Doc Mitty gets closure after finally finishing IM relay
Five years ago, runner Humility Melgar-Igaña waited for her husband, Ramie, at the transition area, he never arrived. Ramie died due to pulmonary embolism during the bike segment .
The couple joined the relay event that time and Igaña was the runner for the team with bib number R399. Losing her husband, and the agony of waiting for someone, left a scar .
Igaña said that she had accepted the death of her husband but it was the fear and the whole experience of waiting that stayed with her for the last five years.
After the incident, Igaña, a physician, did not check anything related to Ironman 70.3 Philippines but this year, she finally decided to join.
“I don’t want to know anything related to Ironman. There’s this stigma and the negative thoughts about it. During Ironman race I don’t check my Facebook account, and I don’t go inside the Shangri-La (the start and finish of the race),” Igaña told SunStar Cebu.
This year, Igaña was ready to put things behind and overcome the fear. She agreed to join the relay team of her husband’s close friend, Arcadio “Cadjing” Pelicano. But it took her weeks to final- ly say that she’s in.
The team was named TTB R399 with swimmer Marben Golez, cyclist Pelicano and runner Igaña.
During the race last Sunday, when Igaña saw her biker, she had a sigh of relief and felt that the negative thoughts of the last five years going away.
“My fear was gone when I saw my biker. I felt the adrenalin rush. My agony of waiting and negative thought were gone and were replaced by excitement to run,” said Igaña. “I’m just very happy that I had overcome the bitterness I was able to finish and that was like a closure for me.”
She said that while running she felt that her husband was with her the whole time and was pushing her the entire 21-kilometer run course.
“I think my husband wanted me to really finish the unfinished relay in 2012,” said Igaña, who added that she felt strong and had a lot of energy even amidst the scorching heat on that day which reached around 40 to 44 degrees.
“Before the race, I thought I was just going to walk, but during race day I was able to run it and had a good time despite the heat,” she said.
Igaña finished the run in 2 hours, 37 minutes and 15 seconds. The TTB Team R399 had a total time of 6:41:41 good for 69th place among 194 relay teams. Golez finished the 1.9K swim in 55:50 while Pelicano completed the 90K bike in 3:01:42.
“During the run I just made sure that I will finish. After five years, finally I get the chance to step on the finish line,” said Igaña.
Igaña said that because of her faith in God, she never questioned why her husband was the one who was chosen among around 3,000 participants. She accepted it but one of the things that bothered her was the process of waiting.
“I never questioned the Lord why I but I questioned the organizers for not informing me of his loss. It took the help of a dear friend, Dr. Peter Mancao and co-Ungo runners to find my husband in a local hospital who was already two-hours DOA. The organizers sent their condolences but never apologized for their negligence of not finding ways to update me of Ram’s whereabouts,” Igaña posted on Facebook last Tuesday.
It was five years ago but the prayer she said for her husband at the emergency room was still fresh on Igaña’s mind: “Lord Thank you, thank you for sharing him with us. Those we’re wonderful years. This is a borrowed life.”
Igaña said that her husband died doing the thing he loved best. Ramie was doing bike since 1996.
“Since then I believe I have inspired a lot of friends on my outlook in life. I’m usually weak but during that time I was really strong,” said Igaña, who’s been into running since 2009. /