Tres Islas Adventure Racing

Whoa 7 years! This was actually the original Tres Islas line-up 😅

From an actual newspaper 5 years ago 😂

Sometimes brains. Sometimes engine. Most of the times both at the same time 🤣

Happy birthday, Jomil!

Thank you always, Biliran 🫶

Naka trail gihap! Conquered the technical routes and challenging rattan sections of Tacloban highlands in style 😅

Congrats angkel Patrick James Cruz on your come back race, Sinirangan Trail Quest 2025 42K! Congrats erbadi!

That's our angkol Christopher!! Lowkey and always secret training 😅

Congrats Toff Solatorio for a strong 6th place finish at MagMa Trail Run!
Happy birthday, RD Boying Milan 🫠

La Routa 2025 Story Dump: Part 2 - Flying Lemurs and Constellations

Afternoon of day 1, the course had become quiet and the teams have built enough distance from each other. It was like another day hiking the countryside except we were counting KM-markers hoping to make up lost time by making less mistakes this time.

After serving our penalty at the beach, we were off to take on the big hiking section - a concrete path to the highlands of Biliran, and then ensuring to check-in at Camp Beben, Mt. Panamao Saddle Camp, Tres Marias Camp 1 and Uwan-uwan Falls. For perspective, I've taken a few trips to Biliran in 2018 to visit all these hiking spots - spent five to six days in total to cover all of them mountaineering-style. And now we're aiming to traverse the whole massive trek in under 18-hours.

We took the shortcut through barangay roads to Tubig-Guinoo hoping to shave off a few minutes versus going through the known conventional route. It was dark and quiet, with seldom houses. We left one headlamp on at a meager one lumen setting just enough to see the concrete. Leaving only one headlamp on kept us in a small close pack. Passing residential area, two curious young boys asked to take a photo with us which they later sent to our pages' inbox.

Spirits were high when we reached CP3. There were lots of people both locals and marshalls, and we caught up with Team Apurado who were just about to leave for the mountain section. A little local girl asked my name repeatedly while we prepared to take bearings on our compass. Roads are normally safe and easy to backtrack but trails need an ounce of safety, hence our two compasses were set to point to our direction of travel and carried by me and Jomil. It didn't take long for us to realize the compass wouldn't play much role here because the entire route had been marked with yellow ribbons and it quickly changed the dynamics of the game -- it was just plain trail running now.

The trail to Camp Beben was rolling and the media crew easily hauled their equipment to CP4. Not long after, the steep climbs began and we tried to maintain as steady a pace as we can. We barely stopped, just a few back-and-forths every time we missed a ribbon, but we went straight up to the summit of the prominent Mt. Panamao in high technical steps. By then we had met three teams, PH's Team Apurado at the foot of the climb, India's Team Shershah taking five just before the final ascent, and Malaysia's Kamikaze Silva as they scouted the summit and saddle area looking for the checkpoint.

The descent from the saddle was pure mud so I didn't bother resisting and just slid down the trail on my butt. Panamao has always been known for its rare species of snakes, who never showed up that night. We have spotted a few scorpions along the way, and my memory of this trail from seven years ago was refreshed when we entered the "rattan-country", a section of the trail overgrown with spiky rattan stems and notoriously hook-pointed vines. The more you pull away, the deeper the hooks will cling to you (or tear your skin). By then, we had overtaken another Malaysian team, Phantom Stride. They followed us down that trail and we talked about how strong the recent typhoons were probably resulting to all the fallen trees and vines. They said they saw all the storm and flooding on the news.

It took a while for us to realize we might have taken the wrong path. Part of it was because of me insisting I knew these trails from before. But at the end of that overgrown trail was another PH team, A-Plot who had been circling the mountain-face for a punishing three-hours. We attempted to bushwhack hoping we were close to a clearer path, but ended up on top of an unpassable landslide. Quickly, we decided to climb all the way back while we still had the energy and motivation to do so while the two other teams decided to rest for a bit.

