Race Report: New Balance Power Run 2013 – An “Excellent” Race!

The much anticipated New Balance Power Run was held yesterday at Bonifacio Global City. Distances covered the regular 10k with special 16k and 25k not commonly offered in running events.  Over 6,000 runners participated in the event.  The race was organized by no less than Runrio.

The New Balance Power Run always stands out above other races for me.  For one thing, the unique distances of 16k and 25k give runners a new challenge.  The past years, I’ve been joining 25k and this year was no different.  A friend said “25k is a weird distance.  It’s not a 21k yet doesn’t quite make it to 30k.”  I say, it’s a distance in itself that needs no further explanation. I just love going past a half marathon knowing you still have the endurance to go further yet ending before your legs die out on you at 30k. LOL.

Another reason why I love New Balance Power Run is the size of the event.  It’s big enough to have a large number of serious runners participating, yet not too small that the event is deemed insignificant.  As Justin Kilayko of New Balance put it “NB goes for quality rather than quantity.”  I hear you, NB. And I think it’s a good move.

This year, the race was even better.  With more races being held at SM Mall of Asia, which I personally don’t like running in because of the humidity and mind-numbing route, I was delighted to run in Bonifacio Global City and out to Buendia again.  There were portions of the route, especially in the start, that were long and winding through the narrow portions of BGC while we navigated through the crowd of runners, but that was part and parcel of the event.  At least it wasn’t boring.  To add, with Runrio as organizer, it was a foregone conclusion that the race would be well organized.  The course, hydration, and security were well covered.  The post race acitivity area in the parking lot across Planet Sports in Bonifacio High Street was great too.  Runners congregated here after the event and it felt more intimate and relaxed.

Most runners ran in their New Balance singlets with “Excellent Maker” written at the back.  Well, I must say: New Balance really does make excellent races!

– Post race with the NB Team: Justin Kilayko, Roselle Andaya, Anton and Mia Gonzales, Planet Sports endorsers Bianca King and Rovilson Fernandez, and Ton and I –

– Thank you to New Balance who was kind enough to provide TBR Dreamers a discount for the race and a tent at the post race area. Here we are celebrating our finish! –

Congratulations to New Balance and Runrio for once again staging another fantastic event!

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TRAINING RUN FUN

I’ve been madly in love with running again.  Tokyo Marathon is on the horizon, but honestly, I haven’t been following a serious training program just yet.  I’ve been hitting distances from 15k to 21k on weekends with no A-races in sight until the end of 2013.  I’ve just been happily putting one foot in front of the other enjoying every minute.

For NB Power Run, plan was to accompany good friend Ton as he runs 25k, his longest training run, for his Seattle Marathon 3 weeks from now.  I had signed up for Seattle Marathon too, but decided last month to withdraw from the race with Tokyo Marathon coming in February.  Yes, my dear friends, I have finally matured as a runner and I’ve learned not to put my feet at risk of injury by running 2 marathons in 2 months.  While I know I could’ve probably gotten away with it, I know that my body will pay for it in the months to come.  Priority is to complete the World Marathon Majors for me and Tokyo is one of them.

Another friend, Maiqui, an Ironman who retired 2 years ago and is now getting back into fitness, told us he’d join us as well.  He only started running again 3 weeks ago and this was to be his longest run since Langkawi.  Yes, he’s nuts for ramping up mileage this quickly, but that’s Maiqui for you.

Good friend Jun, who hasn’t been running much since Ironman 70.3 Cebu, said he’d join us as well.

So, there we were, a future 3rd-time marathoner, a retired triathlete, a triathlete in off season mode, and super happy runner me standing at the end of the crowd of 25k runners ready to run an easy 25k together.  Plan was to run-walk with 4 min: 1 min intervals.

THE RACE

We followed the 4:1 plan most of the time making minor adjustments during climbs or downhills.  We stopped for toilet breaks twice at Jollibee.  The entire run was uneventful (and that’s a good thing!) because it meant that everything went smoothly for all of us.

For me, I knew by 10k that my training the past two months significantly improved my run.  I was coasting steadily along feeling strong all throughout.  It could be running the steep hills of Kapitolyo, the consistent training program I’ve followed even with no A-race in sight, or the more consistent and challenging swim program Coach Anthony has put me on.  I think it’s all of the above plus the fact that I’ve been enjoying every minute without pressure to perform.

I felt so good that when we hit Buendia, I couldn’t help but speed up.  I told the boys that I’d go ahead and run fast and slow down to a walk and meet them at every interval.  And, that’s exactly what I did.  It felt awesome.  I felt so free running down that road, one of my favorite roads to run on during a race.  After that brief portion of speedwork, I rejoined our group and we began to do our regular run-walks again until we reached the finish line.

– with good friends Ton, Jun, and Maiqui –

We high-fived each other at the end.  All with happy smiles.  Ton could now tick off his longest run for Seattle Marathon.  Maiqui hit his longest run in years and Jun in months.  As for me, I was quite happy knowing that I felt strong even after 25k.  I jokingly told them that finally, I felt that my body was ready for the Ironman 70.3 I had trained for last August!

– with TBR Dreamers at the finish line! Congrats guys! –


– Happy to bump into my “twin sis” and birthday girl Jaimie after the race –

CELEBRATION AT DRAFT

After the run, we joined Team Gotta and Fitness First for breakfast and, er, recovery drinks at Draft.

– Fitness First Tri Team and their beer! –

– Team Gotta –


– Most of the same guys in the same photo above but with game face on LOL –

The atmosphere was fun and it became an even bigger celebration when Kuya Kim Atienza, who only recently recovered from a serious bout with the rare disease of Guillan Barre syndrome, dropped by to celebrate along with us.  All in all, a great day to celebrate running and friendship!