Most great thinkers love taking long walks. Author Charles Dickens would walk (often at night) the streets of London, purposelessly traversing the streets and parks of the great city. His writings on the plight of the poor in London during the 19th century are unparalleled.
Poet William Wordsworth also loved walking.
Virginia Woolf, one of the foremost modernists of the 20th century, walked for inspiration.
“There is something about the pace of walking and the pace of thinking that goes together,” says Geoff Nicholson in his book, ‘The Lost Art of Walking.’ “It requires a certain amount of attention but it leaves great parts of the time open to thinking…”
To be sure, runner Cesar Guarin has taken the concept of walking and meditation to a whole new level.
“You spend a lot of time with yourself, it becomes a meditation activity, a way to connect with the Almighty, to see and appreciate His creation,” he explained. “It is one of the wonderful things I have discovered in doing these runs—my running became a good time to think and connect with the Lord.”
In running, Guarin found a deep sense of nationalism; he found God; and he discovered his passion and calling.
Olympic dream
Guarin, also dubbed as “Father of the Ultramarathon” in the Philippines, dreamed of becoming the first Filipino to bring home an Olympic marathon gold medal.
But an injury made him unfit to join the 1980 Moscow Olympics; the dashed Olympic dream led him to run 2,251 kilometers in the Philippines, which became the first part of his Global Run—the Trans Pilipinas Run.
Guarin would train again, this time for the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. As fate would have it, Guarin would miss his chance for Olympic glory for that year as well.
His frustration at missing his Olympic chance twice led him to do his first Trans USA run in 1985. “I did it both out of frustration, and to do a bit of soul-searching,” he said.
He ran 4,690 kilometers in 87 days.
“Find yourself first in order to serve others,” Guarin reflected.
The stillness and peace achieved when running, the serene moments, the stark beauty of the sights and the myriad life experiences in his succeeding ultramarathons made Guarin discover the beauty of the world intimately.
Running in the United States in 1985 led him to discover the road he would take in his life. Guarin was inspired by the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who offered their hospitality to him when he was running around the United States.
Running vast distances and raising awareness of the heroism of the OFWs became a passion for Guarin. Through running, Guarin wishes to inspire Filipinos abroad to pursue their dreams—bringing his message of hope and nationalism whenever he meets and visits Filipino communities around the world.
Guarin also aspires to become the first Filipino to run the entire globe. His Global Run started in his 1983 Trans Pilipinas run; he has now covered more than 29,000 kilometers, running across Europe, the United States, Canada, the Middle East, Finland and Australia.
He hopes to complete the required 43,258 km by 2017.
Guarin is now training for his next ultramarathon, which will be held in New Zealand. He plans to run 1,514 kilometers in 42 days—from the northern tip, Auckland, to its southernmost city, Invercargill.
‘Tanzart’
To celebrate his 60th birthday, Guarin recently opened an art gallery in Quezon City. It features his unique “tanzart” (art that uses bottle caps or tansan).
In his many travels around the globe, Guarin has made it a habit to pick up flattened bottle crowns left on the road.
In his thousand-mile journeys, he has been able to collect a prodigious number of these bottle crowns. It is a reminder and a physical stamp of his worldwide journey.
Aside from being a dedicated athlete, Guarin is also a student of fine arts. He transformed his tansan collection into numerous artworks.
The gallery, located in Kamuning, also houses numerous memorabilia from his travels—trophies and medals as well as the different shoes he has used in his arduous ultrarunning.
The gallery is also the showroom and meeting center for his Takbo Na Pilipinas: Run for Change advocacy group. It aims to bring about meaningful change and development in the country.
The group builds running, jogging and walking communities around the country, and promotes ideas that foster change within oneself and society.
For more information about Guarin’s works and advocacies, visit his Facebook page, The Global Run.
Running clinics are held every Saturday and Sunday at the Quezon Memorial Circle. Tel. nos. 0916-5009432, 0915-7451413 and 0917-5915798.
Cesar Guarin’s Tanzart exhibit is at 131 Kamuning Road, Quezon City, tel. 9227868.
