THE DAY THE WORLD RUNS

Date: October 24, 2009
Distance: 10k
Time: anytime
Place: anywhere in the world

Nike provides an avenue for runners around the world to converge and run in one day through the Nike+ Human Race 10K. By synching their runs onto www.nikeplus.com.ph, runners at any place in the world can compare statistics with other runners by syncing their respective Sportbands any time on the 24th of October.

Nike has chosen key cities around the world where official Nike+ Human Race events will be held. Unfortunately, the Philippines was not chosen as an official race city. (Now, now, I know how we Pinoys can get all patriotic and can raise hell over not being picked. But, don’t sweat the small stuff. Our time will come.)

CHOOSE TO RUN IN SUBIC WITH OTHER NIKE+ RUNNERS

Since we are not an official race city, Nike Philippines offers runners the opportunity to run their 10k with others. Nike partnered with Subic International Marathon to provide Human Race participants a venue to run together.

The virtual Nike+ Human Race 2009 will be part of the Subic International Marathon on October 24, 2009, 4 PM. It will be a sundown run, so people can actually drive to Subic in the morning in time for the afternoon race and get home after the race as well. Participants of the 10K leg, regardless if they have a Sportband or a Nike+ kit, will get a limited edition Finisher’s Bracelet to certify their accomplishment of running with the world. The only thing Nike required is that you register in the Nike+ website. There will be laptops set-up at the finish line for those who haven’t registered yet so they can register on the spot.

NOTE:
- Partnering with SIM does not make the Philippines an official race city.
- The Nike+ Human Race as part of the Subic International Marathon isn’t free and you still have to register for this. For the details of the registration, just visit www.subicinternationalmarathon.com/sim09/

CHOOSE YOUR TEAM!

To make the Nike+ Human Race more exciting, Nike has chosen 5 Nike Ambassadors to lead their own teams. They are:
- Team Banana Running, Bards Bathan (Banana Running)
- Team Steady Lang, Lino Cayetano
- Team Tatanka, Tata Garcia
- Reema’s Road Racers, Reema Chanco
- Team Weekend Warriors, Jinno Rufino

No brainer. I’m signing up with friend and fellow addicted runner, Bards of Team Banana Running. You should too!  Click here and join Team Banana Running NOW!

Congratulations to us all!

Attention Nike Headquarters: Don’t you think Manila should be a key city for Nike+ Human Race 2009?

But, it was also a race where the participants made it even more enjoyable. I was glad to have met most of the readers who had joined my TBR Race for the Nike+ SportsBand plus other runners in the community. It’s funny but I couldn’t have been more wrong about how CougCat or Bugobugo would look in real life.

After the Nike race, I learned that…

…Patrick‘s bodyguard/driver is a budding photographer

…Bugobugo is one of the few fortunate running souls who enjoys high altitude training

…Mukhang Guilty gives a tight handshake (parang di napagod sa 10k)

…Ever and Allyn won SportsBands at my blog and Ben’s, respectively. And, they’re husband and wife!

…Vince won’t be an active achiever anymore

…Bards is not just a great runner but a good dancer too

…RunMD starts fasting for ramadan today. He’ll be fasting from races too

…DATC looks different in running attire compared to his preppy look the first time we met

…Prometheus Cometh did a great job as race volunteer. He made distributing free socks look more fun than running the race

…in 10 years, Cougcat will be one of the country’s fastest runners

…Coach Rio always looks calm under pressure (I always wondered if his hair would straighten out with all the stress he goes through in each race…apparently not.)

- with Patrick, Vince, Marvs, and JunC. -

- Running Bloggers: Bards, DATC, and RunMD -

- with Baguio boy, Bugobugo -

- with Ever & Allyn -

- with adorable CougCat and his supportive parents -

 - Nike Team headed by Country Director, Coco Mauricio wearing No. 1 Race Bib (of course!) and Neville Manaois of Pinoy Ultra Runners (No. 83) -

The atmosphere was light, fun, and festive—so unlike the larger major races that can get overcrowded and messy. Parking was easy, restrooms were clean (almost hotelish, if you get what I mean), and most runners were running loops around the assembly area to warm up. By 5:30am, my good friend Annie climbed up onstage to lead some light exercises and stretching to get everyone race ready. I decided to go for a jog and some light stretching instead, I’m anti-social that way.

  - Fun fun fun! -

I felt strong and ready for this race. My upper body was slightly sore from a 600m swim the day before, but apart from that, I was raring to go. I switched on my ipod shuffle to hear my favorite song for the month, Cold Play’s Viva La Vida, as the 1st song on shuffle mode—just what I needed to climb the steep uphill we were about to face. At exactly 6 a.m., we were off.

