Meet Coach Rio Dela Cruz
The Father He Never Had
But like they say, good things happen to good people. Before long, Coach Rio met the angel that would change the course of his life forever – his foster dad, Boy Ramos, whom he calls Kuya Boy. His close friend, Willy, whom he also considers his foster brother, introduced him to his foster dad while they were on their way to the Yakult 10-Miler. Later on, he would find out that Kuya Boy had been diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer. When he was still healthy enough to exercise, Rio and Willy would run with him every Sunday in UP Diliman, along with Ezekiel Robles of Sta. Lucia Realty. Seeing his potential as a runner, Lolo Boy was impressed with him and offered to adopt him unofficially by inviting him to live in his home.After living a nomadic existence for quite some time, the change of residence, as well as the opportunity to uproot himself from the slums, was gladly welcomed by Rio. It was then that his future was definitely looking brighter, with Lolo Boy giving him his all-out support to help further his running career. And at last, he finally got his feet into some decent running shoes.
No Money, No Honey
More adventures and misadventures happened along the way but he got his break as a runner when he joined Willy’s varsity training in UP Diliman. As usual, he surprised everyone with his running prowess by smashing the competition despite the fact that he ran against runners who were all senior to him. And before other universities could get their hands on UP’s only hope for a UAAP championship, Coach Jay Sales instantly offered him a guaranteed slot in the UP Varsity Track Team. He was still in 3rd year at the time, so he had to finish another year of high school before he could take him up on his offer.
Always wanting to be one step ahead of the competition, as early as his senior year in high school, he was already observing his would-be competitors at the UAAP, supporting the UP Track Team since Willy was lined up to compete. 
It was on that fateful day that he saw the would-be love-of-his-life for the first time. But he was still as poor as a mouse that time, with only one peso to his name, and as fate would have it, it was not yet their time.
After racing in Baguio, he met the national coach for the track team and he asked permission to train with the national team there. He got a major wake up call when he couldn’t even keep up with the women on the team. Their intense training regimenincluded running up Marcos Highway, a training day that he still vividly remembers to this day. But all his hard work and determination paid off ten-fold. With his eyes fixed on the prize instead of the pain, he managed to drop his 10km personal best time from 37 minutes in senior high school to 34 minutes as a college freshman in a matter of months. Now he was ready for the big guns of university track and field.
The UP Maroons Track Star
During his first year as a UP varsity athlete, and his first crack at the best of the best university athletes in the Metro, he bagged second place for both the 10km and 5km track events at the UAAP, with a time of 34 minutes and 16 minutes respectively. Instantly becoming UP’s long-awaited track star, he was given the Rookie of the Year Award for his stellar performance as a mere freshman. Already highly motivated to begin with, this even fueled the fire burning inside of him, as he gave his 100 percent to a very disciplined training regimen ofbeing in bed by 8pm and waking up at 3am every single day.
After seeing the leap in his performance brought about by his Baguio training with the national team, he took advantage of his semestral break and summer vacation to return for more beating and hopefully, faster times. While he was there, he joined the National Open and the ASEAN University Games, the 1st international competition held in Baguio, winning 3rd place in both events, and only being beaten by a fellow Filipino for 1st place and a Thai for 2nd in the latter.
