Condura Race 2009 – Part 1

TBR RACE REVIEW: CONDURA RACE 2009

Organizer: Rudy Biscocho
Overall Rating (10 highest): 8

THUMBS UP!
- Skyway Run: You dreamed it and you pulled it off! Hats off to Condura for creating a race like no other.
- Medals for Half Marathon finishers: Everyone loves a medal. Even better that someone placed it around our necks.
- Race marshals were effective especially in blocking off traffic: We even witnessed a fight between a race marshal and a disgruntled driver. Our bet was on the race marshall, of course.
- Abundant supply of water at stations.
- Sports Beans and sponges near or on the skyway.
- Portalets along the route.
- Pacers for 10k and 21k.
- Rocky theme song playing as 21k runners neared the finish.
- Bands playing along the route. I didn’t see nor hear them though. Hubby did.
- Inspirational signs to keep runners motivated (or distracted from the pain!)
- Race results to be published in Phil. Star. Hope to see it soon!

GOOD JOB!
- Water sprinkling from the firetruck: Great that there was water to cool us down at the start/end of the skyway. I just hope that next time we have the option to get wet or not. I personally don’t like getting my shoes soaked but the water showered over the entire road, so most of us had to squeeze ourselves on the right side of the truck, climb on that way too high edge of the skyway just to avoid getting drenched. (Did I tell you I’m afraid of heights?)
- Fairly accurate distance. 21.07 for 21km and 9.8 for 10k.
- Medical assistance was readily available.
- Booths and Nike sale at the expo area.

BETTER JOB NEXT TIME
- Crowded assembly area: The assembly was filled with runners squeezing through the tiny entry way. I heard some runners only entered when space was freed up after the gun start.
- Balde System: Runners have raised hell over the unsanitary balde system that’s been used in previous races. I heard that the people giving cups were now wearing gloves, but that doesn’t make much of a difference. When will we see an end to this? UPDATE: Ton Concepcion clarified that all water provided was MINERAL WATER. See comment below. Thanks Ton!
- Water from a tank? A friend told me that drinking water was taken from a Manila Water tank parked along the 5k turnaround. Please don’t tell me this is true. UPDATE: Again, this was not used as drinking water. See comment below.
- Lack of mile markers. With my Garmin conking out, I had to rely on mile markers. The markers were few and far between.

————————————————————-

Wow. I am in a state of disbelief. How did I possibly finish the Condura Half without any sign of injury (yes, not the slightest hint of pain) all throughout the race considering I was in pain even at rest for the past weeks? How did I finish with a time of 2:24 (unofficial)—far cry from 2:08 at Singapore but I’m not complaining—when I expected to crawl through the finish at around 3 hours? And, how did I manage to run through the finish when I was convinced I’d be limping my way to the end just like Singapore Half?

It could be due to my last-minute prep for the race: dry needling (Thur), deep massage (Tue & Fri), and ashtanga yoga (Sat) combined with strengthening exercises and stretches. Or, as I’d like to think, it was simply a miracle. God’s way of blessing me for being a good girl despite all the hell that I’ve been through with this injury perhaps? Hah!

Whatever the reason, I know I should be extremely grateful for the chance to run Condura Race. Here are the highlights of my race:

- Go Team Injured Skins! It was JunC, Vince, and I who ran together for the first few kilometers of the race. The three of us were in uniform: our iamninoy runners group shirt (more about this in a later post) and skins compression tights. Aside from the common attire, all three of us had barely run the past two weeks and had knee injuries. We shared the same mindset: this run was going to be a slow, safe, and steady run; no racing nor breaking PRs. Along Buendia, Jake of Team Super joined us. Until the end of the run, we were stuck together like glue. It was fun running with you, guys!

- Hubby (10k) and I with JunC and wife Mariel (5k). Vince fell asleep in his booth soon after crossing the finish. Jake, where did you go? -

- Glenn, the best pacesetter ever. Early in the race, we stayed close to the 7min/km pace group led by Glenn of Fort Striders. Glenn is a friend and he has always been sociable and funny. Little did I know he had the ability to entertain runners with his witty remarks (e.g. “Prepare exact change, runners” as we climbed the skyway) which kept a large group of us runners guffawing throughout the race.

- Boo to my Garmin, Yey to “blind” running. I hadn’t used my Garmin in over 3 weeks and, today, it decided to go on strike…twice. It conked out at 2.5km and again at 7km even if it was fully charged. At first, I was cursing. But, later on, I realized it was a blessing that I couldn’t check on my pace or distance. Running like a blind runner allowed me to enjoy the run even more.

