Rio de la Cruz: Big hair, big goals
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| On his fiance Nicole: “Na-realize ko na kailangan ko ng isang tao na pwedeng mag-support at makaka-understand sa lahat ng gagawin ko. At siya yun.” Rio popped the question to Nicole on Dec. 22, 2011, and the proposal video currently has 416,525 views on Youtube. |
Nobody can miss his trademark Afro hairdo. He has personally trained
some of the country’s most admired personalities like Fernando Zobel,
Lance Gokongwei, and Piolo Pascual. He is the head organizer of the
metro’s biggest races like the Timex Run, Milo Marathon, and Unilab Run.
And in the past couple of years, his name has become synonymous with
running in the Philippines. Who would’ve thought that a boy who used to
run barefoot in Camarines Sur would grow up to ignite Filipinos’ passion
for running and be a multi-millionaire?
Here are 10 things you should know about Rio de la Cruz.
1.
Rio started running because he wanted to play but couldn’t afford
computer games. He couldn’t afford running shoes either, so he ran
barefoot.
“Wala akong Gameboy, yun yung uso nun
eh. Since wala akong perang pambili ng ganun, yung means of
entertainment ko is agawan buko, patintero, taguan,” says coach Rio of
how his love for running began. He shares that his opponents back in
elementary wore “spiked shoes,” and since he had no means to buy, he
preferred to run with no shoes on because it felt lighter. “So mas
kumapal yung,” he laughs as he strokes his soles, “yung ano, balat sa
ilalim.” He was once given hand-me-downs by his neighbor but it was a
size too small so he cut the part of the shoes by the toes just so his
feet would fit. Later on, having saved from winning races, the very
first pair he bought were Chuck Taylors, thinking that it would last
long because the soles were thick. He was in sixth grade at Industrial
Valley Elementary School, when his would-be high school coach spotted
him and recruited him to Quirino High School, where he eventually
finished on a full scholarship.
Coach Rio shares that
running is what motivated him to finish his studies. “Yung parents ko,
separated, at walang pang-support sa akin, so natakot ako baka hanggang
high school lang matapos ko,” he recalls. At the time, he learned about
students who were scholars through running, and says: “Nagkaroon ako ng
idea na pwede pala yun, so I wanted to pursue running para maging
stepping stone ko to finish my education.”
2. When
he was a competitive runner for the University of the Philippines, he
set a separate training schedule for himself where he would sleep
wearing his running sando, shorts, and socks, as if ready to go.
“Sa
gabi, maliligo na ako. By 8p.m. tulog na ako. 9 p.m. late na yun.
Matutulog ako nakabihis na para paggising ko ng 2:50 a.m., toothbrush na
lang, sapatos, derecho takbo.” he says 2:50 a.m. because by 3 a.m., he
has to be running already. He would then go home by 6 a.m., sleep again,
then wake up in time for his 10 a.m. class. It was in the afternoons
when he would join the rest of the running team for their easy 5k and
10k runs. He even worked up the confidence to talk to the coach of the
National Team back then, to train with them in Baguio. All the hard work
paid off because in his freshman year, Rio won Rookie of the Year. In
his sophomore year, he won one gold and one silver medal. In his third
year, he won gold on all his races, which was a first for UP then.
However,
things changed during his senior year. He didn’t place as much in the
races, and even failed to finish one. “Mas mabilis at mas bata talaga
sila noon, tapos nung time na yun, nahati na talaga yung oras ko sa
school at trabaho,” he reveals. Rio shares that in his early college
years, his time would be split 50-50 for school and training, but in the
later years, it changed to 70-30 since he had to focus more on his
grades.
As for his famous hair, he shares that he grew it
because of a peso-sized bald spot on the right side of his forehead.
Since long hair wasn’t allowed in elementary and high school, he finally
got to grow it out in college, and has kept it ever since.
3.
Rio has worked hard to give himself a better life, and now, he is
helping his family better their lives by teaching them to help
themselves.
