At the starting line of last week’s “A G.O.O.D. Run”, I was asked by one of the big bosses where I work from if the emecees get paid . I said I think so . He then said that may we should organize our own race so that we can reap the benfits of the current running boom in our country ; I said we should think of a great name for our race ….
I think it has almost been two years since I last joined a 10k race; the reason for which is practicality: I needed to do long back to back weekend runs – and of course the cost.
I joined this one because we have been sponsored by one of our office’s Principals – they would pay 500 bucks : this means that I only had to pay 100 bucks to join the race.
Another reason is that I haven’t ran in almost 1 month due to my injury (my therapist advised against joining this race) – running this race would be a welcome against the monotony of staying indoors during the weekends.
What they say about being “de-trained” is true – I had a hard time finsihing this race – the panting was so heavy that I had to to take walk breaks all through out the course – not that I am complaining, after all I can’t run as fast as I want to due to my injury.
I finished this race with a chip time of 63 minutes.
Race Result
On another note, I have just recently acquired a pair of lock laces which I used on my Asics GT 2140.
I used to remember when I complained a lot about not having enough water stations, but after the 2010 edition of Globe’s run for home, I think I should complain about having too many water stations ….. not!
Well, it almost was your typical 21Km run along the Makati – Global City area, except that this race started in Makati and ended in a different street in Makati.
It was fun being able to run under the greenbelt tunnel for the first time – a nice new route which you can’t run on a regular day.
No PR for this 21km run (some say it was 22+km, who cares ? as long as the distance is not less than what we paid for) . I finished it in 2:30 – I am still under the weather but I thought that since I paid for it, I might as well run it, hehehe.
I remembered my first Condura experience when I ran my first half-Mary in the Skyway last year – it was awesome! So, when this year’s edition of the said race was announced, I definitely had to register. You see, the half-mary last year was just that : half of the skyway, so I thought that it was a good idea that the Concepcion brothers included the full marathon event.
It has been a well documented observation in the running community that organizing races has turned into a profitable business with some organizers more interested in making a quick buck rather than satisfying their participants. That is the reason why starting this year, I am choosing the races that I join (and being a bandit with the rest, hehehe). I know that quality has an expensive price tag that goes with it ; so even if I had hesitations in joining this race due to the expensive registration fee , I still joined the 42K event and I’m glad that I did.
Fireworks lit up a seemingly cold and tense morning where the 42K runners were preparing for the end of the countdown that would start the event. This is a refreshing scene compared to the usual Sunday morning race start. Everybody was happy and excited to run!
The challenging but enjoyable part of the race started early on as we ran around the Fort area , claiming one ascent after another before we scaled the Kalayaan flyover towards Buendia – this part of the route was dark since the streets we traversed had no lamp posts on it.
The vertical path which was the Kalayaan flyover as well as the rest of the Makati area was well lit and lively with the presence of various bands along the route – I was particularly energized upon reaching the corner of Buendia and Pasong Tamo when the Philippine Army band played the theme song of the movie The Magnificent Seven – I felt like Yul Brynner riding his horse, hehehe!
Upon entering the skyway, I said to myself – “Finally!” and took the most challenging path of my asphalt loving career. The ambience on the skyway was cool, exciting and bright …. Did I say bright? I thought it was, but somebody turned off the lights! Running the skyway was reminiscent of running Lawton Avenue about an hour ago – dark!
When the sun finally rose, the view from up there was spectacular, it’s different when you’re running it compared to just driving through it.
When we reached the turn around point near the Bicutan exit, I felt a bit sad because this feeling of enlightenment is half-over. It didn’t also help that there were small specks of matter floating in the atmosphere which some runners have inhaled and worse – ingested.
Just as I thought that the challenging part was over comes the most difficult ascent of this race – Condura hill. Well, like what most runners did , I just simply walked this part and enjoyed the view, I even took some pictures while I was at it. The sun was already up at this time as I saw it took its toll on the band that was supposed to perform the lively music for us runners.
Then came the sign at the bottom of the skyway which read “Congratulations, you have conquered the skyway!”. At least now, I can say that I have completely conquered it compared to just half of it last year.
… and there it was , on my return trip I met the generous souls of Takbo.PH and Reinier Pacific. The banana I got from them gave me a boost that I was able to run up to Makati Avenue.
After the short lived energy burst, I jogged /walked until the finish line. I finished the race in 5:46. 12 minutes slower compared to my first marathon.
All in all, this was a fun race : very unique and challenging route , water trucks, long water/hydration tables, sponges , fire works and bands. Did I say it was a race? Oh, I thought it was a party .