- The flyover was worth it. Do you know that I decided to downgrade to 10k yesterday due to major anxieties over the injury? But, thanks to friend/ ITBS adviser, Alvin, who told me that I should run the skyway even if I had to bike the first 10k, I decided to just go for it. Upon climbing up the skyway, the sun was on our left and one could see all the runners ahead and behind marching like little soldiers. It was a great sight. Even nicer to think that no other runners had ever ran a race up there.

– Alvin! I cannot thank you enough! Thanks for putting up with my bullheadedness, indecisiveness, and incessant whining over the injury! -

- Test of the will. I was fine throughout the race. I actually found fulfillment running the slow 6:30 to 7 min/km even as other runners passed us by. I refused to succumb to the temptation to run faster and risk injury. But, on the way back, as we climbed the Buendia flyover, the heat and, I have to admit, the lack of training caught up with me. I started feeling dehydrated and weak. From the flyover to the finish line, it was all will that carried me through.

- Annie is back! My dearest running buddy, Annie, flew in from Singapore for a 5-day break. We saw each other before the race, hugged, spoke briefly, and off she went to run her 21k leaving us all in the dust. What’s new? At least I know she hasn’t changed one bit. Missed you Annie girl!

- Annie showing off her photo in TBR Mag’s inner back cover. She says she’s willing to autograph your magazines anytime!-

- Launch of TBR Magazine. I think this went fairly well. I saw my banners up, the magazines were distributed after the race, and I didn’t faint onstage (I had just arrived from my 21k when they called me up there). I was overwhelmed to hear the positive response from the runners I met. Hope you liked it!

To all runners, congratulations! To Condura Durables Inc, especially Ton, Patrick, Michelle, and Alex, great race! Hope to see you again on the skyway next year.

- with good friends Dindo, Banggi, Joms, Ben, Hubby, and Renz -

- with Dindo, Carmen, Tiffin, Jeremy, Mark, Marga -

- with the hubby, my support and photographer for the day -

- with i am ninoy runners group launched at Condura. Congrats to Jamike and Mayi! -

More photos to follow…

Posted on 03.22.09 to 02 Race Reports. Tags: Condra Race 2009, Races, Uncategorized. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 41 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.

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41 Responses to “Condura Race 2009 – Part 1”

It was a good race but could have been better – 5k finish was misleading due to the extra turn compared to the race map, no mile markers as well. I hope it’s not true about the water, I drank a cup!

Michael Paderes said on Mar 22 09 at 6:00 PM Reply
Congratulations for the successful launching of your much awaited magazine. More power to you! Thanks for the Photo Op. I asked the permission of your hubby before approaching you for the Photo Op with my cellphone camera.

Clinton Lee said on Mar 22 09 at 6:16 PM Reply
Congratulations! Got a copy of your mag and it’s great =) I enjoyed the race too.o Nwater problem for me though, i brought my own. Glad it started pretty much on time.

galeypie said on Mar 22 09 at 6:37 PM Reply
Congratulations!!! So glad to hear you din’t feel any pain during the run. Congrats also on the magazine–my guess is wrong boohoohoo. Thanks again for helping out with i am ninoy. Super appreciate it.

mixednuts said on Mar 22 09 at 6:42 PM Reply
jaymie, thank you for the free magazine.that is a neat idea-the first local running magazine.good start.and welcome back to the circuit.

bugobugo said on Mar 22 09 at 6:48 PM Reply
Hi Jaymie,

I wasn’t able to visit your booth for a copy of the magazine. It all went by in a blur that I didn’t even get a souvenir picture:( Where can I get a copy of your mag? Meron pa ba?

P.S. about that water tank, I saw that water tank beside the water station and kept running

Mai Mai said on Mar 22 09 at 7:17 PM Reply
Congrats Jamie! It’s good to hear you finished the race without the pain. The long rest from running,your patience, the cross training , and running together with your friends at an easy and consistent pace all helped to make you enjoy and finish the race without reinjuring yourself. Remember that most running injuries are caused by running too fast or too long. If you continue to be patient and just gradually build up from here, you’ll be surprised at how in a few months time you’d be a much stronger and faster runner than before.

Congrats too on your new magazine. How do I subscribe to it? Is Pia the runner on the front page?

Bong said on Mar 22 09 at 8:00 PM Reply
hey! you ran..and finished pain free! congrats on the great time! grabe, with injury na yan ha as for me i’m happy i finished but didn’t make the time i was aiming for, felt super tired already after the 19th kilometer i was plodding along and that last kilometer was the longest ever! but hey, overall it was still a dream come true run! galing din your mag ha though i should have went with my first instinct guess i analyzed pa kasi turned out wrong tuloy hehe… looking forward to the next issue!

mary715 said on Mar 22 09 at 9:17 PM Reply
good to hear you ran injury free! congratulations on the launch. where is my copy? hehehe

ibetlacbay said on Mar 22 09 at 9:45 PM Reply
Hi Jaymie

I was glad to finally have met you in person last saturday. congrats on doing the 21km. Amazing! congrats!

