THERE?S nothing unusual for a first-time visitor in the US to do the bus-tour route. But if you?the first Filipina to run across the Philippines?are on your first trip to the US, you?d do a bit more than just go off the beaten track. You?d run across America.

Long-distance runner Joy Rojas is leaving for the US in April for the dream run of her life. Dubbed ?Takbong Pangarap,? the run will start at Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, on May 11, Rojas? 44th birthday, and will make its sweet finish on Sept. 8, the birthday of the Virgin Mary, at the Philippine Consulate building on 5th Avenue, New York City.

What does it take to run across America, crossing 12 states and covering 5,000 km in just four months? Lots of prayer, rock-hard determination, a passionate heart, a strong body and a good pair of running shoes?in that order.

?This will be a completely new experience for me not only because I?ve never been to the US, but also because I will be covering miles and miles of nothingness. In the Philippines, you never feel alone for long because somewhere along the road you?ll find a house blasting karaoke music at seven in the morning,? Rojas said.

The freelance journalist will run across California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Rojas will be the first Southeast Asian woman to attempt such a feat.

Leading the TransUSA team, she will be accompanied by her run coordinator Chuck Crisanto and former running partner Mat Macabe, who will bike alongside Rojas during some parts of the run. (Macabe, who had heart surgery last year, will not be running with Rojas this time.)

Small goal

It all began innocently enough with a small goal when she was in her 20s?to finish one loop around the park in Bel-Air Village, Makati. Estimating it to be just about 1 km, Rojas said she barely made it halfway on her first attempt.

She persisted until one day she made it all the way around?once, twice, thrice, 10 times?until she eventually joined her first race. From races, she moved on to long-distance running, conquering on foot town upon town all over the country.

?I love to physically bring myself from one point to the other. I feel the rush whenever I see a town?s welcome arch from a distance. I get such a high just watching myself inch closer and closer to that arch...Each morning, when I get up to run, I know that is what I really want to do for the rest of my life,? Rojas said.

Rojas will be running an average of 50-60 km per day for a maximum of nine hours each time. And there lies the secret of Rojas? sheer joy for the sport: Her goal is to reach her destination, not to win the race. When the pressure is off her back to finish a run at an appointed time?as what inevitably happens when one joins a race?the sport becomes a pleasurable experience and oftentimes a spiritual journey.

She has learned to live in the minute-by-minute moments of life, and it is in these long journeys that she talks to God about anything, from the mundane to the profound. On especially hard days, when her quads plead for a break and her legs silently wail in pain, Rojas said she makes a bargain with God.

?If you do long-distance running, you have to open yourself to surprises. You don?t know what awaits you around the bend. You don?t know how your body will take the ?abuses? you impose on it every day for several weeks. And that?s when you learn to take things one day at a time,? she said.

Preparation

To prepare for ?Takbong Pangarap,? Rojas runs for two hours three to four times a week, with at least one out-of-town run each month. Last weekend, for instance, Rojas covered the Manila to Tanay route.

The hardest part, said Rojas, is waking up early in the morning, and the first 30-45 minutes. In a few more weeks though, she said, the body adjusts and running becomes a daily automatic response, though refueling the body every so often is an absolute necessity.

?You become like a steam train, shoveling coal into the furnace to keep the engine running. At the same time, you become sensitive to your body?s needs. If I think my body needs to rest for two days, I rest for two days,? she said.

?Takbong Pangarap? is sponsored by Adidas, Smart Communications, HSBC, Rustan?s/Shopwise, Sen. Pia Cayetano, Sony Ericsson Phils. and the Manila Peninsula. Beneficiaries are the Social Services Division of the Philippine Heart Center and the Anti-TB Program of the Inner Wheel Club of Quezon City, District 378.