Proud Mary Tejada runs across the country’s longest bridge for a fitness challenge
- Jo Valle
- Apr 9
- 8 min read
If you’re looking for a motivation to jumpstart your fitness journey or maybe a little push to level up your exercise regimen, joining a health-related challenge could be it. You can even reap more benefits beyond your original intention.
That’s exactly what Mary Tejada gained from completing her 66 Days of Movement Challenge.
“The challenge helped me develop a stronger sense of structure and clarity in my life,” the 25-year-old social media manager at a tech and logistics company tells The Fitness Advocate in an interview.
Growing up active
Mary recalls playing sports as early as Grade 1 in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates where she spent her younger years.
“I didn’t really live in a neighborhood where kids could easily play outside together like how it is in the Philippines, where your playmates are usually just your neighbors,” she says.
“Because of that, most of my exposure to sports came from our school’s PE classes, where we were able to explore different activities.”
Football was Mary’s first sport until she discovered basketball in Grade 3, and fell in love with shooting hoops. She continued playing basketball when she moved to the Philippines in time for her to enter Senior High School.
“I even tried training competitively with my alma mater,” she points out, referring to the Far Eastern University.
“Unfortunately, I eventually fell out of love with the sport, mostly because of the pressure. At the time, I was also very focused on excelling in my studies during college, so balancing both became challenging.”
Then the pandemic happened in early 2020. Just like everyone else, Mary was “caught off guard.”
She now says in reflection, “One of the first things I thought about was how I was going to keep myself sane. It might sound a bit dramatic, but I was so used to being around people, moving around, and having face-to-face interactions.”
The answer came after considering that she was already “somewhat familiar” with home workouts and going to the gym. So, all she had to do was spend more time doing full-body workouts at home to stay active and healthy.
“It wasn’t always consistent, though,” she admits.
“My fitness journey came in phases. I’d be consistent for a few months, then get burnt out and stop for a while, before eventually getting back into it again, usually when I felt my confidence dipping.”
When pandemic rules started loosening up in 2021, businesses and establishments also began reopening. Mary took it as a sign to go back to the gym, where she focused mainly on powerlifting workouts.
“My workouts are nothing too intense,” she explains. “But they lean more towards bodybuilding-style training with the goal of staying lean while still building strength.”
Around that period, she was introduced to counting her macros. She found tracking her daily grams of the three major sources of nutrients—protein, fats, and carbohydrates—as “pretty fun and interesting.”
In December 2025, Mary got into running. The decision stemmed from receiving a pair of running shoes from one of her workmates who took note of the number one item on her Christmas wish list.
“At that time, I didn’t know much about running,” she confesses, “but I knew I wanted to explore more of my body’s capacity and strength.”
She believes that her workmate’s choice of gift—runners—instead of the other item on her wish list—trail or hiking shoes—is providential.
“I told myself that whichever item from my wish list my workmate chose to give me would be the activity I’d start doing more consistently,” she reasons.
“Luckily, she picked my number one choice, the running shoes! Since then, I’ve started running more regularly.”
Conquering 66 Days of Movement Challenge
Proving that Mary was on the right track, she came across a fitness challenge from an online post just days into her "running era." She can’t forget the date: December 29, 2025.
The post was about the Gymshark 66 Challenge organized by the activewear brand that she’s a fan of. She also follows Gymshark’s athlete and influencer partners “not just because of their style, but also because of the strength, discipline, and mindset they represent.”
She remembers getting drawn into the challenge as she’d been at the time “fairly consistent” with her gym workouts. She then pored over every available info about the challenge on the brand’s website.
“The idea is to build habits by committing to three daily habits for 66 days,” she points out, and goes on explaining that those habits are divided into three areas: mind, nutrition, and movement.
She shares her choices as mind journaling; nutrition, specifically committing to drinking two liters of water every day; and movement, by doing daily exercise or workouts.
“There were many habits you could choose from,” she says. “But I picked these three because they felt the most aligned with the lifestyle I wanted to build."
In hindsight, she says she started the challenge “out of pure curiosity,” without any thoughts of becoming a Gymshark athlete.
She didn’t even complete the formal entry requirements, which included posting about the challenge at least once a week. Instead, she documented her progress by posting daily on Instagram Stories.
“More than anything, I wanted to do the challenge for myself,” she points out. “It was my way of committing to becoming a better version of myself and building a stronger mindset.”
It was also her way of dealing with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). When she was given the diagnosis on October 31, 2025, her therapist gave her two options: start medication or try making lifestyle changes first.
“I chose the lifestyle change route, not out of fear, but because I truly believed in my body and mind’s capacity to grow stronger with the right habits and discipline,” she says.
On January 2, 2026, she embarked on her take on the Gymshark 66 Challenge. She completed what she calls her 66 Days of Movement Challenge in exactly 66 days, on March 8, which happens to be the International Women's Day.
“By that point, I had been consistently committing to daily movement and building the habit,” she happily reports.
