For the last nine years, trail runners across the Philippines have gathered in the mountains of Benguet to test their skills and compete in the Cordillera Mountain Ultra (CMU) — a trail running race consisting of various distance categories of 5 km to 50 km. The race, which takes place every December, is organized by the Cordillera Conservation Trust, a non-profit organization that aims to introduce sustainable and community-centered solutions to the region’s growing environmental concerns.
Runners go through a series of different landscapes that, no matter what distance you sign up for, feels like only a fraction of what the area has to offer. The technical dirt trails are carefully tagged with reflective markers. In between ensuring you’re on the right course, you’re often surprised by the course leading you to rice terraces, thick pine forests that open up to a mountain ridge, and an occasional suspension bridge over the clearest rivers.
“The CMU is the most bang for your buck trail race in the Philippines,” said a friend who convinced me to set my sights on it when I started trail running in 2017. It only took a pandemic and a long while of getting back into shape for me to finally try it, but I finally joined and ran the 21 km course in 2023. After crossing the finish line, I immediately found a new appreciation for the sport and the work that goes into preparing an event that caters to an average of 400 runners yearly, with a series of courses that take you all the way to the summit of Mount Ugo — if you choose the 50 km course.
Like many outdoor sports in the Philippines, trail running has different lores depending on who you ask amongst the elders of the sport. “Generally it was never really a sport as it is now,” said JP Alipio, race director of the CMU and founder of the Cordillera Conservation Trust. “Most races back then were adventure races and running was part of that, among other things, like rappelling… that’s how it started for me.” Alipio says that, back then, trail running was really just part of the fun exploration of being a mountaineer — a faster way of doing things.”
In its most recent leg held in December 14 to 15, 2024, the race witnessed its largest number of runners, nearing 500 people, since the pandemic. The reason? Run clubs.
Take it to the Trail
Months before the race, Alipio tapped Ige Lopez, a running coach, and arranged a trail running clinic with EZ Run Club in La Union and Red Light Run Club in Metro Manila, hoping to get more beginners to join the race. After a well-received attendance, Alipio and Lopez were invited to do more clinics with other run clubs that, in turn, helped the success of the 2024 CMU.
“We actually had less runners in 2023 than 2022… Definitely, the run clubs helped boost the numbers because it makes it easier to go outdoors,” Alipio said. He believes there’s a barrier with Filipinos and the outdoors — an activity that can’t be done alone. Run clubs, he says, makes it easier to go outdoors.
Most urban environments in the Philippines lack sidewalks or even pavements to make running agreeable. But despite the odds, runners still find ways to not just enjoy the sport, but create communities around it. “Independent run clubs have much more capability than [brands] because [their] very fuel is community… Run clubs [are] accountable for people. It’s like a shared responsibility of how we make running accessible,” says Miguel Aldeguer, a running coach and founder of EZ Run Club — one of the pioneer post-pandemic run clubs in Metro Manila that host 50 to 60 runners during their Sunday sessions.
For the past 19 years, the Cordillera Conservation Trust has helped shape the tourism landscape of the area by introducing the “adventure economy” to locals, as a means of creating an alternative source of income outside of agriculture. In 2015, they worked with the the University of Baguio’s School of International Hospitality and Tourism Management to teach locals in Mount Pulag about basic hospitality, so they can start homestays for hikers and runners. In the same year, the Trust hosted the Cordillera Mountain Marathon, a 42 km race where around 500 people joined. This enabled the Trust to hire all the local guides as marshalls, and have all the homestays full for the entire race period.
Years later, homestays have become a staple for travelers heading to Pulag. As the first homestays evolved into small hotels, neighboring regions followed suit. This domino effect enabled the Trust to pursue its other goals — one of which is creating more equitable access to the outdoors. In Pulag, the rise of homestays helped ease logistical efforts for the Pulag Ultra Trail, organized by Intrepid Spirit — a trail-running race that traverses Pulag, Ugo, Mount Awa, and Mount Bidawan, with all routes leading to Baguio City. Taking place between February 21 and 22 this year, the Pulag Ultra Trail will feature 20 km, 65 km, and 132 km races.
Nature’s Advocate
Over the years, more tourists have been visiting the Cordilleras. And while that’s a good thing, many people have also been priced out of access to these mountains.
A climb to Ugo can already cut you short over P400 just for the fees — an amount that could be allotted towards meals or gear if a large fraction of it were shouldered by national government agencies like the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources. Fees for places like Mt. Ugo can add up to P50,000 to P60,000 a year, which is barely enough to cover the work needed to maintain the mountain regularly. Alipio argues that proper budgeting by the government guarantees the maintenance and rehabilitation of these spaces. In doing so, it easily removes the barrier to entry for everyone.
Such an effort will be subject to difficult and lengthy negotiations, but it is a necessary step to ensure the outdoors can be experienced by everyone. In a country with already so little space for the natural outdoors, enjoyment seems like a naive anchor for systematic change. But it is the easiest way to make people care.
Alipio says he wouldn’t be where he is today if not for these places he had access to when he was younger, when it was cheaper. He adds, “Nature needs a constituency. Nature needs people to vote for it. And the only way to get the constituency for nature is for people to experience it themselves. You won’t become a voter if you don’t benefit, in some way, from nature.”
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Cordillera Conservation Trust worked with the University of Baguio’s Human Resource Department to teach locals in Mount Pulag about starting homestays for hikers and runners. In fact, it was the University’s School of International Hospitality and Tourism Management that helped facilitate this.