“Kung baga, teach them how to fish,”
says Rio who is the youngest of his siblings but seems to be acting like
the eldest. He is the youngest of seven siblings, and he has another
seven younger half siblings. He shares that his siblings now take on
different roles during the races he organizes, from putting up the
banners, to manning registration, and just recently, cooking for the
catering of events. “Mahirap yung bibigyan mo lang o aabutan mo lang,
gusto ko matutunan nila na bago nila makuha, paghihirapan muna.” His
siblings were not able to finish school like he did, and so now, Rio is
helping his nephews and nieces so they can finish school. He recalls
that when he was a child, his carpenter father took him and his siblings
to help out in the construction sites he would be working on, and now,
they are all working together again. They all grew up away from each
other, and now, his ultimate goal is for them to live in houses right
beside each other.
4. Coach Rio in numbers:
10: age he started running
2007: year he put up his company, Run Rio Inc.
32:
length in kilometers of the “Afroman distance,” a race distance he
created to be the in-between of the 21k half marathon and the 42k full
marathon.
50-plus: number of running shoes he has on rotation. “Dati 100, pero hindi ko nagagamit lahat tapos napamigay ko yung iba.”
1,000 to 1,500: pesos estimate cost per runner in the races he organizes.
His personal best times:
5k: 16 minutes, 10 seconds
10k: 29 minutes, 34 seconds
21k: 1 hour, 11 minutes
42k: 2 hours, 31 minutes
5.
On his fiance Nicole: “Na-realize ko na kailangan ko ng isang tao na
pwedeng mag-support at makaka-understand sa lahat ng gagawin ko. At siya
yun.”
They met in 2004, when Rio was lost in the
middle of the race, and she was the one who pointed him in the
direction of the finish line. He won that race. A week later, he rode
the jeep in UP only to find her seated in front of him. They became
friends since, but were in touch with each other on and off. “Pag single
siya, ako may girlfriend, pag ako single, siya naman may boyfriend,” he
recalls. He says that what he learned from his experiences with his
exes helped him make this relationship stronger, and in fact, he has
been praying for him and Nicole to be together. “Sabi ko, kung hindi
kami magkatuluyan, feeling ko wala na. Kaya nung sinagot niya ako nung
October, sabi ko, ‘This is it!’”
Rio popped the question
to Nicole on Dec. 22, 2011, and the proposal video currently has 416,525
views on Youtube. (It is a must-see slash tear-jerker, and if you
haven’t seen it yet, look up “Tadhana: Coach Rio’s Proposal” online.)
6.
When he had difficulty juggling all his priorities at the same time, he
asked himself, “Ano ba yung gusto ko? Ano ba yung mas marami ang
makikinabang?”
He recalls a time that he had to
wake up at 4 a.m., would start coaching students at 5 a.m., finish those
sessions by 10 a.m., take a quick break and rest, then go on to attend
meetings, then start coaching again at 5 p.m., and would often get home
at 11 p.m. or even midnight. “Nagkakasakit na ako, kaya inisip ko kung
ano ba talaga ang magiging focus ko,” he recalls. That was when he
slowly let go of coaching and put his time into race organizing. Since
then he has been training running coaches, and eventually when he could
no longer handle his clients, they would go to these coaches. “I’m very
happy na merong mga runner na kasamahan ko dati, na nagkaroon ng trabaho
na connected pa din sa running,” he happily shares. “Sabi nila, kung di
daw dahil sa mga races na ino-organize ko, di sila magkakaroon sila ng
job. I felt good, at nag-motivate ito sa akin to think kung ano pang
magagawa ko para sa community.”
7. Coach Rio’s tips for beginner runners:
1) Set your goal. “Ito yung magmo-motivate sa iyo to wake up in the morning and ito yung magpu-push sayo para tumakbo.”
2)
Make objectives to achieve your goal. “For example, your goal is 3K.
Your objective will be gumising ng ganitong oras para tumakbo. Think na
regardless kung naglakad ako o tumakbo, I just want to finish the 3k. So
jog ka, walk ka. Next, you want to finish 3k without walking, so
nag-improve ka. Next, you want to finish 3k in a specific time. Motivate
mo yung sarili mo to achieve your goal.”