It felt like a slow mountain trek up that hill, but we all survived. (Thank you for your prayers!) In the middle of the climb, I saw Foreign Runner speeding down the opposite side of the road (Philip, ang bilis mo!) followed by Annie. Yes, I just saw two people at that time, the rest of the runners were a blur.

Before I knew it, I too had gone downhill, up again, and out of McKinley Hill towards Lawton Avenue. I maintained a pace of 5:30 thereabouts from Lawton to Bayani road, which left me feeling tired and thirsty. I believe I took advantage of every single water station available, and believe me, there were a lot of them. (Great job, Coach Rio and Jo-Ar!) One cup to drink, another cup to wash my face. That second cup of cold water did wonders, I tell you.

As in our reconnaisance mission last week, the run inside the flat roads of Heritage Park was a welcome treat. I think it was the only long stretch of road that allowed me to breathe again. It was during this time that my bull horns started popping up. I saw a few male runner friends (who shall not be named) ahead of me and thought “I sure could outrun them” but then, I controlled myself by repeating my new mantra “Complete, not compete.” over and over and over…

It worked—for half a kilometer or so. As we exited Heritage Park and made our way up Bayani Road, the same guys were still within my vision, just a few meters ahead of me. I still maintained my pace and felt like I got my second wind somewhat. I maintained my pace, enjoyed my music, and didn’t focus on racing. Then, climbing up the last hill before making a right towards Lawton, I felt my bullhorns growing out of my head (you didn’t see them because they were concealed by my cap); I felt strong and I started increasing my pace during the ascent. One by one, I outpaced the guys that were once ahead of me. By the time I made a right turn, I was ahead of them. I increased my pace even more, striding through the flat roads knowing I was nearing the finish.

I only slowed down in the steep downhill close to the finish (my shin splints are aggravated by running downhill) and, unfortunately, that’s where Guy #1 outpaced me. Then, as I closed in on the finish line, Guy #2 ran ahead of me too. I think Guy #3 & 4 were still behind me when I crossed the finish. 

These guys are my friends and I know they detest getting “chicked,” but hey it was all fun and friendly competition. Right, girls?

According to my Garmin, I finished 10.4 km at 59.11 minutes. I reached my conservative goal of finishing my first “comeback” 10k race below 1 hour. I was satisfied with my performance considering it was such a tough course.

- Finishers immediately upload their runs on laptops available onsite. How cool is that? -

ANNIE

First thing I did after the race was to search for Annie. I expected her to have placed 1st. She was nowhere in sight. I chatted with friends first thinking Annie was probably changing until I bumped into Drew A. who brought some bad news: Annie had collapsed.

Annie was 1.5km away from the finish line. She was the first among all women. Her closest competitor was a far 600m behind. She was definitely going to win this. But, little did she know that she was dehydrated already (she didn’t have time to drink water after her warm up onstage and went straight towards the race start.) Her vision started blurring while she was running, but she disregarded this and went full blast. She wanted to win this for her daughter who was celebrating her 14th birthday. The prize, P16,000 worth of Nike GCs, was going to be a surprise gift for her daughter. She wanted it badly but her body couldn’t take it. She blacked out. 

When I spoke to Annie over the phone, she was already in a hospital in Bonifacio and was hooked up to a dextrose. She was in tears over her daughter’s “lost” birthday gift—and so was I. Annie is a strong woman—one of the strongest I know—but, like any other mother, she just turns into a marshmallow when it comes to her children. Annie is now fine; she’s going to teach a yoga class today. To all those who sent SMS and expressed concern for Annie, my partner-in-running-crime, thank you!

TOP FINISHER

So, I was home, sitting on the floor near our bed telling my hubby about the awesome experience of running a 10k again as I munched on my banana and peanut butter combo when I receive an SMS from a friend. She told me that it was too bad we didn’t see each other in the race and, she adds almost in passing, that I won. I sent a message back asking “Won what?!” I seriously thought I won the cruise to Coron that I was pining over for the past few weeks (but Armand won that one, congrats!). Then she says that I won top finisher in my age category! What a surprise! The Bull Runner—complete with bullhorns plus P3,000 worth of GC’s from Nike—is back!

Next post: More race photos…This post was just way too long wasn’t it?

What’s inside?

Nike Finisher’s Bracelets!

How do you get your hands on one of these babies? 

