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Less than 10 days to go until the 34th Milo Marathon!

I attended the Milo Marathon press briefing this afternoon at Bayview Hotel, a sea of green press people and guests filled the entire room, a preview of the runners clad in green on July 4, 2010 at Roxas Boulevard.

– Good thing they gave me this so I can blend in with the crowd next time –

As I’ve said, this 34th Milo Marathon is unlike any other marathon Milo has staged in the past. The way I see it, they managed to maintain their image as the premier race in the country (Milo Marathon is almost an institution, really), while proving that they can compete with the newer, world-class urban races.

As they plan to provide runners with all the perks of a contemporary race—bananas, portalets, timing chips, Gatorade, bands, and even gels—they were careful to remind us that their focus is still their new advocacy: to give shoes to public school children in every city where a Milo race is held.

We learned that the 4,000 school children who will benefit from Milo Marathon will actually be running 3k on race day with their brand new shoes! How cool is that?

After the presscon, I had the pleasure of chatting with Nestle executives Afnan Ahsan, Andrew Neri, and Lester Castillo.  We discussed the new route along Macapagal-Roxas Blvd. and the feedback from most runners concerned about the convergence of the various race distances. It was nice to know that the 3k and 5k will be in an entirely separate route from the other distances. I do hope they can do their best to keep the 10k, half marathon, and marathon runners’ course free from traffic upon the inevitable merging on the road. Having to weave through a crowd of runners during a road race can be exasperating (flashback: my Singapore Half Marathon 2008)

– with Nestle execs Afnan Ashan, Pat Goc-Ong, myself, Bald Runner, Andrew Neri, and Lester Castillo –

– with Mr. Ashan and Cris Sabal, defending champion of Milo Marathon with a time of 2:32:56 last year –

Mr. Ahsan also shared with me his dream of making Milo Marathon as big as Boston Marathon some day. “If we do that,” he said, “we’ll make our mark.” Well, nothing is impossible, really. As they say, “great things start from small beginnings.”

See you at Milo on July 4, 2010.

For more info, click HERE to visit the Milo website.

It’s great to know that running is booming not just in Manila, but also in the provinces.

I was a witness to the active running community in Cebu and I was fortunate enough to participate in my all-time favorite race, Cebu Marathon 2010, and the Great Lapu Lapu Run.  In Cebu, I met a group of runners from Bacolod.  I was also told that running is growing in Iloilo.

In Davao, a new running specialty store, RunClub, will open tomorrow to cater to the growing community of Dabawenyo runners. Former PSC Chair (presently, PTF Chair) William “Butch” Ramirez, and Nike Philippine’s Country Commercial Director Ms. Loulette Quinio will be there to inaugurate the new store.

RunClub will have Nike, Adidas, Mizuno, Asics and New Balance footwear and apparel.  For accessories, Nike watch and eyewear, Rudy project, Fuel belts and Optic Nerve will be available.  While for nutrition products, they’ll have Gu and Power Foods.

RUNCLUB
Address: Plaza del Carmen, Loyola St., Bo. Obrero, Davao City
Store hours: 10:30 – 7pm, Monday- Saturday
Contact number: (082) 222-8786
E-mail: RunClubdvo@gmail.com

It would be great to visit Davao in August when they celebrate Kadayawan Festival.  Every single weekend of August will have a running event! (thanks to Ester for sending):

Tomorrow, I’ll talk about running in Cagayan de Oro!  Stay tuned…

Good news from K-Swiss for all triathletes!

Multiple 70.3 Ironman and 2008 World Champion, Terenzo Bozzone is coming back to defend his Philippines 70.3 title he claimed in 2009 at Camarines Sur on Sunday, 22nd August 2010. Terenzo is one of K-Swiss sponsored athletes and K-Swiss Philippines has plans to conduct an open training session with Terenzo in Manila on the following day, Monday 23rd August after the event in Camarines Sur.

The event is scheduled to take place in The Fort area and further details will be shared closer to the event date. It will be open to any level and great prizes will be available not to mention a once in a lifetime opportunity to run side by side with a World Champion Ironman.

Training session will be free of charge.

Stay tuned to TBR for all event details.

Back from the Rexona Run Presscon at Taste Asia, SM Mall of Asia. I was looking forward to this event since Coach Rio gave me a teaser last week about the race as well as a big surprise that he was going to unveil.

First off, Rexona Run details:

When: 1 August 2010, Sunday
Where: SM Mall of Asia
Distance/Fee:

• 3k – P400
• 5k – P600
• 10k – P600
• 21k – P750

Race kits will include: singlet, bib, D-tag, 150ml Rexona Men Sport Defence aerosol
Registration: June 28 to July 19, 2010
Reg Centers: ROX, Bonifacio High Street and Timex Stores (SM MOA, SM North Edsa, SM Southmall, SM Megamall, Glorietta)

It’s a fast and flat course. Can you hear PR’s already?