I was starting to grow anxious from all the mistakes and lost time but thankful that the guys put in so much effort trying to recce every twist and turn just to spot a yellow ribbon. After almost two hours, we finally reached the concrete path.

But that road was still far from where we needed to be so began another mundane concrete hike to Palayan, while we spent our time trying to amuse ourselves identifying constellations of the clear starry night. Queen Cassiopiea sat tied to her chair, represented by five visibly bright stars of her namesake constellation, staring down at these four wanderers on a mission to chase checkpoint to checkpoint on a bizarre sport aptly dubbed "adventure racing".

And what do stars and humans have in common? Perhaps the constant yearning for movement.

Palayan is home to the tribal community of the Mamanwas, who have been stewards of Biliran's mountain trails. We checked in and checked out quickly at the CP but decided to nap at a local's home while waiting for her pancit bihon to cook. That was the first sleep I've had in 24-hours, a mere 15 minutes on a wooden bench. It was daybreak now, and we took on the Tres Marias traverse, where the marshalls at camp one told us to look out for wild things. Jomil spotted a flying lemur. We all observed sleeping fruit bats. But the vipers and cobras still decided not to join the show.

I keep reminding myself that a week of adventuring in a highly diverse island reminds us to look after mother nature as best as we can.

We got out of the trail and into Ulan-ulan Falls before midday, and were treated to a photo-perfect abseil on the waterfalls and a much needed plunge on the cold waters where it drops. As we hike the downhill concrete road to Almeria, we passed by a local store, bought flip-flops (tsinelas) and some homemade ice cream (okay I had two haha) which was just the comfort we needed on such a hot day.

All four of us, walking in tsinelas and sharing two umbrellas as we made our way to LP1 didn't seem much like an adventure race but another long weekend vacation. Mainly just trying to not overexert ourselves as we were severely undertrained, while also looking forward to the series of bike checkpoints that was just ahead of us.

-Xayd

Photo credits: Aldwin Cadavis 💚

We heard you! We are reopening this order link one last time

Should you wish to order our 2025 team kit, please fill up this order form no later than November 30, 2025. This will be the last batch of public orders for this design and we hope you will keep supporting us next year. Thank you so much for all your support!

https://forms.gle/7eEzhfZGBFmumLMS6
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La Routa 2025 Story Dump: Day 1 - Of Unbiased Seas and Difficult Trade-Offs

Despite having spent a lot of time in reefs and oceans, La Routa's ocean segment just lived true to its character: unemotional, unbiased, unpredictable.

Flag-off found us struggling to reach our passport lodged at the top of a greasy bamboo pole. The classic Filipino challenge, Palo Sebo, proved a disadvantage to the Filipino height, but starting a race with such a heart-racing untrainable game was nothing short of creative.

Running from the heart of the province to the coastlines of Naval, we found ourselves one of the last teams to choose local fishing boats to transport us to an island control point. And despite having experienced paddlers in the team, a small outrigger boat became the first test of both skill and intellect.

Two pairs: me and Noel on a white boat with obvious wear and tear, and Jomil and Paul on a newly painted green boat. Me and Jomil playing the navigator and engine of each boat while the latter be the steersmen. It started out relatively fine until a gap between our two boats started to build. When the green boat started to disappear from our sight, we also noticed the two human figures also disappearing from the waterline - they have sunk!

We paddled all the way back to ensure our team was intact and after a bailing out water, the green boat was back afloat. Well, sort of. They had raised concerns about their boat being very light and wobbly and couldn't handle the weight of two persons and a couple of loaded packs. We went on nonetheless, now realizing we were at the back of the racing pack.

Moments later, the gap started to build again and for the second time, we decided to come back for the green boat and rethink our plans. We have decided to swap steersmen and see if it would change anything. In those moments, another trick of fate unfolded -- the right outrigger snapped! I slowly got off our boat, ensuring to not knock off our balance, and once in the water, swam as quickly as I could to the broken outrigger. Using the supposed towline, a piece of rope and accessory carabiner we were supposed to use to connect the two boats to make sure we don't leave our teammates behind, I made a square lashing to hold the broken outrigger in place.

