I was actually planning back then on making Botak my first full marathon. Lucky for me, I had so many deadlines at work that I had to forego of that plan and instead registered for the half-marathon.  Had I been stubborn and pushed through with it, last Sunday’s run would have been a very painful memory.

Me and my friend Ian weren’t expecting PRs for this race as I didn’t have enough time to train (my weekly mileage went  down from 38 to 0 after pacing for our friend Isko in BDM 102) and Ian is under the weather. So, we decided to aim for a finish somewhere between 2:15 and 2:30.

We were able to finish it with 2:29:29 on my watch.

Observations :

• There was a water truck in the Kalayaan flyover.  Sweet!
• Excellent singlets. I don’t  wear singlets anymore but I have to make an exception in this case.
• Lots of Gatorade at the finish line.
• There was also an awesome band at the finish line.
• The race started late.  It started at 6:00 am. Starting a 21k race during the summer months in the Philippines is not cool (literally).
• There were not enough water cups in the aid stations ; luckily I brought a disposable hand-held water bottle with me which I conveniently refilled whenever I reach an aid station.
• Since this race involves a lot of “turn-arounds”; they should have added road marshals as I was almost side-swiped by a passenger jeep along Kalayaan Avenue on our way to Rockwell.

I know that It is  difficult  to  organize a full marathon so I won’t make a big deal about the inconveniences  I experienced in the half-marathon race, instead I would like to encourage Botak to improve their  service  for their next long distance race.

I hope that next time, no one gets lost