Botak Apologizes

A letter of apology from Botak management…

BOTAK would like to give its apologies for our last racing event, the Paa-tibayan 42K Marathon. We admit our short-comings to the participants and as way to get back to the support you have given to us we will be coming out with a much better race this coming June 28, 2009. It will be held at the Parking lot of the UP Swimming Pool in the UP Diliman Campus.

BOTAK Paa-Tibayan 100K will be handled by a different race organizer with which there will be three race directors to manage the races. The event shall highlight the Ultra-distances; 50K Solo, 100K Relay and 100K Team Relay, a 10 Miler, and 5 Miler Race and the first Street Mile Competition.

We hope that you will support us again in this next endeavor.

Sincerely yours,

BOTAK

Posted on 05.19.09 to 3 Race Announcements. Tags: apology, Botak. Subscribe to follow comments on this post. 31 comments. Add your thoughts or trackback from your own site.

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31 Responses to “Botak Apologizes”

From a PR practitioner’s perspective, this seemingly well-meaning albeit belated act of contrition is the best thing they could have done to curb the bad press. Shirking away from the problem and “hoping” that it would go away would not do anything for their sullied brand equity ; owning up to it with a simple “sorry” and the promise of better race next time around is a definite step in the right direction for them.

Luis Arcangel said on May 19 09 at 11:34 PM Reply
Botak has good intentions but I’m not sure having a new race organizer and 3 race directors will help make things better this late into the race preparations, since race organizing is no simple matter.

Good luck to Botak anyway and I hope they exceed expectations this time around.

DATC said on May 20 09 at 8:53 AM Reply
Translation:

We screwed up big time on our Paa-tibayaran 42k race, our name tarnished and lots of runners pissed off.

Please help us make more money by joining our marketing scheme a.k.a as a race which we promise to deliver.

Darn please join our next race!

BOTAK

The Running Ninja said on May 20 09 at 9:36 AM Reply
- Easy there. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
  Honestly, the choice of words are very inappropriate.
  You need to move on man.
  With the way “marketing scheme” is used on your post, ANY race organizer would most likely find your statement insulting.
  Statements like this doesn’t even help the running community. You are adding insult to injury so to speak.
  
  Sock said on May 20 09 at 2:07 PM Reply
  - Sock,
    
    Spell F.R.E.E.D.O.M of speech. I’m not sure what’s your authority to censor me?
    
    And by the way, scheme means “an elaborate and systematic plan of action”. We add “marketing scheme”, it means an elaborate and systematic plan to market a company’s product. ANY race organizer would know that a race is either for charity or to promote their client’s product. Now tell me what Botak’s intention are for this race?
    
    “Easy there. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”….please tell that to the rest of the runners who joined the race. In fact there are so many bloggers-runners who joined this race. Can you send that comment to their Botak post-race result? Did you ever join this race in the first place?
    
    Sam said on May 20 09 at 11:41 PM
- I think you didn’t notice this the first time.
  If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
  Thanks a lot.
  By stating unnecessary things, I hope in time this make you a better person.
  Way to go.
  
  Sock said on May 21 09 at 10:07 AM Reply
- Hey ninja, this is not your blog, please show some respect to TBR. If you want to make such nasty comments, do it in your own blog. And if you feel this way, then, don’t join any of the BOTAK sponsored races in the future.
  
  arnel said on May 21 09 at 11:10 AM Reply
i hope they’ll do justice for you women on the next marathon I envy you’re onto the marathons and im huffin’puffin’ on my 5k again

but hey, will be working on it. at it. I just need to lose weight and work things out. Help?

re: Jessica Biel’ diet? I survived the oatmeal. few raisins just to munch, banana for snack and thank heavens there’s rice! hahaha! but I’ve got to burn fat percentage. Yipes. 30 lbs overweight!

must.burn.

Kassy
(chefsy)

kassy said on May 20 09 at 12:07 PM Reply
The Running Community,

The BOTAK Paa-tibayan 100K has been on the roll and planned ahead than the Paatibayan 42K. Work had already been done since the start of this year.