Crossing the bridge
Looking back, Mary, who’s based in Metro Manila, says she didn’t intent to include in her movement challenge the monumental task of running across the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX).
The bridge linking Cebu province’s capital city to one of its municipalities has been recognized as the country’s longest and tallest since it opened in 2022. It spans 8.9 kilometers with pillars up to 145 meters high.
But as fate would have it, Mary got a work trip to Cebu. Her workmates, who knew of her movement challenge, then asked her how she’d managed during their travel.
“It was actually a thoughtful question because they knew how committed I was to the routine,” she says. “But at the time, I wasn’t too worried and I assumed the hotel we were staying at would have a gym.”
A few days before leaving for Cebu, she was hit by a “slightly crazy idea” while watching TikTok videos of people running across CCLEX. She thought, "Why not try it, too?"
“It felt like a rare opportunity,” she avers. “Not many people can say they’ve run across the longest bridge in the Philippines, and since I was already in my ‘running era,’ it felt like the perfect challenge.
“The funny thing is that I had never run more than 10 km before. I only tried a 10 km-run once, the day before our flight just to see if I could actually do it.”
Mary’s recollection of that sunny yet chilly and “peaceful” day of January 23 is “almost surreal.”
She woke up at 5:30 a.m. She put on her running vest, where she kept a few essentials, and took a motorbike taxi going to CCLEX. By 6 a.m., she arrived at her starting point and, with headphones on, she began running.
“There were moments when I slowed down just to take in the scenery, the water surrounding the bridge and the buildings that slowly became smaller and smaller the further I ran,” she says.
“What surprised me the most was realizing that I had to run on top of the bridge itself. I initially thought there would be a path below it, but suddenly I found myself at the highest point of the bridge with the ocean stretching out on both sides.”
As she reached the bridge’s peak, the determined runner distinctly heard the song “Miles Ahead” by The Strike playing in her headphones amid the backdrop of glorious sunrise and vast ocean.
“Somehow it made the whole moment feel even more cinematic,” she says, quoting these bits of lyrics:
"You're the freeway queen, running reds like green. I'm a teenage kid running things back in my head…I keep running but you're forever miles ahead."
She now says pensively, “It honestly felt magical. There’s really no way to fully describe the feeling unless you experience it yourself.
“At one point, I remember slightly tearing up because the moment made me realize how much beauty there is in the world, the beauty of nature, the incredible capacity of our bodies, and the opportunities we have to explore life if we allow ourselves to.”
She adds, “It reminded me that sometimes we should take the time to pause and appreciate what God has created, the beauty of the world around us and the strength we’re given to experience it, whether by exploring within ourselves or through the places we get to see.”
Pieces of advice
Mary has a message to those who wish to take on a similar fitness or movement challenge: “My biggest advice would be not to overthink it when you want to start something. That’s honestly what I did.
“When I began the challenge, I wasn’t even fully confident that I would complete it. I even remember joking to myself that it was a little insane to think I could actually finish it.
"Maybe it was a bit of reverse psychology, but the point is sometimes the best way to start is simply to start.”
A reminder, though: “Along the way, there will definitely be moments where you feel challenged or begin to doubt yourself.
"When that happens, remind yourself why you started. Do it not for the people around you or for anyone else’s validation, but for yourself.”
She explains, “I think that’s one of the most important things about committing to challenges like this, you have to remove the need for external validation and realize that the strongest motivation will always come from within.”
Most importantly, she stresses the need to exert extra effort in enjoying the process.
“It’s not the easiest journey,” she agrees. “But like any meaningful journey, there will be moments where you surprise yourself by doing things you never thought you could do.
“It may sound cliché, but discipline really is the key. Motivation can make things feel exciting or cinematic at times, but discipline is what truly carries you through.
"And if you’re wondering what you gain from it, for me it was much more than just physical or health improvements."
She then reiterates her earlier statement: “The challenge helped me develop a stronger sense of structure and clarity in my life."
And expounds on it, "I started approaching things more intentionally, whether it was my work, the relationships I build, the people I surround myself with, the habits I want to share with others, or even the time I dedicate to God.
“In the end, it was the discipline and intentionality that surprised me the most. And I hope others who take on a similar challenge get to discover that in their own lives as well.”
As for those who want to fit a few fitness activities into their busy schedule, she says her ways feel like achievable only with “a bit like magic.”
Yes, agrees, “the first few weeks of committing to a healthier lifestyle definitely felt like a chore, but once my body got used to it, my daily routine started adjusting around the things that mattered most.”
For starters, she makes it a point to get around 7 to 8 hours of sleep and commit to whatever workout she has planned for the day, whether that’s mobility work, running, or lifting.
Thankfully, her work schedule is flexible, allowing her to have gym workouts from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Upon reaching home, she still has the energy to prepare her late dinner and meals for the next day.
“At the end of the day, it really comes down to knowing your priorities and making time for the things that make you feel good,” she points out.
“I always tell people that running and lifting are like life hacks, they slowly train your brain to be more consistent and disciplined, not just in fitness, but in other areas of life, too.”
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