CEBUANA JOINS ELITE 24-HOUR ULTRA RUN
Rhoda Caballero-Oporto to test endurance with Asia’s elite runners in Ultramarathon IAU 24 hours Asia and Oceania Championships
One thing that ultra marathoner Rhoda Caballero-Oporto is thankful for the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC) is the oval’s roundthe-clock operation.
The veteran ultra marathoner Oporto spends extra time at the CCSC for the past weeks in preparation for the 2018 Soochow International Ultramarathon IAU 24 hours Asia and Oceania Championships in Taiwan on Dec. 1 to 2.
The event which will be joined by elite ultra runners in Asia is not the typical ultramarathon race. It is a test of endurance where runners will run for straight 24 hours in Taiwan’s oval.
The runner that covers the most distance after the designated time will win.
Oporto said that she’s doing double-time on her training and the 24/7 accessibility of the CCSC has been helpful on her training regime.
“I trained at the oval so that I will be well-adjusted come race day. The 24 hours operation of CCSC is really a big help,” Oporto told SunStar Cebu in Cebuano.
Oporto, who works at Phil- Health, is the lone Cebuano selected to be part of the 6-man lineup of Philippine Association of Runners (PAU) Team headed by retired general Jovie Narcise.
Oporto usually trains at night after work. She runs for two hours on weekdays and more than two hours during weekends.
“I’m lucky that the oval here is open for 24 hours. On Fridays, I can train overnight,’ she said. “Dili samok ang oval during those hours.”
This is the first time that Oporto will be joining this kind of race, since there’s no such endurance event that has been staged recently here in the country.
“This is challenging for me since it’s my first time. But I will just give my best and try to enjoy the experience,” she said.
The CCSC oval started its 24/7 operation in April this year. It is believed that CCSC is the first oval in the country that’s operational for 24 hours. /