to win the gold while Pascua had 26.81 seconds to get the silver medal.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News