TAKBONG PANGARAP

Ode Ode to Joy’s 10 million steps
By Francis T.J. Ochoa
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:39:00 12/20/2009

Filed Under: Running, Marathon, Americas - United States, Women
MANILA, Philippines—On May 11, 2009, Joy Rojas celebrated her birthday in California with freshly picked oranges and cool water drawn from a backyard well courtesy of a stranger she remembers only as Tim.

“It’s my birthday today,” she told Tim. She had asked the stranger for directions earlier that day and they bumped into each other inside a gasoline convenience store.

“Well, happy birthday,” he told her.

And then she was off. Running.

Typical. Joy Rojas, a 44-year-old wisp of a woman with a sun-cooked complexion, always had to be somewhere else. You could tell by the restlessness that would seep into her body once she sat down for even a minute. She would shift almost uncontrollably—a bundle of boundless energy that refuses to be contained.

That’s why even if there were sumptuous birthday celebrations surrounded by family and friends, No. 44 won’t be forgotten for quite a while. On that day, she embarked on a transcontinental run across the United States.