Tagaytay Highlands - The Brokeback Mountain Run

For so many years now whenever we go to Tagaytay Highlands for a weekend rest, the family has devoted most of its free time either for a golf game, bowling games, a leisure swim with the grandchildren or just doing nothing. However, since October of 2008, I started to incorporate running in my own schedule starting from a simple evening run to lung bursting descent and ascent in the mountain between the highlands and the midlands and traversing the road leading to the Batino exit gate. This however was prior to my angioplasty last January and that all of my previous runs were alone and without a running buddy.

This weekend I was able to convince my son Dax and wife Pamela to join me in the run giving them an alibi that I need a back-up runner particularly this will be my first killer run after the angioplasty. I guess they did not have any option but to join me.




Starting from the Woodridge compound which is our 0 km the altitude is 1945 ft and the first 400 meters run is a stiff 108 ft ascent to the highest point of the route which is 2050ft above sea level located near the Highlands Spa. From thereon it was a continuous 3.5km of descent to an altitude of 850ft which is a descent of 1200ft. Going down the mountain is not as easy as you might expect it would be as you need put on your brakes so that your weight does not propel you downwards whereby you need to maintain almost a 140 degree angle with the road to counter the pull of gravity.




Reaching the bottom of the mountain slope we proceeded to the Batino gate and back to the foot of the mountain which is a run on a rolling hill terrain with a plus and minus 50 feet of descent and ascent for a distance of 2.5km.



Then the killer run starts from km 6.5 all the way to the gate between Highlands and Midlands for a distance 2.2km of a very stiff ascent of 800 ft to altitude 1650ft. I use to do this run easily last year, but, found the same a big challenge this time after the angioplasty. The total distance was 8.64km of 1200ft descent and 800ft ascent for a time of 01h14m10s.





My daughter-in-law Pamela was strong for I could barely match her pace. She did finish the run and stayed with me. As for dear son Dax, after 2km on the run he called it quits and designated himself driver to pick-up me and Pam at the finish line. A great Sunday run with the family, a “Brokeback Mountain Run”.