The Livermore Wine Stomp Half Marathon last Sunday saw a Juan participate in it. No not this Juan, but another great Juan. My uncle Juan (it’s a tradition for my family to name all their first born Juan, I’m actually the 4th Juan) joined the said half marathon. Now this is news or blog worthy for several reasons.
1. *A marathon or half marathon is no piece of cake* – Anyone who finishes a half marathon should be proud of himself/herself regardless of age. Heck I don’t think I ever walked an entire marathon the whole of my life. Even when I was walking normally.
2. *My uncle is 60* – Most people couldn’t run a marathon during their prime years, much less when you’re 60. But, yep my uncle did.
3. *He dedicated the marathon to me* – This arguably is the single best reason for me to blog about this. I was really really touched and honored that my uncle dedicated the run to me. He wrote me an email about a month and half ago, saying that he was going to run the marathon and was dedicating it to me. I was honestly speechless. He’s always been a great uncle. He, together with my aunt, welcomed us to their home when we made the trip to the U.S. several times both for a vacation and for medical reasons. Apart from that he has always been there for me and my family in one way or the other.
This gesture just really proves how great a guy he really is.
The Livermore Wine Stomp is a 13.1 mile or 21 km run. My uncle did it in 2 hours and 29 minutes. Around 19 minutes of his targetted time of 2 hours and 10 mins or about 10 minutes per mile. He was on track to finish in that time but a little over a mile from the finish line he got cramps on his right leg and then the left foot. He ended up having to walk the last mile to the finish line.
The time he put in is still under the max time he targetted for which is 2 hours and 30 mins.
My uncle wore a shirt with my picture printed on it as a symbol that he ran it for me or he was running it with me.
Tito Jonee (Tito is uncle in Filipino), from the bottom of my heart I thank you for this great gesture. This is truly one of the greatest things anyone has done for me. I will always remember this.