SEASONED runner Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III did the unthinkable—ran seven marathons in seven continents in seven days.
The Cebuano eye specialist made history and Cebu proud when he became the first-ever Filipino to complete the grueling World Marathon Challenge, which ran from Feb. 7 to 14, 2020.
Larrazabal, who’s the president and chairman of the board of Cebu Doctors’ Group of Hospitals, ran 42-kilometers in each seven continents. The World Marathon kicked off in Cape Town in Africa on Feb. 7, followed with a leg in Novo, Antartica on Feb. 8 under freezing temperature.
“The most challenging for me was in Antartica. It was freezing cold,” said Larrazabal, adding that he had to find a way to keep his fingers from freezing. “I’m glad I finished the Antartica leg because you can’t complete the challenge if you haven’t completed all seven. It was the most difficult.”
The next legs were in Perth, Australia on Feb. 9, Dubai on Feb. 11 and Madrid, Spain on Feb. 12.
It was in the final two legs—Fortaleza, Brazil on Feb. 13 and Miami on Feb. 14—where Larrazabal impressed his fellow runners by finishing strong at fifth and fourth places, respectively.
“I was getting stronger day by day, peaking at the last leg and got my best time,” he said.
Larrazabal completed this feat despite having at least three hours of sleep every after marathon.
“You need mental strength to complete this. It was never easy,” said Larrazabal, who shared he got teary-eyed when running the final meters in the final leg in Miami.
“I prepared for this race. I did my research. I plan to do this in 2021 but the organizers will do it every two years only. I did not want to do it in 2022, so I decide to make it a go this year,” said Larrazabal.
It was Larrazabal’s 68th marathon and he’s not stopping just yet. He plans to reach that 100th mark.
For making the country proud, Congressman Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco files a House Resolution No. 720 in Congress to congratulate and commend Larrazabal for the historic feat.
“If you want to make history, you have to do historical things,” Larrazabal ended the press conference, quoting his favorite athlete, the late Kobe Bryant.