Condura Village the day before the race
Along the Magallanes area
Blue skies ...
Condura Hill
Another view of Condura Hill
Near the Bicutan Exit
I don’t usually bring an mp3 player, but it sure would’ve been nice to listen to this while running :
As I sat in ROC (a cafe inside Bahay Ng Alumni in UP Diliman) with one of my best buds, Joanne Ignacio, I came across the upcoming event that’s happening on February 21, 2010: The Century Tuna Superbods Run!
I haven’t had any training and running in awhile, and what better way to start the year right? By training and being fit and healhty! Derek Ramsey will be there, together with the Century Tuna Bods Finalists. A photo booth will be installed and serve as a go-see for interested participants who want to qualify as one of the next Century Tuna image models! If you think you have what it takes, then join in on the race and have your picture taken as well!
Century Tuna Superbods Run 2010
There will also be fun and interesting activities after the race, only happening at The Fort, Global City, with 3km, 5km, 10km, and 21km distances to be covered. Don’t forget the date: February 21, 2010, and don’t forget the event: Century Tuna Superbods Run 2010!
RockEnRun would like to thank RunnerSpeak and Century Tuna for their bag of goodies! Watch them on Sunday, January 10, on QTV, at 1445H-1515H for details. Also, check out Nuffnang’s post for more details or visit Century Tuna’s Official Website!
Here’s a good 90′s beat to jumpstart my training in getting ready for this run:
Hmm – I am at a loss for words. Last Sunday’s Timex half-marathon is perfect.
As I was driving around the Fort Global City area on my way to the parking lot, I have noticed the long tables filled with cups of water / sports drinks. I said to myself that finally, the organizers are listening to the runners – this must be a good sign!
I was aiming for a PR for this run, but as the race started, I was surprised that the race has
actually started, hehehe – you should be there, everybody just started running.
It was your typical 21km race route around the Fort and Buendia . The roads were closed and irate motorists giving us the finger – tssss! Do we have anger management classes in the Philippines ?
I was so excited in achieving a PR that I forgot to warm up – big mistake. After 4 kms, my 5:30 pace dropped to 6:00 and then 6:30. I got so tired that I realized after reading the official results that my pace for the last 2kms was around 8 to 9 mpk! I finished the race at 2:18 (chip time) – so much for a PR.
I was happy that at the finish line, we were treated like VIPs- we were given towels and awarded a medal ; but wait, that’s not all : there was free breakfast, lots of 100 plus / free coffee sachets and a loot bag that contains .. wait , let me see – an energy bar and wait, another bottle of 100 plus!
As I look back, I remember the first time I asked my sister to register me for a race. I eventually didn’t participate in the said 10k event because I was too lazy to wake up at 4am so that I could simply run. I quipped ”Why should I change my routine?”. I usually wake up at around 6:00am and do my 2.1km jog around The Fort area and more recently, around MOA. I even remember a female colleague telling me this: “Ano ba yan, papahirapan mo nalang sarili mo, magbabayad ka pa!”
I eventually joined my first race (which covered a distance of 10km) wearing my very old Nike cross trainers (the shoe’s sole had been replaced with locally available soles since the original air sole has already leaked).
… and here I am, 11 months and 3 running shoes after –> running my first ever full 42KM marathon.
What can I say? I didn’t even plan joining this event until 5 weeks ago. I was undertrained .
Thanks to the effort of ultra runner friend Isko who patiently trained me in such a short time, I was able to complete this run together with another running friend, Ian.
The concept of running SCTEX at night was very appealing to most of the people who participated in this event, after all, you can’t run along this route on a regular night (pun intended).
This could’ve been a next to perfect race except for the following:
• No water for four consecutive water stations – I think that the water stations were more than 2.5kms apart, so you could imagine how thirsty the other runners were when they came to our support vehicle (the white van with the team hardcore tarpaulin) asking if we had excess water /Gatorade/bananas/ hard-boiled eggs. We were able to help some of the runners since we have packed a little more than what we needed but our supplies were spread so thin that even we ran out of supplies and had to go thirsty and hungry ourselves. There were even times when some runners would approach me and ask me if they can have some of the contents of the Gatorade bottle I was carrying, I sympathized with them and gave them half of what I had – I really can’t stop expressing my disappointment on this aspect of the race. Where do they expect the runners to buy water in the middle of the SCTEX ?
• Lights – Although I came prepared because I have brought a headlamp with me – I experienced running through the darker parts of SCTEX since we returned the head lamp to the support vehicle after the Dinalupihan exit, not knowing that it was pitch black after that. We had to rely on the headlights used by the other support vehicles in order to find our way through the darkness.
