My First Cebu Marathon Experience

Running my first Cebu Marathon 2026 was something I will never forget. I trained for five months for this race, starting my journey six months ago with one clear goal in mind. I wanted to finish the marathon in 3 hours and 40 minutes. The race started well, and I felt good with my pace and the energy around me. Everything felt smooth during the early kilometers, and I was confident with how the race was going.

This marathon was not only a big achievement for me but also a personal record in many ways. I ran my fastest 10km at 49:57, improving from my previous time of 50:48. For the 21km mark, I finished at 1:49:42, beating my old record of 1:53:16. Even at 32km, I managed a new personal best of 2:55:38 compared to my previous 3:05:59. These moments reminded me that the hard training really paid off.

Things changed when I reached around the 34-kilometer mark. I started feeling cramps on the left side of my leg, especially in my calf, and my pace slowly dropped. It became harder to run, and every step started to hurt. I knew I couldn’t stop, so I relied more on my right leg just to keep moving. At that point, my only goal was to keep running and finish the race.

The last 5 kilometers were the toughest part of the marathon. The cramps spread to both of my legs, and the pain was hard to ignore. Still, I pushed myself and kept going until the finish line. I finished the race at 4 hours, which was still a sub-4 finish, and I was proud of myself. This January 31 to February 1, I will try again at the 7/11 Marathon Run and aim for a faster time than my Cebu Marathon.