Enduring Camarines Sur's adventure trail

Enduring Camarines Sur's adventure trail

By BRYAN B. GARCIA

A runner precariously navigates through slippery rocks near the Tumaguiti Falls.

MANILA, Philippines - Not until recently did people pay attention to the province of Camarines Sur. What was once an impoverished and calamity stricken land has now become one of the top tourism destinations in the country. Attracting both foreign and local tourism alike, CamSur has done so by developing facilities around the province suitable for adventure sports.

The most famous spot and arguably the main reason behind all the hubbub is the CamSur Watersports Complex. Designed virtually as a giant playground for all ages, CWC has succeeded in establishing a base for extreme adventure sports in the country with facilities such as their skate park, inflatable obstacle course as well as a cable park where riders can wakeboard to their hearts’ content.

Although CWC has put Camarines Sur on the world map, it is but the tip of the iceberg in terms of the wealth of natural wonders and amazing sights the province has to offer. Situated at the heart of the Bicol region, CamSur is blessed with a variety of flora and fauna and an equally diverse terrain to go along with it. There’s no better way to explore these hidden treasures than an endurance race that navigates through its backyards and traverses its rough yet scenic trails.

When recently concluded ultra marathon event The North Face 100 laid plans to hold their endurance race in Camarines Sur, everyone involved, from organizers, sponsors and more importantly the racers, knew that it would be a challenging course. With previous races held in different spots around the country, which includes places like Sacobia Valley in Clark Field Pampanga and Baguio City in Benguet, this year’s race offers another unique ultra experience. “We don’t want repeat of races, because the nature of The North Face is testing the limits and exploring different areas,” shares race director Neville Manaois.

As the name suggests, the ultra marathon race runs through a distance of 100 kilometers through different terrains and seldom accessed routes testing the very limits of human endurance. Aside from the full 100 kilometer race, there are the shorter 50km, 22km and 11 km courses.

Covering such distances gave the organizers the opportunity to lay down a route that ran through a microcosm of the province’s landscape, starting from the CWC complex, through the CamSur plains and up and across towering Mt. Isarog. “Here we want to utilize the features of Mt.Isarog, the waterfall areas, the trail networks as well as the mountain bike trails,” Manaois says.

The course starts out flat from the base camp in CWC and begins to ascend as the trail pushes up Mt. Isarog, across rivers and through mountain passes that have a series of spectacular waterfalls. The course then descends and traverses the perimeter of the mountain eventually ascending towards Consocep Mountain Resort where the trail offers a stretch full of spectacular views under tropical canopies highlighted by a portion in which runners precariously navigate the tracks beside the Tumaguiti Falls.

“With this race we got to visit points na iilan lang nakakapunta, kagaya ng falls sa taas ng Mt. Isarog. Madaming bagong features sa trail and it turned out to be full of surprises,” shared 49-year-old 100km finisher Cesar Abarientos. “Of all people that you would expect na makakakilala sa Mt. Isarog, dapat yung mga taga dito,” the Naga local added.

From Consocep, the course then winds its way down to a deer farm, through a bike trail amid a bamboo farm and descend towards Barangay May-Ogob in the municipality of Ocampo which serves as the course’s turn around point.

Although the beauty of the trail offers a fitting consolation, the harshness and dangers of such a long endurance race are real. The challenge of merely finishing the race takes an incredible amount of determination and effort, not to mention countless hours of conditioning and training. “I came in expecting the unexpected. The course was very challenging but it was nice at the same time because it develops gradually and it’s not too rigid,” women’s 100km third place winner Ellen Tolentino shared. “I’m a nature lover and I’m very relaxed when I’m around it,” the 27-year-old Philippine Army runner added.

Despite the hazards involved, the race proved to be a success in terms of challenging each runner from all race categories as well as acquainting each one to the hidden wonders of the province, something which the organizers credit to the overwhelming support of the Camarines Sur locals. “We’re very happy with the support of CamSur and the communities around the areas here,” Manaois said.

The prospect of conquering a seemingly insurmountable challenge, coupled with an innate urge to explore, pushes some athletes to test their personal limits. Choosing to ignore ease and comfort, these elite runners lay it all out in order to successfully finish this grueling race. Regardless of struggles and hardships, these athletes brave the trail to reap a unique reward, an intimate relationship with the rich landscape of Camarines Sur
.