IT WAS BILLED AS A RACE OF EPIC proportions: a 250-kilometer relay through Subic, Zambales, Bataan and back, and lasting nearly 30 hours.

Epic Relay 250, the first of its kind, was organized by Chris Sports last June 12-13, drawing 24 teams. Smart Communications, Inc., a major sponsor, fielded Team Smart and Team Transition One, with members from the company?s running club, Samahang Mananakbo ng Smart.

?It was the best race ever!? exclaimed Sandy Alentajan, who has been running for almost 25 years, but never in a relay, till now.

According to Kim Zamora: ?For the past two or three years, many races have brought out the ?runner? in Filipinos. The twist with the Epic Relay 250 is that, this time, one does not run by and for himself. One runs with and for a team.?

?It was very challenging,? added Marlon Eusebio, recalling the intense heat of the sun, the boisterous barking of dogs that trailed them, and the pitch-black roads.

Still, Ellen Encinares found it ?so much fun.?

For the ultramarathon runners, a team consisted of five members, each one running 50 km. For the regular teams of 10, of which Smart?s two teams belonged, members ran an average of 10 km.

In a relay, the challenge is not really the distance, as each runner gets to rest after running his or her designated leg, ranging from three to 12 km, but on the technical difficulties posed by the terrain and the weather.

?Grabe ang init?sa taas at sa ilalim, para kang nilulutong bibingka (The heat was terrible, in the air and on the ground, we were like bibingka being baked),? quipped Marlon, who ran the fifth leg at high noon in Morong, Bataan.

For Sandy , it was the lung-busting ascent to the Dambana ng Kagitingan atop Mt. Samat in Pilar, Bataan (elevation, 564 m above sea level), that was the most difficult part.

Nighttime proved to be another challenge, as Ellen Solosod, paced by Ipe Mascareñas, found out. There were long stretches of unlit roads flanked by heavy vegetation, especially in Morong. Their path was lit only by the glow of their head lamps and the occasional headlights of passing vehicles.

In areas where there were houses, dogs often trailed them, so that at one point, they used tree branches to ward off the animals.

There were also rather uneasy moments, such as when Team Smart skipper Alvin Arcilla passed a roadside cemetery in Subic?in the dead of night!

Team Smart bested seven other teams in the Corporate Category, at 27 hours, 48 minutes (9th overall).

Team Transition One, clocking in at a strong 25 hours, 40 minutes, placed 7th overall and was named Most Fit All-male Team.

?This will encourage members to be more active,? remarked Arvin. ?We are looking forward to the next relay.?

Patrick Gregorio, head of Smart?s Sports Marketing, said the company has been actively promoting the value of sports and its contribution to nation-building. ?Getting Smart employees also to engage in sports is a natural progression of that advocacy,? he said.