WHEN Jun-Jun Calma ran his first-ever 42k, last year?s Metro Manila eliminations of the Milo Marathon, his entire family wasn?t just there for the big event?they practically ran it with him: sixth-born Lala joined him on the road at the crucial 30k mark, while second-born Inang, together with her boyfriend and mom, caught up with him in various stages of the race.

?Our dad was in every block clapping for me,? recalls the fourth-born Jun-Jun, 31, who finished in four hours and 30 minutes. ?Every time I passed him, he?d drive over to the next block and clap for me again.? At the finish line, it was Lala who took off her exhausted kuya?s shoes, and youngest sibling Paeng who drove the marathoner home. ?Everyone was so excited for him,? recalls Inang, 34, beaming. ?It was a production number!?

Besides being close, the Calmas are athletic by nature: apart from having their own interests (Inang is a power-lifter, Jun-Jun was into badminton, and Lala, a law student at the Ateneo, a former rower), the trio recalls how their parents would enroll them and their four other siblings in a host of sports activities during the summer. Running came to the Calmas courtesy of Lala, who took it up as a P.E. class when she was in college at UP. Looking for more opportunities to run, she asked Inang to drive her to early morning Sunday races. Four years ago, the 3k event of the Pasig River Heritage Marathon became their first official race as a family, with Lala, Inang, and their lawyer-dad pounding the pavement.

Since then, the Calmas have signed up for almost all local road races, either as an entire clan that included their rock-star sister Beng (who after one race found out that she was two weeks pregnant), or in groups (Inang, Jun-Jun, and Lala are constants). And it?s never the same when someone can?t make it. ?Malungkot,? avers Jun-Jun. ?Parang kulang (It?s sad, like there?s something missing).?

Not surprisingly, these kids are competitive even with each other. ?Can I change my answer?? Inang asks jokingly after Jun-Jun and Lala reveal their personal running goals: he wants to qualify for Boston, she wants to run the original route of the marathon in Greece. But they?re also very caring: whoever finishes ahead in a race always goes back for the others. And even if fitness is an obvious motivation for training and joining these events, it?s what happens after the races that?s the real treat. A post-run breakfast is a sure thing, and if it?s a Sunday, the meal automatically segues?into a family lunch.

?It structures our Sundays,? says Inang, a lawyer, of what the sport has done for her family. ?It bonds us.?

?As we kids got older, we started doing our own thing,? adds Jun-Jun, who manages the Calmas? travel agency business. ?Running reconnected us.?