BOTAK would also like to clarify that it outsources its Race Organizers. For the past BOTAK Events it has been done by Olymplus upto the 42K event last May 10.

With regards to the 100K it will be a different team that shall handle this coming June, and the organizing team started preparation 5 months ahead.

Please wait for more detailed information after our presscon this coming May 28th.

Thank you

BOTAK

Ian said on May 20 09 at 12:19 PM Reply
I do not mean to sound like an apologist for BOTAK but all we can do now is hold on to their promise of a better race. Mizuno screwed up twice, didn’t they?

imbestigador said on May 20 09 at 1:26 PM Reply
- yup. and the 2nd mizuno run was even organized by coach rio. so even the best have had their share of troubles in the past. hopefully, BOTAK learned from their mistakes and improve on them on their next runs!
  
  joe said on May 20 09 at 6:45 PM Reply
- imbestigador? what a name…first your not an apologist for botak, but why include an excellent brand such as mizuno in your blog…quit it jerk.
  
  mond said on May 20 09 at 11:57 PM Reply
  - Mond,
    
    I see no point in explaining myself, but you don’t seem to fully comprehend what I wrote.
    
    First, being an apologist means that one justifies an atrocity. The recently-concluded race was a disaster, and I am not once to mince words. Disastrous because of the route confusion and lack of water.
    
    I was trying to cite an example. OROFOLS screwed up last year too. I have no doubt that Mizuno is an excellent brand — I run with Wave Creations and a couple of compression tights — but again, as I do not mince words, both of your races last year were disastrous to a certain degree due to (1st) water and (2nd) race times. We all know it. The runners who ran those races know it.
    
    What I am trying to say is, the public gave Mizuno a second, third chance even. I am confident that there’ll be a lot who will run this June 7 because we always hold on to the promise of a good race. Inasmuch as we are all seething for the moment, the love for running transcends any race mishap. It happens to the best of us, it happens to the best race organizer, the best brand. And BOTAK, as it now has earned the ire of the running community due to a faulty organization, still deserves the chance that we all gave to those races whose grave shortcomings we have complained about and, eventually, forgave.
    
    imbestigador said on May 21 09 at 9:30 PM
I feel really sorry for those who endured this full marathon. All the training and time invested only for the organizers to mess it up. Wow, what a nightmare!

Carolyn said on May 20 09 at 3:00 PM Reply
One good thing about the letter is that it was apparently NOT written by lawyers or PR agencies.

But the best thing about it is the sponsors continue to lay the brand’s reputation on the line for their next race. That’s pure courage, putting your money where your mouth is. Let us hope they will get it right this time.

miraclecello said on May 20 09 at 5:00 PM Reply
Hi Ms BullRunner,
Thanks for posting this message- I am happy that at least the organizer acknowledge their shortcomings.

I am giving them a chance and probably would register on their next race.

And just like what runners do…we strive to continuously improve our PRs, I hope BOTAK will embrace this same principle.

BOTAK good luck!

:) 5KRUNNER said on May 20 09 at 9:48 PM Reply
Varying reactions here. I personally think that we as runners nowadays should have more respect for race organizers. Responding violently or emotionally won’t do any good. But, giving them our honest opinions in the proper manner will help to improve races.

I think Botak should be given a 2nd chance to prove themselves. I like the fact that they admitted their mistakes and they’re taking steps now to correct them for the next race. Hopefully, they do well in the next one.

thebullrunner said on May 21 09 at 7:09 AM Reply
- well said.
  
  i think botak deserves to have another chance.
  we all screw up at one point in our lives, and we can only learn from these mistakes. there are a lot of things to be thankful for. rather than dwell on the negative, why not look to the positive effect of this event (for example, a lot of race organizers will have to review the flaws of this event to further improve the races here in the metro)
  
  cheers!
  
  timmy sebastian said on May 21 09 at 2:01 PM Reply
My only advice to organizers is to keep the race routes as simple as possible. Confusion occurs when you have too many loops. Not only are the runner confused but sometimes the marshals too.

I would also suggest having no more than 2 races. One for the serious runners and one for the newbies.

