Last week’s cover story introduced our Boudoir Beauty and July 2018 #CalyxtaGirl, Maggie Wilson. In perhaps one of the fastest and easiest cover girl shoots our team has ever done, Maggie nailed each and every shot so effortlessly, making us all secretly swoon at how gorgeous and statuesque she looked. This particular layout, with her silver eyes and ethereal white gown styled by our favorite duo from The Studio Grey, was shot in our Airbnb’s pristine bathroom, where Maggie lounged in the marble tub and giggled while playing with the skirt’s tulle as if they were bubbles.
Complementing her look this week is an equally exciting story about her journey last year of joining the Atlantic Ice Marathon, and being the first Filipina to do so. And as spontaneous as she is competitive, we discover a little bit more about our cover girl—that no matter how tough things got, she wasn’t born a quitter.
Can you tell us a little more about the Atlantic Ice Marathon you joined last year?
Anyone who knows me knows that I hate running. I hate long distance running. I don’t mind doing 3, 5, or 10km, but anything more than that is a chore. So my husband, he’s into all these adventure racing and running around the world. He kind of had this goal where he wanted to run a marathon in every continent including the North Pole, and Antarctica was going to be his last stop. He did the North Pole two years ago. For Antarctica, he was like, “Listen, I’m doing Antarctica. Would you like to come with me?” And I said, “Yeah, sure. If I can go, why not?” Because for the North Pole, they were very strict with how many people they allowed on the plane—they only wanted runners. For Antarctica, we had the option of me just being there. But you know, he planted seeds and was like, “Listen, whether you run or you don’t, it’s going to cost the same. So you might as well run it and get a medal out of it, and be the first Filipina to do it while you’re at it.” And I was like, “Umm—I don’t know if I want to run a marathon. A full marathon at that.” I did a half marathon a month prior in Kenya, which was a wildlife marathon. It was through the Safari, with giraffes and zebras—it was very, very cool. So he was like, “Listen. You already did your half, you already have training, why don’t you just continue running and do the full?” And I
was really not set on doing it at all, and I didn’t even really decide until I got there. I didn’t tell anyone that I was going to do it, or planning to do it, or could do it. (laughs) You know when you do all these races, you meet so many inspiring people. Antarctic was going to be my first. My first full marathon. And I thought I was the only crazy person thinking of doing such a thing, but no! I actually met a guy—his name is Peter, 60 years old, and he was there with his daughter to basically spend time with his daughter. And the daughter had the same idea that Vic had, who said, “Listen, you know, it’s going to be the same price whether you come or not, you might as well get a medal.” I met him on the course while we were running, and we ended up chatting, and he was like “Oh, are you going to do the half or are you going to do the full?” and I go, “Oh, I haven’t decided yet.”
Because Vic told me, “Listen, if you feel like you can’t do the full, you can just do half and you’ll get a medal for doing half.” And I was like, “Wait a minute. I am not going to quit halfway. My mom and dad didn’t raise me to be a quitter.” And then I met Peter, and Peter too hadn’t decided yet if he was going to do the full or the half, so we both decided, “Let’s see how we feel after 21km, and if we feel okay, then let’s do it! Let’s finish it.” Peter never left my side the whole time! We raced the whole race together, so I had someone to talk to. And it gets really lonely because in normal marathons in cities, you have all these spectators and people watching you, people cheering for you and giving you food and drinks. But in Antarctica, there were only 55 of us. Well, it was a 10km loop course, and there’s nothing there but snow and mountains. Everything is white. There’s nothing to see. There’s no one there to clap for you and cheer you on, and sometimes you’re all alone on this course, and you start asking yourself, “Why am I doing this? What am I doing here? What in the hell was I thinking?!” And then you meet people like Peter. It was his first marathon, too, by the way. His first ever full marathon. So I was like, “Oh! Finally. Someone as crazy as me. At 60 years old.” His daughter’s actually a strong runner—she came in third in the women’s division. The race wasn’t something that I had planned. I had training, but I could have trained more if I was really serious about it. Because I wasn’t set whether I was going to do it or not. But I’m happy that I finished. Because it’s no joke! In minus 40 degrees, it is freezing! The moment you stop walking, you feel the cold! And it’s like to the bones cold, and I hate the cold. I don’t like the cold at all. You’d be surprised, I was only wearing two layers of clothes. I was wearing an insulation layer, wind pants and for my top as well, and that was it. Because you sweat surprisingly fast even in those kinds of conditions. The race was not really spur of the moment, but it wasn’t something that I set like, “Oh, you know what I’m going to do this! I’m going to do it good!” It was sort of just like, “Okay, I’m here. I guess I’ll do it.” (laughs) But it turned out to be very, very cool. Again, I met so many amazing people, Peter being one of them, and getting to say as well that I was the first Filipina to do it. It was very awesome. Who gets to say that they’ve been on Antarctica Let alone run on it. It was my last continent. I’ve been to all. Antarctica was going to be my last as well. So, that’s like two ticks off my bucket list.
