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| Two-time SEA Games gold medalis and Spartan Race Asia-Pacific champion Mervin Guarte will be honored in the upcoming Spartan Race Philippines races this year. POSF (file photo) |
MANILA--The year 2025 did not start well for the Philippine obstacle course racing community as Mervin Guarte, one of the countries' top OCR contenders, was brutally murdered in his home in Calapan on Jan. 7.
As expected, the news did not sit well with those who had been a part of Guarte's championship glory, including Spartan Race Philippines.
"Nakakalungkot ang nangyari kay Mervin. Hindi namin ine-expect talaga. Bigla-biglaan lang during the new year," Micca De Joya, Spartan Race Philippines' race director, told Dugout Philippines over the weekend.
Like many other national team members in OCR, Guarte also raced in the Spartan Race.
Last November, Guarte won the 21-kilometer men's beast event in the Spartan APAC Championship in Fiji, and De Joya, overseeing his race on the local and international stage, thinks the Spartan Race is effortless for the former Air Force pilot.
"Pag nakikita ko siya, parang wala siyang pawis. Napakadali ng race para sa kanya," De Joya said of Guarte, a former member of the Philippine athletics team, adding that she was surprised Guarte would win his race way ahead of everybody else.
Unfortunately, Guarte could not defend his title this year as well as his Southeast Asian Games gold in the men's OCR team relay event due to his untimely passing at age 33.
However, De Joya said that the Spartan Race would ensure that Guarte's legacy would be remembered.
"We want to honor him being the current Asia-Pacific champion. We want to honor his legacy and life," De Joya further said.
"We want to make sure that he is not forgotten."
Spartan Race Philippines will hold seven races this year, starting on March 8 at the KDR Adventure Camp in Orani, Bataan.
Spartan Race PH will then have stops in Capas, Imus, Sta. Rosa City, Porac, and Baguio.
To hype itself up, Spartan Race PH recently held a community workout for those who want to try out OCR at Obstacle Central in Mandaluyong.
It was one of the events that took place during the said obstacle course and gym's fifth anniversary.
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