In the New York marathon they only offer the 42K and nothing else. Just imagine if they had a 5K, 20K and 21K. That would be a logistics nightmare.

Regards Mark

m8parco said on May 21 09 at 9:19 AM Reply
Hi Jaymie,

I link this post to my blog. I hope you don’t mind.
Thanks for dropping by my site and for adding me to your blogroll.

Hope to see you on the next race.

Regards,
Joy

:)5KRUNNER said on May 21 09 at 2:42 PM Reply
Though overall I would say the event sucks since this is my first 21K marathon run, yet I do not complain and rather consider this one hard training that I need to overcome if I plan to pursue my running experience to the next level.

The idea of surviving the worst is the best experience I learned from this run yet I am sad that despite completing my first 21k, No medal was given for all the hardship.

Since I have limited idea how a run is organized, I would like to share this idea that maybe the organizer or majority of the organizer will go through a test process to check if they are capable of running a marathon event before giving them clearance.

If paying extra hundreds will help improve the event, I am willing to pay but please do not punish the runners!

rainbow said on May 21 09 at 4:48 PM Reply
WOW!! it’s getting HOT in here!!!
“Who let the dogs out?? Who?! WHO?! WHO?! WHO-hoo?!!”

CHILLAX GUYS! we all love running, so I hope we also try to like each other or at least be kind to one another..

Kiss and make-up time!!! weeee!!!

WingedRunner said on May 21 09 at 5:53 PM Reply
boys and gentlemen,

let’s just figuratively and literally take the high road on this please. thump it on the pavement.

mikey said on May 22 09 at 3:12 AM Reply
hi jaymie! hay naku, ang lalakas ng energy talaga ng mga runners. pero sa opinion ko, mas maganda iconcentrate nila lahat ng energy nila sa pagtakbo at pag-eensayo para maging better pa sila sa passion nila. oh and another thing, i think i also would want to suggest that some parts of that energy be channeled to thy inner self so that they can also practice RESTRAINT. ok lang naman mag-react to show displeasure. pero mag-react to show disrespect is another thing. nobody’s perfect. at super jologs naman ang mang-away sa comments section ng blog ng may blog. hay!

kulitrunner said on May 22 09 at 8:39 AM Reply
Lets make laps not war.

ismit said on May 22 09 at 2:55 PM Reply
laps not war haha Agreed!

Luis Arcangel said on May 24 09 at 11:42 AM Reply
Every race I have done in Philippines has been either timed wrongly or measured wrongly. Did anyone expect any better?
Not providing water is a good trick though.

Jimmy said on May 25 09 at 5:17 PM Reply
Hahaha! I love the comment of Rainbow… =)

Sorry if i had to picked up your statement Rainbow ha… I quote:

“Since I have limited idea how a run is organized, I would like to share this idea that maybe the organizer or majority of the organizer will go through a test process to check if they are capable of running a marathon event before giving them clearance.”

Test natin lalo na ung mga Marathons and Ultra-marathon Race Organizers.

Hahahaha!

Newbie said on May 25 09 at 7:48 PM Reply
Anyways… this upcoming BOTAK Race looks promising. A Run for Runners as it is dubbed in their write-up at Takbo.ph and their benefit would be the rehabilitation of UP Track Oval into a Tartan Track… cool! if this pushes thru there will be more running in QC (coz they wont need to go over Ultra or Rizal anymore hehehehe!)

I also heard that the next race will have the Pinoy Ultra Runners Team Captain being the Race Director.

Lets see how they will go about it. Hehehe!

Newbie said on May 25 09 at 8:31 PM Reply
Careful with the strong words, Jimmy… Mind sharing where else in the world you’ve run?

smallfeet said on May 28 09 at 1:49 PM Reply
Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Boston, Tokyo Marathon, Korea (Joong An Marathon), China, Stockholm Marathon, Moscow Marathon.

I’m sure you’re a patriot, but whether you like it or not, in my experience the Philippines consistently gets things wrong in race organisation.

Jimmy said on May 29 09 at 10:13 AM Reply