By then, we knew we had lost so much time. But it was only the morning of day one and we thought we had a lot of chances to catch up. We paddled on, inching our way but the island didn't seem to move closer at all. Once out in the open channel, a fishing boat warned us "hinay-hinay na mo kay kusog sulog! limas na lang ang usa!" (paddle slowly as the current is picking up. one person should just keep bailing out water).

We did as told but our tiny improvised tabo, a zonrox bleach bottle cut in half, could barely catch up with the splashing water from the incoming waves. In just a few seconds we had sunk, all our belongings floating on the water as I quickly latched on to everything I can: the paddle, my backpack, and the two pairs of swimcap and goggles we had placed on the boat in case we needed them.

In those split seconds I had so many thoughts rushing: Has any of our belongings sunk to the bottom of the sea? Is the boat gonna stay floating? Is the current going to wash us off to the next province (Leyte)? All while all of my fingers gripped on to whatever I can and hoping somebody would come to our rescue.

I just keep recalling to myself how many times I've had near-misses in the ocean and I'm still alive today, so NO, it would be a shame to give up here and now.

After a few minutes, rescue came and explained to us that they can tow us but we get a penalty in return. Looking at our current state, floating in the middle of a raging sea, we didn't have much choice.

The tow was brutal. We were given a towline which I clove-hitched into the bow. I sat on the sunken boat, hugging all our backpacks and loose things, while Paul latched onto one of the outriggers. The rescue boat pulled us to the island and it seemed like it took forever. The incoming waves were like playing rugby with me trying to grab all of our drybags from my loosening grip and I knew that anytime now we could say goodbye to all our gears.

I watched the green boat, still paddling but barely moving through the waves and knew everyone was giving their best just to make it to the next section.

We finally reached the island control point, all the bread we had been saving for snacks have now become a soggy lump of dough. We rehydrated while saying goodbye to the second to the last team. We resecured our gears into our drybags and started the 1 mile swim to main land. This time we had realized we lost one of the goggles during the sink and since I had fins on, I volunteered to swim without goggles.

While leading the swim, Jomil had lost his helmet, probably from a loose buckle. He swam all the way back to the shore while we pushed on, knowing he was our best swimmer. It didn't take long for the choice to not stay as close as possible finally bit us in the ass. We have made such a big gap and with the expanse of the sea and the distraction from incoming waves, we seemed to have traveled in different angles. I kept moving forward, alternating freestyle, sidestroke, backstroke, and skulling all while towing four bags and three helmets. For a moment I was blinded by the reality that the team was struggling, and when offered to be pulled by rescue, I selfishly declined.

I was so certain I would finish this swim. But I was too stubborn to look at the signs - the afternoon changing of tides, the increasing intensity of both underwater current and the surface waves, and the drained energy from our earlier mishaps.

Finally, the rest of the team have succumbed to rescue, while I was the last one trying to fight it but failed. This was a team game. I was the captain and easily failing. I made my mistakes early in the game too and we all pay the dues as a team.

We paid our penalty debts by being held at the control point for a few hours, now in last place, but have had time to eat a meal and recover before starting off the trekking section before darkness set in.

(Xayd)

📷 Photo credits to Aldwin C., La Routa Adventure Race

Visited the newly renovated Ormoc Strays Oasis. Since 2023, our team would always include the OSO shelter as part of our Leyte travels. Also, having known the humble beginnings of OSO volunteers back when they'd make do with limited resources but still operating on pure passion and big hearts, it is truly fulfilling to see how the dog pound transformed into a lovely park full of wagging welcoming tails!

As a pioneer no-kill dog pound in the PH, OSO proved once again that any plan, any system, any structure can be achieved if we share a common goal. All 500+ dogs now live a safe and secured life in this park but fostering and adopting is still highly encouraged! The more we have responsible pet owners on the ground, the more effective the animal welfare act will be 😊

Congratulations and thank you for your hardwork Patrick James Cruz and team 🫡