EXCITING trail running action takes place up north later this month as Filinvest Mimosa+ Leisure City hosts the seventh edition of the Clark-Miyamit Falls Trail Ultra.

Happening on Nov. 26 at the newest masterplanned business and leisure destination at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga — Filinvest Mimosa+ Leisure City — the trail run event, also known as CM50, is the first international sports event to be held in the township which is designed to incorporate an equally balanced space for infrastructure and green expanse, part of its vision of becoming a central zone for various industries and lifestyles.

The CM50 features two challenging categories, the 60K and the 50 miles. Both distances kick off at the Filinvest Mimosa+ after which the runners will be taken to an out-and-back course on a footpath connecting Clark to the scenic Miyamit Falls in Porac, Pampanga.

Dubbed as the final race of the most demanding CM50 trail series and one of the 2017 Super Trails (Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia) of the Asia Trail Master Series, the CM50 offers scenic views and environs, beginning at the Filinvest Mimosa+, traversing the Sacobia River, Punning Spa, and Sitio Target.

It goes up a dirt road covering a sugar cane plantation, which leads to Sitio Ebus and heads down the expansive Pasig-Portrero River. This route takes the runners towards a parallel dirt road along SCTEX and the Crow Creek, and they will pass through an Aeta community going up the Miyamit Falls, the peak, and back to Clark.

For the 50-mile race a strict time barrier of 18 hours will be in effect while for the 60K race the time to finish it is set at 16 hours.

CM50 runners who finished within the tight time barrier for the 50-mile category earns the title “BAD ASS,” a term coined during the first edition of CM50 in 2011 to refer to the difficulty of the additional 20 kilometers to make it a 50-mile course covering the hilly and rugged part from Aid Station 4 up to the peak. No aid station is available beyond Aid Station 4, thus runners have to carry additional fuel and fluid, and the terrain is rolling, remote, and almost inaccessible. Runners, however, are treated to majestic views in the area.

Those who want to join the CM50, log on to www.cm50ultra.com. For more information about the many exciting things that Filinvest Mimosa+ has to offer, along with all coming developments, visit its official Web site at www.mimosaplus.com.ph. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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