Racebelts, anyone?

Wednesday, 15 October 2008  |  Gear + Gadgets

The race belt—although seemingly insignificant compared to one’s training, shoes, bike, attire, and other tri equipment—is an important accessory for a triathlete. You don’t want to be fiddling around with pins at the transition area nor do you want to feel tiny needle pokes on your tummy while you’re racing (there’s enough suffering out there on the road!) I realized the importance of this little belt, a little bit too late, as I prepared for my first tri last month. 

A week or two before the race, I went all over the Metro looking for a race belt; none at ROX, Bike King, or bike shops at Alabang. I heard these were readily available at Cartimar, but I had no intentions of spending money on gas that would have probably cost more than the race belt.  Thankfully, a runner/triathlete friend, Mark P., said he would get his hands on a few race belts from a friend.  As back up (yes, I leave no stone unturned), I also borrowed the belt of another triathlete friend, Jamike, who offered to lend his a day before the race.

To cut a long story short, I ended up with 4 race belts during the Animo Tri. Three from Mark, two of which I handed out to Marga and Philip, and one for me. Then, I used Jamike’s race belt.  Hooray for race belts! Goodbye to pins!

Fast forward to Adidas KOTR—with race belts being the farthest thing on my mind—I meet Rikkiboi and Toto, two guys who approach me proudly showing off their new products: racebelts!  They share their desire to offer belts to runners (not just triathletes) to avoid punching tiny holes in expensive singlets and avoid losing time attaching those 4 pins on your shirts. Soon, they’ll be offering new products such as “the race lace.”

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The race belts will be available at future fun runs/ races so keep your eye out for them.  For any inquiries, contact Rikkiboi or Toto at one77evo@yahoo.com.

Adidas King of the Road Results

Tuesday, 14 October 2008  |  Race Announcements

Official results are out for Adidas KOTR 10k and 21k at RunningDATcom’s blog. Click here.  UPDATE: 5k results available there as well.

My official time for 10k was 52.52 minutes with an average pace of 5:18 min/km.  Pretty much the same as the numbers on my Garmin.  

First placer in the distaff category was Mercedita Fetalbero with a time of 36.35 with a pace of 3:40…phew! I was the 18th woman to cross the finish line.

Takbong May Yabang Race Details

Monday, 13 October 2008  |  Race Announcements

Takbong May Yabang 5k/ 10k on October 18, 2008, Saturday starts at 5:30 a.m. in Cuenca Community Center at Ayala Alabang.

You may bring registration form and P150 registration fee on race day.  Click here to download registration form.

For more info, call Patrick Joson, 842-1468/ 0917-5277141.

Takbong May Yabang Race route

Unicef Walk & Run on Nov. 23

Monday, 13 October 2008  |  Race Announcements

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For info, call race organizer: Rio Dela Cruz (3965170 / 0906 5768486 / 09289034266), email rio@runrio.com or visit site.

Adidas KOTR Race Report

Saturday, 11 October 2008  |  Race Reports

There’s something about the Adidas King of the Road that makes the race a notch above the rest; it must be the presence of thousands of eager runners, the half marathon offering, great-looking singlets, a well-organized assembly, and a number of other things, but all I know is that the moment I arrived at the assembly area, I went on full race mode eager to get going. Instantly, I forgot about last night’s rantings about the missing route map or lack of race bibs in the days leading up to the Adidas KOTR; I was just wanted to race. And, that’s what I got.

After my warm up and stretching, I waited just a few minutes—with winning triathletes and showbiz celebrities Drew Arellano and Paolo Abrera right behind me and my favorite reader Cougcat right outside the barrier—before the 10k gun went off at exactly 5:55 a.m. My secret goal (sorry, I couldn’t share with you) was simply to run a sub-55 hour 10k, a very conservative goal, which I knew I could achieve in this fast course after two consecutive weekend races at hilly Ayala Alabang.

What can I say? The course was awesome! I enjoyed running so much (or was it because I saw super funny and witty Rovilson Fernandez pass by me?) that I snobbed my Garmin throughout the race. I disregarded time and pace and focused on simply giving my best. I didn’t even feel the need to compete against other runners. I just ran, and ran, and ran.

As we climbed the Buendia flyover, I was still in high spirits and it was a delight to see friends who joined the 21k making their way back towards Bonifacio Global City. When the first few running friends passed, I would yell “Go, Glenn” then “Go Joms” then “Go Ben” then “Go Annnnniiiiie” but then, after a while, I thought I would lose my mind (and breath) just cheering for them. To conserve energy, I waved at others to show my support.

Once we hit the flat roads of Buendia, I stopped watching the 21k runners on the other side of the street and looked straight ahead. It was time to get going. After all, flat means fast (hey, I’m talking about the roads, not chests). So, I ran to my heart’s delight.  I only stopped to glance at my watch during the 5k turnaround at Reposo then I went on again.

Before I knew it, it was time to climb back up the steep Buendia flyover, which was a lot tougher than the 1st half. With the intense heat, most of the runners before me had began to walk while I slowed down to a 5:50 pace. Wow, it felt like forever trekking up that road but, with a little patience and perseverance, we survived. As I made my way back to Bonifacio Global City, I wanted to yell “Freedom! Woohooo!” as I rolled down the flyover towards flat roads but decided otherwise as the troop of PNP’s I was running with would have to cuff me and send me to Crame.

I ran towards the finish at a comfortably hard pace, again, enjoying every minute. I found my rhythm somewhere in between passing the Pinoy Ultra Runners who ran 21k and the finish line.  It was pure fun!

According to my Garmin, I finished 10.02 km (hey perfect race distance!) at 52:44 minutes with an average pace of 5:16 min/km. 

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Did you get to sign here? I didn’t. Maybe next year. Thanks to future elite runner Naombi for pointing it out to us –

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– BWK united! –

I reached my sub-55 hour goal. CHECK (with minutes to spare)

Ended the race injury-free. CHECK (Actually, I did have an injury after the race. Silly me. I bumped my head against the bathroom door hanger as I was changing. Forehead was bleeding and now it’s black & blue)

I felt I could’ve pushed harder, gone faster, and broken my PR, but hey I’m happy. It was a great race. Adidas KOTR currently tops my list of favorite races this year.

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– Aaaw, highschool classmates Tin U. and Jennie Bau! –

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– with running bloggers, The Changeling Child, RunningDATcom, & Loonyrunner –

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 – Pinoy Ultra Runners Hector, Neville and Jeremy –

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– BAGAY…ang shades ni Marga sa kanya. Diba Neville? –

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– Congrats to Annie for placing 9th, even after coming in late, for 21k –

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– Congrats to Queen of the Road Jo-Ann Banayag –