Tuesday, July 31, 2012
To be honest, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be able to do this race. It wasn't just the cut-off time that frightened me but it was the impression I got all those years ago that the ones running the 42.2km race would only be the elite Filipino runner.. the ones sent to the Sea Games, the Olympics, etc. to represent our Beloved country. These were runners who have been running most of their lives, who had 3% body fat, who were dark from all that running, and who wore short shorts!
2008 - KM 0 - 10: IN THE BEGINNING!
I first experienced Milo running events waaayyy back in 2008! At that time, I just had to join this race as it was the oldest in the country (even older than me) and the most popular running event. It was one of my first races and I signed up for the 10km race.
Per wasn't even running yet but she was there to support and cheer for me at the finish line.
It was that same year during Milo Finals 2008 that Per ran one of her first 10km races, and one of our first couple 10km races too.
2009 - KM 10 - 21.1: LEVEL UP!
My first Milo Half Marathon Event. It was a good experience for me, and Per ran the 10km on her own.
2010 - KM 0: BREAK TIME!
No Milo race for us this year as I got tired of it and didn't see any reason to join that race again. We joined other races instead.
2011 - KM 21.1: RETURN TO HALF MARATHON!
In 2011, there was a change of Race Organizer to RunRio.Inc and a big incentive for 21km finishers was the marathon medal. But it comes with a catch: you have to finish the race at 2 hours 30 minutes or below!
My confidence wasn't that high when they had the Eliminations so I skipped that event and joined another Half Marathon event in UP instead. But all that time, I was challenged to get the finisher medal.
And I did during the Milo Finals last December 2011, by a measly 8 seconds from the cut-off time!
My first Milo medal! Crunchy on the outside!
2012: KM 21.1 - KM 42.2: FULL CIRCLE!
There were a lot of doubts about whether I could finish the full marathon within the cut-off time due to lack of long runs (I wasn't able to complete the required weekend LSD runs and usually quit that day, tired and defeated), and even had a slow half marathon finish time recently (surpassed 3 hours).
The cut-off time for this race was 6 hours.
Alvin thought at first that I should just do the half marathon and run it fast, but what will I do with a second Milo half marathon medal?
No, it was the 42.2km race for me or bust!
Panic mode began as I tried to put the mileage in... the returning PF pain did not help at all, and just added to the difficulty here. But Alvin was able to guide me the last few weeks for this race.
On race day, there were a lot of prayers made by me, a lot of mind games, a lot of walk breaks, a lot of water station stops, a lot of pain, a lot more pain, a lot more prayers and a lot more mind games!
It was hard for me. No other words to describe it!
Running along Roxas Blvd.
At the last 3km, Alvin was waiting for me and paced me to the finish line. Clearly, one of us was in a good mood!
But after all is said and done, I am proud to show this:
My biggest medal so far
7th marathon done, 4th for the Philippines and 3rd for Year 2012 (my most in one calendar year).
Thanks to Alvin for the training he gave me and much needed PUSH (figuratively and literally) at the last 3km of the race.
Per completed her 10km race as well!
PRAISE GOD! TO HIM ALL THE GLORY!
WITH HIM, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!
Friday, July 27, 2012
From a very close shave at last year's Milo Marathon Finals 21km event, wherein I finished at a time of 2:29:52, 8 seconds from the official cut-off time of 2:30, and got myself my very first Milo Finisher medal, comes another challenge for this RUNNING FATBOY:
A very close shave!
....Milo Marathon - Manila Eliminations 42km with a cut-off time of 6:00:00 (average pace of 8:31).
Good luck to me! And good luck to all participants for this race. I heard that it is the biggest one to date with over 38,000 participants (more than 25,000 for the 5km leg alone).
GOD BE WITH US THIS COMING SUNDAY!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
ADIDAS OPENS REGISTRATION FOR THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS RUNNING EVENT OF THE YEAR – THE ADIDAS KING OF THE ROAD
Crowned King and Queen of KOTR to represent the Philippines in the KOTR Southeast Asia Championship in Singapore
Manila, Philippines – Now on its 14th year, adidas invites runners from all over to join this year’s adidas ‘King of the Road’ (KOTR) on September 30 at the Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
This year’s race will have three categories – 5K, 10K and 16.8K. For the 16.8K distance, there are two sub categories – the ‘Closed’ category for Filipino nationals and the ‘Open’ category for all nationalities. The top male and female winners from the 16.8km Closed category will be hailed as the Philippines’ ‘King and Queen’ of the Road and will qualify for an all-expense paid trip to Singapore on October 28 to compete in the adidas KOTR Southeast Asia Championship.
