History
BATAAN DEATH MARCH….. a glimpse to history
On 9 April 1942, Major General Edward P. King, Jr., Commander of the Luzon Force, USAFFE in Bataan, Philippine Islands, surrendered more than 75,000 (67,000 Filipinos, 1,000 Chinese Filipinos, and 11,796 Americans) mosy of whom were starving, weak and disease-ridden men. The Prisoners of War (POW) were immediately assembled in a small town by the sea, called Mariveles and the rest were assembled in Cabcaben, Bataan, which is 7 kilometers away from Mariveles. The majority of the prisoners of war were immediately robbed of their keepsakes and belongings and subsequently forced to endure a 90-mile (140 km) enforced march in deep dust, without any water and food and walking under the blistering heat of the sun. During the first 102 kilometers of march from Mariveles, Bataan to San Fernando, Pampanga, the POWs were treated like animals. They were maltreated by not allowing them to eat even if the populace along the road would offer food and water. The weak and slow would be run over by passing tanks and vehicles of the captors. Many were killed by their captors by butt rifle beating, bayonet stabbing, shooting, beheading using their samurai swords, disembowelment, and through hunger, disease, untreated wounds and heat stroke. From the San Fernando Railway Station, the prisoners were forced and crammed like sardines in cartboxes on a train to Capas, Tarlac. More of the prisoners died due to suffocation and heat inside those enclosed cartboxes. After a 20-km ride on a train, the prisoners alighted in the Poblacion of Capas and they were forced again to walk another 11 kilometers towards their final destination at Camp O’ Donnell. The Death March took 8 days to complete. The dead were left and littered on the sides of the road.
On the Bataan Death March, approximately 54,000 of the 75,000 prisoners reached their destination. The death toll of the march is difficult to assess as thousands of captives were able to escape from their guards. All told, approximately 5,000-10,000 Filipino and 600-650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach Camp O’Donnell.
BATAAN DEATH MARCH 102K ULTRAMARATHON RACE—a dream to reality
In the advent of ultramarathon races worldwide, the distance from Km 00 in Mariveles, Bataan to Km 102 in San Fernando, Pampanga is a perfect distance for a 100-Km ultramarathon race. For the purpose of commemorating the hardest part of the Bataan Death March where most of the POWs died, it was envisioned that a race can be conducted on the very site where history unfolded on those hot and bloody six days of the March. It started as a dream on September 2008, it later evolved into a plan, and finally, it became into reality as the race was conducted last 5 April 2009. The race has a cut-off time of 18 hours.
The ultramarathon race has the following objectives: (1) to commemorate the Bataan Death March and honor the dead and living survivors of the the said infamous event in the history of warfare and mankind; (2) to raise funds for the needs and support for the Filipino living survivors of the Bataan Death March; (3) to promote 100-Km ultramarathon race in the country and place the country in the worldwide map of ultramarathon running; (4) to develop our athletes in the sports of ultra running as anticipation for the plan to make 100-km run as a “demonstration” sports in the 2012 London Olympic Games; and (5) to promote running and active healthy lifestyle to the populace.
Since October 2008, this website accepted interested runners and out of 104 applicants, 82 runners were finally accepted where 8 runners were foreigners and 5 were lady runners. Finally, on April 5, 2009, at exactly 00:33 AM, the race started covering a distance of 102 kilometers with a cut-off time of 18 hours. At the end of daylight, 63 runners finished the race and they survived the intense heat of the sun. The birth of an ultramarathon race in the country was realized and the first race became a success.