Pinay In Action 2010

Pinay In Action is a race that carries a whole lot of meaning for me:

1. As a woman, I fully support this race led by Sen. Pia Cayetano as it’s all about women power!  It promotes women rights, health, and empowerment and includes females with women-specific type of cancers as its beneficiary. Go Pinay!
2. As a female runner, I love the fact that it’s an all women’s run. It encourages women, regardless of their running background, to come out and take a step towards getting fit.  Last but not the least,
3. P.I.A. will always be one of the most memorable races for me.  Did you know that Pinay in Action 2007 was my very first race?  It was my first 5k and I remember it vividly.  I was a bundle of nerves, but it turned out to be such a wonderful experience that I caught the running bug and never looked back.

This 2010, the Pinay in Action gathered over 1,000 runners (mostly female of course) to run in SM Mall of Asia.  The roads were covered in pink as runners dashed out for their respective race distances.

I registered for 10km, but I felt awfully tired. My body still hasn’t fully recovered from the double marathons of February.  Add gym work the day before plus Coach Rio’s late-night birthday bash the evening before the race and I knew it was wiser to run a short and easy 5k this morning.

Despite the weary feeling, I got an instant energy boost talking with the super women I bumped into this morning.

While waiting for the race to start, I chatted with DORAY ELLIS of Fitness First Team and met her 10-year-old daughter who’s into tri as well.

Before the gun was fired, I stood among the other women with JOYETTE JOPSON of David’s Salon Team who I learned had stayed at Coach Rio’s party much later, yet still pushed herself to run the full 10km.

During the race, it was a pleasant surprise to bump into JOY ROJAS, the woman who truly inspires us all to reach for our goals when she ran across the Philippines and America.

– with Joy and her friend –

I stopped at 5k and spotted SEN. PIA CAYETANO and IZA CALZADO surrounded by a crowd. I stood in the back attempting to get a photo of them, but they were both nice enough to call me into the circle for a quick photo op.  They are two of my favorite celebrity women—sincere, smart, strong, and women you can basically talk to as if they were your best girlfriends!

– with Iza and Pia –

As I was about to head to the car, I then spotted three strong men standing out from the crowd of women: Lit Onrubia, Jun Bisnar, and my hubby.  All three are registered TBR Dream Marathoners and they used this race for their 20k training run. I decided to run an additional 2k with them and decided to DNF at 7k.

– Hubby with Lit Onrubia, Chi Running instructor, and Jun Bisnar, Nuvali GM –

After the race, I chatted with APRIL LEE of Pace Partners, a friend I met through this blog.  She leaves our country tomorrow and I wish I had been given the chance to get to know her better.

– April Lee and the Pace Partners –

It was a run filled with positive energy and women power.  It practically wiped my exhaustion away!

– with new mommy runner friends and their kids –

Read TBR archives of Pinay In Action here:
Pinay in Action 2009
Pinay in Action 2008
Pinay in Action 2007