JUST like almost all serious runners, Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III dreams to qualify for the marathon of all marathons—the Boston Marathon.

Larrazabal took a step closer to that dream as he joined the Macau Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon last Sunday in Macau, where he was joined by his wife actress-singer Donna Cruz and therapist-coach Harthy Satina.

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Yong finally broke the four-hour barrier by finishing the race in 3 hours, 49 minutes and 48 seconds to shatter his previous personal best time of 4hours 19 minutes in the 2008 Hong Kong Marathon.

Donna finished her first full marathon in fashion at 4:49:47, while Satina finished five seconds behind the running doctor.

Among the three, Donna’s accounts were the most touching as the celebrity runner struggled to finish ahead of the cut-off time of five hours.

“Sabi ko sa sarili ko kakayanin ko to. Nakakahiya pag hindi ako nakatapos,” Donna said during a dinner with local sportswriters.

As early as the 22nd kilometer, she already felt pain in her left leg, which was injured during her training.

A day before the run, Yong and Satina surveyed the route and when they realized they were going to cross the Ponte de Sai Van bridge, they decided not to tell her about it.

“We just did not tell her that we will be crossing a bridge because we knew she would back out if we had told her earlier,” Yong said.

The snake-like terrain Ponte de Sai Van bridge, which they had to cross four times, was the most trying part of Donna’s campaign.

“I had to walk most part of the bridge. Sumakit na kasi ‘yung paa ko, almost na ako nag cramps. Luckily I had a fast start kaya di ako naabutan ng closing time,” she said.

While Yong and Harthy were very relaxed throughout the whole course, Donna tried her best to become the first Filipino celebrity to finish her first full marathon.

“Ang sarap ng feeling nong nasa finish line na ako. Grabe. It’s very fulfilling. I’m very proud of myself na natapos ko ang first full marathon ko,” Donna said.

Satina was even prouder of his wards as Yong broke his personal best and Donna became the first Filipino showbiz celebrity to finish a full marathon.

With already eight marathons to his name, Yong is still planning to run in five marathons next year, starting with the Cebu City marathon on Jan. 10, 2010.

“We had a very good and very relaxed run in Macau Marathon; why not run at the Cebu City Marathon? If we go abroad just to run in a marathon, why not here? So we are considering to run in January,” said Yong.

Next on Yong’s list is the City of Angels Marathon in March, the Kuala Lumpur Marathon in July, the UK Marathon in October and the Boston Marathon qualifying Singapore Marathon in December.

“It’s the foremost, the oldest and the most prestigious marathon in the world that every runner wants to join. At my category, the qualifying time is 3 hours and 20 minutes. It’s a doable time but I need a lot of preparation,” said Yong.