3) Get the
proper equipment. “Meron three types of feet. Flat-footed, high-arched,
or neutral. Kung mali yung gamit mong shoes magco-contribute siya to
injuries. Yung watch, susunod na lang yun pag may extra ka, kasi dun mo
malalaman kung nagi-improve ka.” Coach Rio cites the big number of
specialty running stores now, including his very own store Riovana that
just opened late last year.
8. It was his foster
father “Lolo Boy” who took him into his care during high school and
onwards, and now, it is Rio’s turn to take care of him.
Engineer
Juan Ramos, who he more fondly calls “Lolo Boy,” met Rio during his
high school days when he would run in Marikina Sports Complex. Lolo Boy
saw the potential and passion that Rio had, and after some time, he
invited Rio to live with him and his family, and offered to support
whatever he needed for school. “Hindi ko ine-expect, may sarili akong
room, air-conditioned pa, minsan ipapahatid ako sa school, tapos pag may
races abroad siya nagsu-support sa akin,” he fondly recalls. In return,
Rio focused on improving in running and getting good grades. “Ngayon
naman, baliktad na, mag-70 na siya, so kaming mga tinulungan niya dati
ang nag-aalaga sa kanya ngayon,” Rio shares. In fact, Rio proudly
announces that he will be running the Paris Marathon this April with
co-runners and his Lolo Boy. “Yung natutunan ko sa kanya is how to be
humble, down to earth, and hindi ka mag-stop na tulungan yung ibang tao
na kahit na nahihirapan ka na.”
9. Of all the
hardships he experienced in life, the hardest for him was: “Yung hindi
mo alam kung kailan yung next meal mo, o kung saan ka matutulog next.”
“I
was 11, 12 years old, yung wala kaming makunan o mahingian, so you have
to work on your own,” Rio reveals. This, and having grown up in a
community where people had all sorts of money-making gimmicks, is what
made Rio the 27-year-old entrepreneurial mind that he is. He thought of
all kinds of ways to earn money, from competing in Tex and jolens games,
to going from door to door to throw people’s trash (from which he would
get a peso or two per home), to selling ice (that he would sell as ice
water later in the day), to collecting old wires (that he would burn all
together) to sell in junk shops.
Today, he organizes a
race almost every week for some of the biggest companies in the country,
at times to raise funds for a cause, with thousands of health-conscious
participants in attendance.
10. Coach Rio now realizes that his main purpose in life is to inspire people to live a healthier lifestyle.
He
cannot answer for sure which achievement he is most proud of, because
he says the fulfillment comes on different levels. As an athlete, it’s
very fulfilling to stand on a podium and receive an award. As a coach,
it is very rewarding to see your student transform physically and live a
balanced, healthy life. As an event organizer, he is motivated by
people who are inspired by his story and those who keep coming back to
the races that he organizes. “Siyempre natatakot ako na bumalik kung
saan ako before. Although I’m ready kung mangyari man yun kasi sanay ako
sa wala, hindi ko naman papayagang mapunta sa ganun,” coach Rio shares.
“Very thankful ako na kahit papano na yung mga dreams ko lang before,
nandito na ngayon, at yung makita ko yung ibang tao na nag-iimprove din
yung life nila.”
* * *
Just like his system
in training runners, his life goals and achievements also seem to go
from small to big, and even to biggest. In every interview of his that
we read, his dreams seem to get bigger and bigger, and though he very
often uses the phrase “di ko ine-expect,” we who watch his life can’t
help but expect and claim only greater things to happen in Coach Rio’s
life. He met people in his life that helped him become the success he is
today, and he is now giving back by doing exactly the same thing for
many other people.
Rags to riches stories do exist, and
coach Rio’s is one we can all learn from, running enthusiast or not.
“Palagi natin naririnig na hindi hadlang ang kahirapan sa tagumpay, at
napatunayan ko sa sarili ko na hindi talaga ito hadlang.”
