Race Report:
Sangyaw Adventure Race 2026: Our Hometown Race Delivers Again

Sangyaw is an archaic Waray word that means “to announce,” “to herald,” or “to proclaim news.”

It is the word chosen to represent Tacloban City’s annual fiesta every June, celebrating the return of the Blessed Sto. Niño to our city.

The name has become synonymous with the festivities, and over the years it has found its way into almost every major fiesta event, including our local adventure race: the Sangyaw Adventure Race.

Since 2017, Sangyaw Adventure Race has been the city’s premier adventure racing event. We’ve watched it grow from a straightforward 12-hour sprint race into a full-fledged 48-hour middle-distance adventure race. Every edition has brought something new, and every year has managed to challenge us in different ways.

Last year’s race was probably the toughest Sangyaw we’ve raced. 36hours of pure navigation-based racing of which, we found ourselves fighting against our sleepmonsters.

This year’s somehow managed to top it by a tad.

Tribu Harbat Mountaineers, the organizers of Sangyaw AR, were unusually quiet this year. With news circulating that the city’s fiesta budget had been cut, we at Team Dirt honestly weren’t expecting the race to happen.

Then, without much warning, Tribu Harbat announced on Facebook that Sangyaw Adventure Race 2026 was happening on June 27.

The excitement quickly turned into logistics. Sangyaw would now be squeezed into an already packed race calendar. Just two weeks before it, we’d be racing Taragobay Adventure Race in Northern Samar. The weekend before Taragobay, we’d already be in Palompon for another two-day race. Add a handful of trail and road races in between, and we suddenly found ourselves with barely enough weekends to recover.

We were packed and jacked.

Race morning saw everyone gathering at the Tacloban City Youth Hub for the start of Sangyaw Adventure Race 2026.

This year’s edition returned to its roots as a 12-hour sprint race. Gone were the map-and-compass navigation stages. Instead, Tribu Harbat introduced riddles and trivia questions that racers had to solve before finding each checkpoint. It was clearly aimed at making the race more accessible to newcomers.

Ironically, we would’ve preferred traditional navigation.

Give us a set of coordinates and a compass bearing over a riddle any day. At least with navigation, you know you’re heading in the right direction. With riddles, you’re never completely sure you’ve interpreted the clue correctly until you’re standing in front of the checkpoint; or standing in the wrong barangay wondering where in the world the CP is.

Eight teams lined up at the start.

I teamed up with Erika as Team KakaNick. Gil raced alongside our substitute, Rustan, as Team Yot. Our third squad featured our up-and-coming racers, Janix and Daniela, racing as Team Janiela of the Potentials.

The different team names were a deliberate choice. Having Team Dirt A, Team Dirt B, and Team Dirt C on the results sheet felt a little bland and honestly diluted the Team Dirt name. Since everyone racing knew each other anyway, we figured we’d have a little fun with it.

CP1

The race opened with a kadang run along Magsaysay Boulevard toward the jetty, where we immediately transitioned into a 2-kilometer swim across Cancabato Bay, this swim was a staple for Sangyaw. We’ve been through this swim so many times before. A clear influence of the Sangyaw’s La Routa roots.

Fortunately, the sea was calm. There was barely any current, allowing everyone to settle into a comfortable rhythm. We completed the crossing in roughly 45 minutes and reached the familiar shoreline near Cataisan Point, where Sangyaw has traditionally placed its checkpoints of previous year’s editions.

The clue for CP2 pointed toward Our Lady of Guadalupe, famous for her apparitions and miracles.

The obvious answer seemed to be Guadalupe Parish in Brgy. Abucay. Ten kilometers away.

Not exactly what anyone wanted to hear under the late morning sun.

Still, there was nothing else to do except start walking.

Previous Next

The lead pack consisted of Team KakaNick, Team Yot, and Team APlot A of Jroon and Jonalyn. We’ve raced together for years, so the kilometers passed surprisingly quickly with plenty of stories, jokes, and friendly banter.

Then we reached Guadalupe Parish. No checkpoint. No marshal. No CP flag.

Our second option was Barangay Guadalupe in the city’s northern barangays. Another eleven kilometers away.

This wasn’t the answer we wanted to pursue as it meant it was slog fest to the north.

Collectively, all six of us looked at each other.

“Sure na?”

A few sighs.

Then everyone nodded.

“Yes.”

So north we went.

It was already 11 in the morning.

Long walks like these can become overwhelming if you think about the full distance ahead. One thing I’ve learned through adventure racing is to never think about the entire journey all at once.

Break it down.

• Reach the next intersection.
• Then the next waiting shed.
• Then the next bridge.
• Then the next store.

Before you know it, you’ve quietly chipped away at twenty kilometers without ever convincing yourself you still had twenty kilometers to go.

That mindset has carried us through countless races before.

This day was no different.

By the time we reached Barangay Guadalupe around 1 p.m., saying it was hot would be an understatement. It was absolutely scorching.

CP2

The checkpoint sat inside the barangay covered court, where racers were given a short orienteering course to retrieve the clue for CP3.

Despite covering only a few hundred square meters, Guadalupe’s maze of subdivisions and intersecting roads made navigation surprisingly tricky. We’ve raced here before and had some familiarity with the area, but familiarity only goes so far when nearly every road looks the same.