In summary, I will never forget this race as this was my baptism of fire with a time of 5 hours, 34 minutes and 10 seconds. Too bad though that I and a lot of runners suffered from dehydration.
After the race, resident birthday boy and eponymous honorary member of NandN runners, Ian – treated us to a sumptuous feast at Aristocrat’s Restaurant.
We left Subic a little after midnight and arrived at BHS at around 2:30 am and slept in the parking area so that we can participate in the Adidas King Of The Road run which would start at 5:30 am. I participated in the 10k event (21k sounds tempting but I might injure myself in the process) – less than 9 hours after I finished my first marathon.
After what I have done, I hope I still have the stamina to join the Philippine International Marathon 42km 2 weeks from now
Adidas KOTR Finish Line
Jonel Mendoza and Jeff Abenina
Before The Run
GU .. Check! Shoe Laces .. Check
I'm getting ready getting ready .. oh boy what a day ...
Last year’s Fort Strider’s race was supposed to be the first road race that I was going to participate in. I registered for the 10km but due to my hectic work schedule, I wasn’t able to join.
As I have said before, there are two important things for me in a road race : safety and hydration. The distance- well as long as it doesn’t exceed a kilometer then I’m a bit ok with it. I said a bit – sabi nga nila, di baleng sobra, wag lang kulang.
I was able to finish 15++ Km (instead of 10 miles) in 1:38.
Congratulations to the Fort Strider’s for a well organized race.
12 minutes late(and gasping for air .. again!) – that was my reaction when I saw the 21k timer at the starting line. I was hoping that I arrived just in time but the queue in the parking area was so long. At that point I was already contemplating on running the 15k race instead.
Fortunately, Ian Alacar (the race director) was very supportive in giving me directions for the 21k race route and off I went to run the 21k race alone.
This was the first time that I ran alone in order to catch up with runners who started way ahead of me. The thing is, I have already sprinted (without any warm up) to the starting line from the parking area ; and here I am again literally sprinting to catch up with the runners.
I was already walking before I reached the first KM. Who was I fooling ? I couldn’t reach them no matter what – or so I thought, after about an hour and after the fast 15k runners went past me, I was able to catch up with the last 20 percent of the 21k runners. It was only at this point that I felt good about myself
This was a well-organized race, I mean if it weren’t for the road signs and the helpful men in uniform, I wouldn’t have been able to catch up with the runners from my race.
The only thing is, I thought that we were still going to run another loop as we returned to the McKinley area – so you could imagine my surprise when we were told that there were only 400 meters left before the finish line.
This would have been a close to perfect race, were it not for the short distance
Knowing how bad the weather would be , I decided to arrive early for this road race. I arrived at around 4:45 am. When I got there, it was announced that the race was moved to 5:30 am due to the rain.
There was a warm-up exercise before the start of the 21k event, I entered the coral as the said exercise was about to end. I saw some runner friends and had a chat with them – and then it happened, the gun was fired and off we went.
For me, this was a well-organized race. There were adequate water and gatorade stations along the route, plus … I was able to run in the Glorietta area even though it was raining very hard
I finsihed the race at 2:24 (unofficial), just a few more minutes and i’ll be able to beat my personal best at 2:18.
It’s timely though, that it was raining during a run dedicated to saving Mother Earth
The urbanite run was indeed unique – in a lot of aspects, champion chip included.
This is my first time to run a night race, and apparently the first time for more than 3000 other runners. It’s a good thing that I decided to arrive at the venue early – because at around 6pm (2 hours before the race), the parking slots were already full – I think this is due to the accumulated mass between the regular shoppers at BHS and those who would be running the evening race.
I thought that since this was a night race, it would be a refreshing and relaxing activity. I was wrong – it was very humid that night; and the proximity of the other runners as well as the spot lights weren’t helping either.
The 15k race started at around 8:15 pm. I was expecting all the streets to be well lit – well, it was, the street lights were doing their job.
You see, I thought that the organizers would be using “extra” lights to make the path “more” visible – but that’s ok; it was still fun.
While we were running the “darker” parts of the cemetery, the only thing that was left to see were the glowing “light sticks” (I don’t know what they are called) which were given to the runners. Most runners have used them either as bracelets or ornaments for their bibs.
Somehow one can’t help but wonder if that is all that one sees in the darkness and not actual spiritual orbs. Hehehe
This is fun – organizers should do it more often.
Jonel (bugobugo85), Iskozenegger, TheRoadMarker and Highaltitude