Regarding the water:

THE WATER WAS ALL BOTTLED.

the manila water truck was only a BACK UP just in case we ran out of bottled water.

Since we had enough bottled water (in fact we had excess) we did NOT have to use the manila water truck.

i knew i would get comments from people wondering whether we used the manila water truck – but dont worry we did not use it.

they were just on stand by just in case…but we did not have to use it…the worst thing would be to have NO WATER and so we did not want that to happen…hence the back up manila water truck.

we used 330ml water bottles poured directly onto the cups for ALL water stations.

there was one water station which was the dti/boi in buendia where we used a combination of 330ml and 5 gallon bottled water. they poured the 330 ml directly onto the cup. as for the 5 gallon, they were to pour this directly into the pitcher. however since this took long (although they had previously simulated this and it worked) – they had to pour the 5 gallon bottled water to a balde and from them pour into a pitcher and unto a cup. Note that it was still bottled water and it was for 1 water station.

I was not happy about this as this was not the plan. and this was actually one of the reasons why i was not able to run the 21km. i had to make sure that all the water stations were following the plan.

but bottomline – from the comments i heard – everyone had enough water. and IT WAS ALL BOTTLED WATER. we did NOT use the manila water back up trucks.

i also got comments that the dti and the kalayaan (shell) water stops seemed longer than 2.5k. but they were spaced actually 2k apart – but of course it seemed probably longer because it was already in the latter stages of the 21km, it was hot and add to that the killer kalayaan flyover.

next time we probably would put another 1 km in between.

this is our 2nd race and we are still learning a lot of new things.. next time we shall make water station management into a science.

the race grew from 2000 last year to about 6450 this year and so i wanted to make sure that we got the water right. and we indeed got it right…but being the sigurista i am … we added the whole manila water truck – just to be sure—that was the back up plan.

as for the km markers – my dream is to actually have 1km markers -
again next time i shall work with rudy to gps plot all the km markers for accuracy

by the way, did you see the inspirational signs? – these were supposed to have been spread out but hope that you saw them.

there was also supposed to be a band in the skyway but they were late so we put them on the kalayaan flyover instead…

i appreciate all the comments – this is the only way we can improve

as i said – this is a run by a runner for runners

the ironic thing lang is that this runner can’t run in his own race! hahaha

again – thanks for all your support and congrats on the launch of your magazine!

see you soon!

ton concepcion said on Mar 22 09 at 11:12 PM Reply
as for the crowded assembly area

i actually called the attention of the race organizer regarding this
i think you were referring to the 1 gate only for the 21km.

yes my instructions were not to make everyone feel like a can of sardines.. anyway these are all noted.

we are going to ensure next time that we have enough gates given the number of participants.

ton concepcion said on Mar 22 09 at 11:17 PM Reply
Mare ang loser ko sa picture natin! Ako lang ang may PINK bib! Hahahaha!

Wheeee ganda ganda ng magazine!!! So proud of you! Good job to all of us! Til the next issue!

marga said on Mar 22 09 at 11:20 PM Reply
as i write – i am thinking about next years race

putting up a 21km race is a technically challenging endeavor especially when you have 3k, 5k and 10k races going on…
doing a full marathon is actually another animal in itself.

so i was thinking that next year that we probably would focus on a 21km half marathon that would score a 10 on the bull runner. and a 3km, 5km and 10k that would also score a 10.

Once we do this, we can move on to a 42km. maybe do a 42 when i am 42!. so that means we have to wait 10 years for that haha!

i hope all the runners enjoyed the event. and that all their expectations were met.

rest assured next years will be an even better organized event now that I know what works and what doesnt.

ton concepcion said on Mar 22 09 at 11:22 PM Reply
so to summarize – the baldes were there for the manila water truck- which was the water of last resort back up that we did NOT use. (because we had an excess of bottled water). the baldes were there also for the sponges and to cool the 330ml bottles.

ton concepcion said on Mar 23 09 at 12:15 AM Reply
On water:

Saw containers (lots of blue ones) which I assume are from filter stations besides BIG tubs — if those are the baldes referred to them “maybe” they are clean – I guess as long as steps are taken to ensure the water served are safe enough.

But yes it isn’t a perfect run, but I bet if I ran it under 1:40 it will be

Till the next hunt for the perfect race

Idnod said on Mar 23 09 at 5:17 AM Reply
the blue containers – these were 5 gallon bottled water found on 1 station – the dti – boi water station. we had 40 pieces of them.

ton concepcion said on Mar 23 09 at 7:23 AM Reply
Congratulations on your first issue. It’s informative and interesting for someone who have just been initiated to running.

wanderlass said on Mar 23 09 at 9:15 AM Reply
Hi TBR, saw you sa Skyway. Wasnt able to return the greeting though. Bilis ninyo kasi. Congrats on the TBR mag. I like the layout.

jinoe said on Mar 23 09 at 9:35 AM Reply
Nice magazine jaymie! Gratz! (^_^)

Jan Montano said on Mar 23 09 at 9:57 AM Reply
jaymie thank you again for your support for the condura run. i emailed you the picture you requested. again thank you so much. it was a total exprience

runningshield said on Mar 23 09 at 11:41 AM Reply
Hey Jaymie!