Roughly thirty minutes later, we finally completed the stage.

The clue read:

BAGAHUPI.

The now-popular hiking destination was roughly five kilometers south of our current location.

By this point Team APlot A had fallen behind, which was honestly a little disappointing. Adventure racing is always more enjoyable when you’re sharing the suffering, and the conversations, with longtime friends.

Neither Erika nor I had ever climbed Bagahupi before, so despite our tired legs, we were excited to finally see what the mountain had to offer.

CP3

Race day was brutally hot and humid.

Thankfully, our heat training over the past few months paid off. The conditions were still punishing, but at least our bodies were prepared for them.

The trail began gently before gradually climbing toward the mountain. Since it was our first time there, the countless side trails made route-finding surprisingly difficult. Rustan, having hiked Bagahupi before, proved invaluable in helping keep everyone on track.

This is probably one area where we felt the race could have been improved.

In a traditional adventure race, you navigate with a map and compass, and choosing the wrong trail is part of the challenge. This year, however, racers were simply following riddles to a destination. Without navigation equipment, a few trail markers would have helped prevent unnecessary confusion, especially for first-time racers unfamiliar with the area.

After nearly an hour of climbing, we reached CP3.

Interestingly, it wasn’t on the summit itself. Marshals had moved the checkpoint down to one of the trail junctions below.

It was already 3 p.m.

We still had several checkpoints remaining before the official 7 p.m. cutoff, and we were beginning to wonder whether some checkpoints would eventually be scrapped because of how much slower the race had become.

On our way down, we crossed paths with Janix and Daniela.

Daniela looked exhausted. She was vomiting and clearly dehydrated.

A few minutes later, they made the difficult but correct decision to withdraw from the race.

Health always comes first.

CP4, CP5, and CP6

CP4 and CP5, located in Peerless Village and Barangay Cabalawan, came and went fairly quickly.

Then the skies opened.

Heavy rain replaced the blistering heat we’d been dealing with all afternoon.

Normally we’d welcome the cooler weather, but after nearly fifty kilometers on foot, soaked shoes only meant one thing: sore feet were about to become even worse.

CP6 sent us all the way south toward Scan.

By now our feet were developing hot spots, and our usual strategy of racing in flip-flops no longer sounded appealing. Long road sections in flip-flops would’ve guaranteed blisters and punished our knees even more.

We stuck with our shoes. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the better choice.

CP7

CP7 pushed us even farther south into Nula-Tula.

We checked in around 7 p.m. By then our watches were showing roughly 55 kilometers for the day.

Finish Line

The final riddle left little room for interpretation: The finish line.

One last six-kilometer trek back to the Youth Hub.

By this point, Sangyaw had evolved into what could only be described as a full-blown death march, but we had no choice but to keep moving. We weren’t about to quit at this point where we were clearly in the podium spots.

Eventually the familiar buildings around the Youth Hub came into view.

We crossed the finish line together at around 7:45 p.m., sharing the overall victory after finishing tied for first.

Conclusion

Sangyaw has always been one of the races we look forward to the most every year.

When Team Dirt returned to adventure racing in 2018 after years away from the sport, Sangyaw was one of the races that welcomed us back. In many ways, it marked the beginning of our comeback. More importantly, it’s our hometown race, organized by close friends in Tribu Harbat, who have continued to keep the local adventure racing scene alive year after year.

This was also the first Sangyaw without its longtime routesetter, Burney, so we were curious to see what direction the organizers would take.

The shift toward riddles and puzzles was certainly different, and we welcomed the change, even if solving riddles has never really been our strongest suit. We still remember throwing away a championship in Samboan last year because of one puzzle.

Overall, Sangyaw Adventure Race 2026 was another successful edition. It challenged everyone in ways we didn’t quite expect and once again reminded us that adventure racing isn’t only about fitness: it’s about patience, problem solving, and staying mentally composed when things don’t go according to plan.

If there was one thing we’d like to see improved, it would be the balance between disciplines. The race leaned heavily toward long road trekking, which eventually became more punishing on the knees and feet than technically challenging.

Mixing in more biking, paddling, navigation, rope work, or even additional skill-based stages would’ve broken up the endless pavement while keeping the race just as difficult. The challenge was never the issue; the repetition was.

As for our Potentials Team, Janix and Daniela may not have finished the race, but we’re incredibly proud of how they performed. This was their first real taste of a demanding 12-hour sprint adventure race, and Sangyaw is hardly the easiest place to learn this.

They stayed with the lead teams far longer than many first-timers would have, made good decisions throughout the race, and most importantly knew when to prioritize safety over pride. Adventure racing has a way of humbling everyone eventually, and experiences like this become valuable lessons that no amount of training can replicate.

They’ll come back stronger because of it.

Congratulations once again to Tribu Harbat Mountaineers for another memorable edition of Sangyaw Adventure Race. Thank you to all the volunteers, marshals, and organizers who spent countless hours making the race happen despite the uncertainties leading up to it. Organizing an adventure race is never easy, and keeping one alive for nearly a decade is an achievement in itself.

We’ll be back next year.

Hopefully with a map, a compass… and just a little less concrete.

Check our full strava activity here

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