I read that you trained two to three months before it, right?
Yeah. I did the Kenya marathon, the Wild Life Marathon, a month prior. So I was training for that. That was the two months prior. (laughs) I didn’t know that I was training for Antarctica! I knew I was training for Kenya because my god, I was so scared to do Kenya. It was literally running through the bush. And it in this reserve, they had cheetahs in there, they had everything! Except lions. But you know, you never know how fast you’re going to need to run! (laughs) If one of those animals decide to charge you, right? That was another very difficult race because it was a trail marathon, which I have never done before. So yeah, two months of training prior. But of course, nothing can truly prepare you for that kind of cold or that kind of terrain and what it’s going to be like. But yeah, I finished! Yay.
How was it like preparing for it mentally?
After doing the full marathon, I realized that anyone can do a marathon. Doesn’t matter what weight, height, or age—anyone can finish one. It’s just a matter of bringing yourself to finish it because you’re really going to hit a wall. There’s going to be a part of that race where you’re just going to be like, “I can’t, I can’t anymore, I can’t move forward. I don’t want to.” It’s really a mind game. I truly believe that in any race, like when I did The Amazing Race or the Spartan, or the marathon, it really is a mind game. The body can take it. It really can. It’s just the mind. It’s basically you telling yourself that you can’t do it, “Oh, I’m too tired. Oh, I’m this, I’m that.” But really, you can. Your body can do it. And so, as soon as you’re over that hurdle, you’re like, “No. I can do it. I’m not going to quit. I’m not going to quit.” I’m not going to go home, and people will be like, “Oh, you didn’t finish!” (laughs) I’m so competitive. I’m a very competitive person. I will never, ever let anyone be like, “Aha, you didn’t finish.” (laughs)
Do you have any other marathons coming up?
No. Well, because I’m currently busy with work and that’s the priority right now. But I would like to get back into obstacle races—I really, really enjoy obstacle races. I did Spartan last year and Spartan, they have three main distances. There’s a sprint, the super, and the beast—and I did all three last year. So, I have a medal called “The Trifecta.” And you’ll only get it if you’ve completed all three. I really enjoyed that because it’s a mix. It’s not just cardio. It’s weight training, too. It’s lifting. So for me, I enjoyed that. The course can be half a marathon, but because there are so many things to see, you don’t know what you’re going to be doing at the next obstacle, it’s exciting. I did it with friends, so it was more fun. But I would like to get back to Spartan racing.
What tips can you give people who want to start it or who want to get into it?
Just stop procrastinating. If you keep saying, “Oh, tomorrow na lang. I’ll just start next week.” No. You need to start now. And I guess a good tip is to get a friend who will go with you, so that you don’t flake. It’s harder to flake if you made a promise to your friend (laughs). Don’t think, just do! Just go. Because if you think my body’s going to hurt tomorrow, it’s going to be painful, I’m going to hate it—you will hate it! In the beginning. I mean, no one enjoys going to the gym. Yeah, no one loves going to the gym! Even my husband who works out a lot doesn’t like going to the gym. But you get into a habit, right? And when you form that habit, you start looking for it. You start feeling guilty. Think of it as if you taking care of your body, and you taking care of yourself, leads to you getting to live longer in this world.
Cover Story By: GRETCHEN GATAN
Art Direction: MARGAUX CORTEZ
Editorial Assistant: MAAN FERNANDEZ
Editorial Intern: ANNE NAVARRO
Videographer: RICHARD WEBB
Photographer: KHARREN GRANADA
Makeup: JAKE GALVEZ
Hair: SUYEN SALAZAR
Stylist: POY VILLAMONTE AND YZZA HABLADO FOR THE STUDIO GREY
Special thanks to: CLOVER PH SUITES