“The adidas King of the Road is a platform that allows runners to achieve their personal best. As a global leader, adidas continuously provides top of the line products, technology, and events that support runners to be the best they can be,” says Jason Gervasio, adidas Brand Communications and Sports Marketing Manager.
Demonstrating the brand’s exceptional commitment to the sport, the first adidas KOTR Southeast Asia Championship, held last year, unified runners from all around the region. The event had participants from the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia all competing in a bid to be crowned as the adidas SEA 'King of the Road'. The Philippines was chosen as the first country to host the culminating activity of the Southeast Asian championship race in October 2011. Similar to last year’s KOTR, multi-color adidas singlets will display the vibrancy of running as a sport across the region.
Continuing the tradition of pushing people to achieve their personal breakthroughs, the global brand brings the KOTR SEA Championship Year 2 to Singapore. The race will begin and end in the lion city's newest iconic landmark – the Gardens by the Bay. Around 12,000 runners are expected to participate as adidas aims to gather the best of the best from five countries to run by Singapore's newest 100-hectare park.
To join the race:
· Register online for the adidas King of the Road 2012 from July 25 to September 15 (http://adidaskingoftheroad.com/ph) or
· Visit any of the 5 KOTR registration sites from July 25 to September 23: adidas Megamall, adidas Rockwell, adidas SM Mall of Asia, adidas Trinoma, and adidas Greenbelt. Registration sites are open 7 days a week from 12NN to 8PM.
RRace fees are as follows: Php 1,050.00 for 5km and 10km; Php 1,300.00 for 16.8km
For news and updates on KOTR, visit the adidas Philippines Facebook fanpage (facebook.com/adidasphilippines).
Sample singlet colors
There will also be FINISHER MEDALS for ALL Categories as well, design of which can be seen at the top of this blog entry..
Friday, July 20, 2012
What is it with me and out of town races?
From what I considered as the WORST RACE last April 2012 via TNF Baguio 22km, comes this road race from new Race organizers PURE CONCEPT, and which I now considered as the WORST ROAD RACE for 2012!
Congratulations guys! I do hope you keep your record and other race organizers do not follow your very bad example!
At the start, it looks interesting enough: a new race in Sucat so it was a new route for me and Per as we never ran here before, it also offered finisher shirts and finisher medals to 16km finishers.
But then on the registration date when we paid for our entry fees at Chris Sports Glorietta, they gave us a flimsy bib no., a singlet and a small piece of paper that showed the race map.
By the way, the race map for both the 5km and 16km races were EXACTLY the same! How is that even possible? But no worries, as race organizers changed the race course at the last minute (more on this later). There were no brown envelopes to put these things in or a flyer to show the race details (venue, gun start, etc.) and I had to search online again the night before the race to get the relevant information. At the back of my mind, I already had a bad feeling about this but nothing to do but to continue for this event as it was paid for. Mistake #1!
Per and I got to the race venue with ample time to spare but it took a long time before the 16km was released from the starting line. I think there was a 15-minute delay from the Gun Start time! A big no-no too for a road race! Mistake #2!
I took my time slowly as I was supposed to do a long run that morning but with the sun coming out quickly, it's becoming harder to run here. I skipped a few water stations as I didn't feel thirsty yet.
Come 5km I was ready to stop by at the water station and lo and behold, they had ran out of plastic cups! Wow! That quickly already!!! Mistake #3!
I heard a runner complain about it and the guy manning the water station said he had called it in and they would deliver some new plastic cups. So I continued running with the optimistic view that the next water station would have the needed plastic cups. It never happened! I passed two to three more water stations and all were out of cups too! IT WAS CRAZY! I can accept one water station running out of supplies but ALL water stations?? This was unheard of! Mistake # 4, 5, 6 !!!
I didn't want to die from dehydration so I drank from lids and from "tabo" instead and just kept going. Nothing else to do. A lot of people quit the race and just went to the finish line. I kept going.
As mentioned earlier, the race organizers changed the route and these smart guys did it by making it Two loops - when there were no cups on the first loop alone! Mistake # 7, 8, 9, 10! More drinking from "tabo" for me. Some runners just did the first loop and quit this race, saying it wasn't worth it anymore. A lot of runners ran with a water bottle in hand. God, I envied them!!
The marshals left their stations too, I guess thinking they had nothing to do as there were no plastic cups left. No marshals were there to guide 16km runners to keep running straight instead of making the final turnaround so a lot of runners who wanted to finish the race ended with just 10km or less due to lack of directions. Mistake # 11.
No km markers as well, which I didn't expect anyway. The final distance for 16km, going through all the proper turns, loops, etc. was a measly 14.21km! Mistake # 12!
As for the 5km race, the final distance for them was a huge 5.77km! Mistake # 13!
Finisher shirts were out of sizes too, mostly L and XXL only. Luckily, I got my right size and I got the medal too. The only two good things from this race.
