This column will appear in the Monday May 17 edition of the Business Mirror. 
Born to Run
words and pics by rick olivares
Jaymie Crisostomo-Pizarro stands five foot six and weighs 118 pounds. She’s lean and has a toned body that even if you didn’t know her you’d say she lives an active lifestyle. She tossed back her hair that has been tied into a ponytail and laughed at the athletic assertion.
She assured me that it’s true. But the laughter comes from distant memory during her college days in Ateneo when as a yellow belter in taekwondo she was bested by a grade schooler in a sparring match. At best, she concedes, she was a perennial dieter forever obsessed with her weight. More laughter.
That was it for sports as far as she was concerned.
But life has a funny way of sneaking up on you.
She was hanging out with her friends over coffee and one shared that she ran for 30 minutes on her treadmill. It intrigued Jaymie because she had one at home as well but she never took it seriously.
She took to her treadmill with renewed vigor and it was tough even if only 10 minutes.
Her inquisitiveness is another trait that reveals who she is. She admits to being obsessive compulsive and that mania for information has served her well in her two years in the stock market and brand management. You are who you are, she said with her hands gesticulating to emphasize her point.
Jaymie scoured the web for more information on running programs. She eventually found one designed for starters, printed it out, and trained for two months for her first 5K race. She also signed up for a run clinic. In her new running gear, she went to the venue brimming with excitement. Turned out that she was the only one who signed up. She remained undeterred. Her husband Miguel was amused by her obsession but supported her. He knew better than to divert Jaymie. After all, she’s bullish. Taurus folk are like that after all.
She bought running gear and on race day, just as she stepped out of the car and saw other participants stretching and getting ready for the race, she exclaimed to her husband, “I could get used to this.”
She finished the race exhilarated and unlike like the blockbuster movie of the year, she waxed emotional about her first run -- for four months! Unable to find a sympathetic ear, she turned to blogging and career was born albeit slowly.
In her desperation, Jaymie invited a co-parent in Little Gym to attend a run clinic. The co-parent agreed, attended once, and never showed up again. The upside was, the co-parent brought along someone who had that budding mania for running. A friendship was struck and they took off. First for fun, then to get fit, and finally to compete. And she’s taken part in fiftysomething runs around the country as well as in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The more she ran the more she enjoyed it. And the more she enjoyed it, she signed up for more and more runs despite her delicate knees.
Jaymie continued to blog about her thoughts and feelings. Like some dark secret, she lowered her voice but it was filled with mirth and a dollop of mischievousness – she sent her posts to friends and asked them to spread it and comment on them.
Today, her blog, The Bull Runner (named so because she first put it up on her birthday May 5 and her father says that she’s bull-strong), garners some 60,000+ hits a month and has become more than expression of her thoughts but a hub for running activity. She posted her thoughts on every run/race she took part in that it has gotten to the point where some organizers have been upset at her because running enthusiasts read what she writes.
And the success of her blog has spawned a bi-monthly magazine that is given away for free. The magazine, also bears the same name as her blog, is placed in running specialty stores, sports shops, coffee shops and the like but many swear that they never find it there. A cursory inquiry with the guards at the Starbucks shoppes I frequent say that despite a sticker that asks customers not to bring the copies home, the magazines routinely vanish from the shelves.
Nike officials also say that when she reviews a running shoe she uses, they go out of stock within the next few days.
She oft gets stopped for photographs or even autographs and her sudden celebrity bemuses her. She blushes and protests at the mention of the word. She professes to dislike the tag. Or even the assertion that running is her life. She can skip a run to spend time with her family whether it is a gathering or even just going through her two kids’ schoolwork. She does it to keep fit and healthy yet only recently, she ran in four marathons in the last five months.
One of her close friends, Jim Lafferty, the former Proctor and Gamble executive turned full-time motivational speaker, advised against her marathon schedule. She has become influential in the local running scene that others might think that it is good to do the same thing when ideally, one runs a marathon once a year. As for blogging her thoughts about the races she participates in, she has become a little more prudent because others now do the same although not necessarily in a constructive manner.
And because of the busy lifestyle between herself and her husband (who was finally bitten by the running bug, er, bull), their dates become running dates.
On Saturday, May 22, The Dream Marathon, will mark the first one she is ever organizing. After she ran her first marathon (the Quezon City International Marathon), she thought it was a life changing experience and she has since dreamed of others to experience the same albeit in a more idyllic and controlled setting. The race with its limited number of 300 participants, all first or second-time marathoners, will take place in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna. It’s set beside a pristine lake with a limited number of cars on the road that are mostly marshalls who will assist the runners with their needs from bottles of Gatorade to first aid if needed. There is even a Dreammobile that will tour the route for family and friends to cheer on participants. The marathon is unique because it encourages the community of runners to support and motivate their fellow runners. The top finishers will not be awarded because as the race organizers repeatedly say, everyone who crosses the finish line is a winner.
Last school year, while Jaymie’s son Anton was waiting to be picked up from school, he overheard two younger students talking. “My father knows the Bull Runner,” said one in an apparent game of can-you-top-this.
Anton approached the two and announced, “My mom – is the Bull Runner.”
She blushes at the story, once more not quite sure about her – she hates the “C” word – celebrity.
Yes, life has a funny way of sneaking up on you.
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Meeting Jaymie was like meeting a kindred spirit. Friends like Jim Saret and Ton Gatmaitan have long said that we should sit down and talk. And when we finally did, there were mutual experiences in how blogging and sports has changed our lives and I truly respect her for what she has achieved and what she is doing for running and for her family.
Last Saturday, I was one of four speakers in the Marketing the Brand You of the Ateneo Alumni Association. I spoke about marketing oneself online using everything from social networking sites to email. I cited Jaymie as one of four examples who made the most out of her online experiences.
And of course, the best has yet to come! And hey, I'm on The Bull Runner!
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