Congratulations on launching TBR Magazine.

Hope to ran into you on upcoming races.

Jay Em said on Mar 23 09 at 11:43 AM Reply
jaymie, no matter how antok and tired i was yesterday, i could not resist reading the mag. angaleng talaga. congrats to you guys. so glad the knees did not act up. sayang nga lang i was not able to catch you guys post race. see you soon!

kulitrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 1:57 PM Reply
hi jaymie! i was looking forward to getting a copy of your magazine. i tried to look for it several times but wasn’t lucky enough to grab one. is there any chance i could get it somewhere else? are you coming up with other issues? thanks! =)

armie said on Mar 23 09 at 3:25 PM Reply
Hi Jaymie

I was just so happy to finish the 21k that I completely forgot we were suppose to take a picture. Thanks to you, Jun, and Vic the 21k didn’t feel as long and as horrible as expected. Although the last kilometer was still a struggle.

Till we run again

Jake

Jake said on Mar 23 09 at 9:00 PM Reply
Hi Ms. Jaymie!

It was nice meeting you in person. Congrats for finishing the 21k at the Condura Run and for the launch of your TBR Magazine. Keep running! God bless.

Alex - Condura Team said on Mar 24 09 at 10:16 AM Reply
any idea where online the official race results are being posted?

rox said on Mar 24 09 at 1:19 PM Reply
At the HK Standard Marathon (50K plus runners participating), they used 5- gallon bottled water. The water were all poured into a big pail (which all looked new), no pitchers, to save time . The people manning the stations all wore surgical gloves, hair net and green plastic aprons with sleeves to ensure sanitation even if they had to scoop water from the balde using the paper cups. The balde system I think will be necessary when there are just too many runners like when you probably reach 10K registrants. Pouring water from 350 ml bottles is too time consuming that you will create traffic/ crowding at the stations.

Congratulations on the race. I enjoyed it oh so very much. It was worth the trip. I flew from Cebu just to participate. See you all next year.

Haide said on Mar 23 09 at 6:46 AM Reply
BTW, just an idea. If you can also get International Pharmaceutical Inc., maker of Omega Pain Killer and Efficascent Oil, to sponsor the free liniment for runners. You can have liniment stations along the route and at the finish line.

Haide said on Mar 23 09 at 6:57 AM Reply
Hi Michael, yes still a great race despite minor flaws. Yes, it’s not true about the water so you’re safe haha

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:11 AM Reply
Thanks Clinton. Yes, the hubby was quite surprised you asked permission. How polite of you. Posted your pic in Part 2. It was nice meeting you

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:12 AM Reply
Thanks galeypie! Same here. I bring my own water when it’s 10k or above.

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:12 AM Reply
Thanks Mayi! Send me info regarding i am ninoy so i can post about it here

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:13 AM Reply
Hi jonel, thank you! Good luck at bataan!

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:13 AM Reply
Hey mai, I’ll be distributing the mags at stores this week. Let you know how to get one. I can also send you a copy. Just let me know where. How was your race? Did you eat before the run?

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:15 AM Reply
Hi Bong, thank you! Yes, Sen. Pia is the cover runner. I can email you a file if you wish.

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:15 AM Reply
Hi Me-Anne, aaw we didn’t see each other. Congrats to you! Do we start training for our tri na?

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:17 AM Reply
Wilbert, I’ll send you a jpeg. Promise!

thebullrunner said on Mar 23 09 at 9:17 AM Reply
yes we were thinking actually of doing that as well – that what i saw when i ran HK marathon.

they are actually are coleman coolers

we will probably do this next year
we need however to invest in this – meaning condura will invest and not the race organizer as this is a big investment – for a race our size – we may need about 50 of this at least.

there are other solutions though that we are also thinking of

ton concepcion said on Mar 23 09 at 9:23 AM Reply
Ton, good to know that. I was the one who told Jaymie about the Manila Water truck by the 5k water station. Thank you for the assurance.

marga said on Mar 23 09 at 12:00 PM Reply
Wow you have such a fantastic memory!!! Thanks for posting our picture in your super popular website. Race distance: 10km. Time: 1:06:22
Hope I could do 10km within 1 hour someday. It was nice meeting you too!

Clinton said on Mar 23 09 at 7:10 PM Reply