Backpacking Bohol and Running My First Marathon

Dear Steemit Friends,

Been in this community for quite some time, exploring, liking and following some posts but never had the courage to start a new post.

Would like to begin my post by sharing a recent event that my hubby and I participated a week ago. It's a running event,since we normally do our dates on the road sometimes on trail. It's in Bohol International Marathon, my first time to finish a marathon in the uphill and downhill slopes of Tagbilaran under the unforgiving sun yet beautiful scenery.

Why am I running? simply because I never thought I could do it (the long runs) and I have to prove to myself that I can achieve if I just put on commitment and dedication. Who would have thought that a small and fragile woman like me with a history of PTB and pneumonia will have the guts to survive such daunting task?

Anyways hope my short intro will give you an idea of myself and what I do after sitting in the office for 8 hours a day doing account management for an IT company based in Sydney but offshored in Manila.

Here comes the exciting part, pictures!

Just an fyi, am a fan of backpacking and economy trips. In fact my recent trip to Bohol is almost free as I earned some mileage from my credit card! :)

This is me and hubby aboard Airasia, we got the ticket on sale.

The flight from Manila to Tagbilaran is only an hour and 10 minutes, ideal for those who do not like being in high altitude.
We stayed in an affordable hotel (Php 800 per night or around US$16 including breakfast) which is only 2 kms away from the airport. The place is nice, simple and quiet plus the fact that it's near the mall where we will have our start/finish of our run.

Aliria Hotel is the name of the property and if you want to visit Tagbilaran this can save you money and the place is good enough and clean. This is only 1 km away from Island City Mall.

We did not intend to have a tour but we ended up visiting famous places on the fly!

Our first to visit is the Loboc River cruise. From Tagbilaran we just went to the Island City Mall (ICM as how the locals call it). The most common mean of transport is tricycle with average fare of Php 20 only. From ICM we rode a bus going to Carmen and stopped exactly in front of Loboc River Cruise site. We paid Php 90 for the bus ride and I think Php 900 for the buffet lunch and tour of the Loboc river.

After the relaxing cruise and lunch, we headed to Tarsier Conservatory to check on the smallest primates on earth - tarsier.
After that we also visited the Chocolate Hills and the man-made forest of Bilar. If you like nature tripping you'd probably like all of these sites as they are remarkably serene, green and simply fascinating creations of earth.

On the second day, we visited the white beach of Panglao. At first we just wanted to see the beach but we ended up doing island hopping. We were mesmerized by the pristine white sand and crystal clear water and witnessed the wonder of underwater thru snorkeling. was hesitant at first since I don't know how to swim but our guide was really helpful to assist and helped me float in the water. We had a short stay at the Bacalisag island where we did our snorkeling and wading in the super clear water. There was also the sandbar of the Virgin Island. This is only available during low tides and we're lucky that the sun was so up high thus we experienced being in this extraordinary island. For this activity we incurred Php 2,500 for boat rental and gear for snorkeling with the assistance of a guide.

We also had lunch in Alona Beach resort that cost around Php 600 for fruits (succulent and sweet watermelon and banana), fresh and delicious chop suey, half fried chicken and 2 cups of rice. It was sooo good and the view of the beach for lunch is another
plus!

The last day was the challenging part as this is our marathon race. We started running at 2 am and finished before 9 am. yep, the route was uphill and downhill and it was not an easy one. We endured the heat of the sun, the fatigue and my blister on the right foot but it didn't matter. There were foods served on the 21st and 27th km mark and there were water stations provided. here are some of our pics along the road.

and there were snacks too! fruits and even roasted pig!

We headed back to Manila by 4:30 pm of the same day. We boarded PAL limping and walking slowly with body still in pain.
It was a tiring experience but all worth the pain. :) hopefully we can return next year for this event.

Hope you had a good time looking at the pics. Glad to meet you all, will try to post some other adventure. Ciao for now!