To get a finisher bracelet, be the among the first 241 virtual race participants to upload your 10K run. There are two ways to sync your runs:

1. Sync your run immediately after completing the 10K during the scheduled run. After the race, just go to the available laptops and upload your run. The race marshal will be affixing a stamp and a number on your race bib after you’ve successfully uploaded your run. Present marked race bib at Nike Park, Bonifacio High Street to claim your finisher bracelet. Open to attendees of the scheduled run. Finisher bracelets must be claimed on 8.31.08 at Nike Park, Bonifacio High Street. OR…
2. If you didn’t get the chance to upload your run after the scheduled run, you can simply go to Nike Park, Bonifacio High Street any time during the day from 9:30am – 5:00pm. A laptop and wi-fi will be made available on the race day so that you can sync your 10K. You will be given a stub once you’ve successfully uploaded your run. Present this to the counter to claim your finisher bracelet. OPEN TO ATTENDEES AND NON-ATTENDEES OF THE SCHEDULED MCKINLEY HILL RUN.  

REMINDERS BEFORE RACE DAY:

• Do make sure your Sportband works, especially for those who are using this for the first time.
• Virtual race participants have until 11:59pm on September 2nd to upload their run.

See that race route above? That’s the 10km route for Nike+ Virtual Human Race on 08.31.08. That is the same route I ran yesterday morning along with Coaches Rio, Jo-Ar, John, and Roel as well as other running friends Annie, Ben, Joms P., JunC, sisters Lala and Inang, Joms, new acquaintances Philip (ForeignRunner) Prometheus Cometh and Marvs, as well as a couple of other runners who I wished I could have chatted with longer.

- Jun C., Coach Rio, Ben, Coach Jo-Ar, Joms, & Coach Roel -

Call it an ocular visit or a reconnaissance mission. Whatever it was, our task, upon Coach Rio’s orders, was to run the exact route of the Nike+ Human Race in preparation for the actual event next week.  

Phew. I had mixed feelings about this run. I was excited over running just my 2nd 10km run since I succumbed to my injuries last February. (Gawd, has it been that long?!) But, I was also worried about pushing myself too far or too soon. I guess, after one gets injured, you’re forever paranoid over falling into another injury pit again.

Off we went at exactly 6:10 a.m. I ran alongside Annie who was attacking McKinley Hill as if it was her worst enemy. I reminded her repeatedly that I couldn’t keep up with her pace (which at its peak hit 4:30 min/km climbing uphill) so when she showed no signs of slowing down, I allowed her to go ahead while Coach Jo-Ar swung by to run by my side. We ran at a 5:30 to 6:00 min/km pace going downhill through Bayani Road and up again before we hit C5. My body was fine all throughout the run, but my mind was playing tricks on me; my inner bull might have been sleeping at that time because I just wanted to slow down in order to prevent any injuries. 

We entered Heritage Park to run 2.5km around the area and this was a welcome treat. The sun was beating down on us by this time, but the roads here were flat and there were absolutely no jeepneys to bother us. Chatting with Prometheus Cometh and Jun C. about white ladies, shoes, and snow, believe it or not, actually helped to make things feel a bit easier.

Once we exited Heritage Park, the course was uphill all the way. We climbed Bayani Road then then took a right towards Lawton Road which was another slight ascent. By this time, I was worried about surpassing my strict 10km quota (no more, no less for each run this week according to my own TBR recovery training program. Don’t ask me for a copy please because I just invented it!) 

True enough, after a few more minutes of running, we were back at McKinley Hill and ended the run at exactly 11 km. When Coach Rio returned, we learned that the extra mileage was due to our group’s wrong turn at the C5 intersection (we should’ve u-turned before that). That’s what we get for not studying the race route before we actually tested it. Actual race course is 10.5 km according to Coach Rio.

We ended with a time of 1:07. My pace was 6:04 min/km. Based on my calculations, at that pace, I would end the 10km run at exactly 1 hr—not bad but that ain’t too good either. For now though, I know I should just be thankful I can run another 10km race again. If I run it fast, then that’s just a bonus.

How about you? Are you ready for this one?

On August 31, 2008, Nike will be conducting The Human Race, a 10k run to be done simultaneously in 25 cities around the the world.  

Here in the Philippines though it seems as if they’re still gathering a list of interested participants before they organize the Manila leg.  (What for?!  Singapore is all set to go!)

If you’re interested in joining, you should raise your hand (perhaps a bit useless if you’re not within sight of any Nike manager), post a comment here, or email feedback@runrio.com to let them know you’ve actually started training already.

As for me, I only have one thing to say to Nike people:  Just Do It!

* Thanks to Passion Runner for info.