Pure Concepts - please run an actual race before organizing the next one! I'm afraid what you will do next! You need to prove yourselves to the running community!
With 13 big mistakes (your favorite lucky number?), I take back what I said earlier and now give you the crown for the WORST RACE (road or trail) for 2012! Give yourselves a big slap on the face for me. You deserved it... ;P
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Here is the official press statement:
Rexona Run 2012 challenges you to outrun yourself
Prepare to push yourself to the limits when Rexona Run 2012 unfolds on August 12 at the SM Mall of Asia grounds. Presented by Rexona Men, the much-anticipated event promises to raise the bar even higher. With a new category, more prizes and exciting features that will surely test the mettle of even the most seasoned runners.
Participants can choose from among three race categories: 5K, 21K Solo and for the first time ever, the 21K Relay. The new category is designed to inspire 5K and 10K runners to raise their level by taking part in the more challenging 21K race, where a team of 2 runners will run a relay for them to finish the 21K distance.
Apart from cash prizes and medals for the top finishers, commemorative key chains will also be awarded to finishers who manage to beat the recommended finishing time for a challenge. To qualify, 5K runners must cross the finish line 30 minutes after gun start at 6:20am, and all 21K participants need to finish within 2 hours at 7:00am.
To ensure that each participant keeps within their target finishing time, pacers shall be deployed for each race category.
Helping runners train and commit to a faster finishing time, Rexona Run 2012 has created the Rexona Run Outrun Yourself App, which can be downloaded for free via the Rexona Men Facebook page. The app will help runners set a target time for the category to be run courtesy of a running playlist and occasional voice over as their time check, which they can listen to while training. During the actual run, the app can also be used to help runners set their pace.
More than just promoting wellness through running, Rexona also strongly espouses the responsible running. For Rexona Run 2012, trash bins will be placed in strategic locations so runners can properly discard used water bottles, sponges and other trash. This gives runners a cleaner and more pleasant race route, now and in succeeding editions of Rexona Run.
“Each year, Rexona manages to raise the bar and this year will be no different. We not only made this year’s race fun, exciting and safe, but we’re also introducing new developments that will surely inspire running enthusiasts, both professional and recreational types, to strive to outrun themselves,” says Rexona brand manager Anne Remulla.
Prizes for the top three finishers in the 21K Solo include Php 7,000 for first, 5,500 second and 4,000 for third, while the podium finishers in the 21K Relay take home Php 5,000 for first, 4,000 for second and 3,000 for third for each member of the team. Top three finishers in the 5K category go home with Php 4,000, 3,000 and 2,000 for first, second and third placers, respectively
Registration is ongoing until July 29 at Riovana stores in Bonifacio Global City and Katipunan and Toby’s branches in Trinoma and SM Mall of Asia. Online registrations are also accepted at www.runrio.com from now until 12 midnight of July 22.
So this August, get ready to challenge and outrun yourself only at the Rexona Run 2012.
For more details, check out the Rexona Men Facebook page, visit www. runrio.com or call/text the race hotline at +63927-347-7700 (Globe), +63929-717-8164 (Smart) or +632-887-6194 .
Below are more details with regards to the upcoming race:
5k Race Bib
21k Race Bib
21k Relay All Male Race Bib
21k Relay Mixed Gender (Male/ Female)
21k Relay All Female
There will be finisher medals for 21km solo runners and for 21km relay runners. Design and shape is similar to each other except for the size (21km runners' medals will be 8cm in diameter as opposed to 21km relay runners' medals at 5cm) and thickness (4mm thickness for 21km solo runners vs 3.5mm thickness for 21km relay runners).
lanyard for finisher medal
FINISHER SHIRTS (FOR 21KM SOLO RUNNERS ONLY):
5k route map
21km route map. For the 21km relay, switching of runners will be done at Mall of Asia (I'm assuming where the starting/finish line is) and second runner will run to the other side of the complex. So both relay runners will do different sides of Mall of Asia while for the Solo Runner, they will do all of them.
There will also be Rexona Run key chains for 21km runners (solo or relay) who finish their race in under 2 hours and for 5km runners who finish their race in under 30 minutes. Time is based on gun time so for runners targeting these additional items, DON'T BE LATE!!
Registration is now open at Riovana stores in Katipunan, Q.C. and in BGC and in Toby's branches in Mall of Asia and in Trinoma.
Registration Fees are as follows:
5k - Php 700
21k Relay - Php 1,600 (or Php 800 per member)
21k Solo - Php 900
Gun Start at Mall of Asia are as follows:
5k - 5:50AM
21k Relay - 5:00AM
21k Solo - 4:40AM
See you guys here on August 12, 2012!!