Secondly, Coach Rio’s big surprise/s which will be applied with Rexona Run first and all other Runrio races:

• Use of D-Tag – This is a new, disposable RFID strip of paper that will be attached to the shoe lace to record the runner’s time. This was used at New York City Marathon last year. It is lighter and more accurate than most timing devices.


– Coach Rio presents the D-tag.  He will also have other similar devices for cycling and triathlon.  He will also have the B-tag, which is an RFID code on the race bib –




– The new D-Tag: disposable RFID timing device –



• Registration via ipad – Registration for races will now be paperless and will be done via ipad at the above mentioned registration centers. With the new software, runners type in their own data to avoid errors in encoding as in previous races. Once encoded, this will be stored in the system and will eliminate the need for runners to fill up registration forms for all other runrio races.  Another benefit of this is that, in the long run, the system will provide runners with a list of previous races and official results. In time, Coach Rio said that they can provide rankings per age category.


– Jay (Prometheus Cometh) and Itong Torres –



– Jun, Aljo and Bobby tinkering with the ipad –

• Runrio Membership Card – Upon registration for Rexona Run, runners will get a Runrio membership card which will entitle them to discounts at retail stores and to earn points.



• Portable and Convenient Water Bottle – SM Sure Buy will launch its new water bottle to be deployed at Rexon Run water stations. It can be opened with a poke of the finger (although we suggest the marshals open it already for runners) and the bottle can be carried by the runner during the race for regular sips.

Cool eh? I don’t know about you, but I’m sure to sign up for Rexona Run!

TBR Race Review: Rock and Run

Date & Venue: 19 June 2010, Bonifacio High Street
Organizer: Junior Chamber International – Manila & Rudy Biscocho
Rating:

THUMBS UP:
– unique concept: live bands placed at strategic locations within the route, urban night race
– energetic and lively cheerers along the course
– floodlights and headlights of cars brightened up the course
– ample amount of water and Pocari Sweat at stations
– marshals lined the route
– directional signs and kilometer markers were aplenty
– medical assistance throughout the race
– organized registration and race redemption (at least when I went)

BETTER JOB NEXT TIME:
– vehicles traversing the route along with the runners
– narrow portions where runners converged (bottom portion of British School)
– runners were asked to stop to give way to cars in major intersections (aaaargh!)

Rock and Run was an event that offered great potential for a night race and concert-in-one. But, the downpour before the race start literally rained on the organizer’s parade.

As expected, not all runners were willing to brave the weather. For those who chose to run under the rain, the wet roads under the night sky proved to be a challenge for runners to maneuver. It didn’t help when some vehicles entered portions of the course (I ran with a taxi trailing me) or narrow roads had runners bumping into each other.

As they say, the show must go on.  Given the circumstances, the organizers did the best they could. Marshals stood under the pouring rain directing traffic, roads were well-lit, and medical aid was stationed in more than a couple of areas.  Selfless cheerers and bands continued to entertain the runners along the course.  I didn’t even witness the band at the assembly area play nor the post-race concert push through as everything was up in the air when I left the premises.

Rock and Run was a wonderful concept and seemed well-planned from the start, but the terrible weather posed a big challenge for the organizers.  My only wish: a Rock and Run Part 2. My recommendation to organizers: stage the race before the rainy season next year…even this Christmas would be great. My request: Can we have Bamboo next year, too?

—————————————-

SLOW SATURDAY

Hubby took a long nap. I munched on popcorn while watching TV. By the time we hit the road for the race, it was 5:30 pm and we were stuck in traffic. At 6 pm, the race started while we were just parking in Serendra.

With the rain pouring hard, we stood in Serendra with our race bibs on debating whether we should start the race late or dine at a restaurant instead. Still in panic training mode for KL Marathon, I felt the need to run, and so we did.

We ran towards St. Luke’s where we met the rest of the race participants at around 2km. It was here that we finally felt like we were part of a race (even though we didn’t consider ourselves official participants anymore with our wrong and late start.  This was just a fun run for us already.) The atmosphere was energetic and lively with cheerers and bands keeping runners happy and entertained despite the frigid weather.

HEEEAVY!

I planned on running this event at race pace, but hubby and I were struggling to go fast. While we enjoyed running under the rain, the downside was that it required more effort with each step. It was also difficult to focus on the road ahead when we were both watching out for puddles or slippery portions. At one time, I checked my pace and it was 7:00 min/km when, based on effort, I thought we were at 5:30! Ack.

Fortunately, by 2km, we improved our speed and found our rhythm. We made our way up the hill of British School where I bumped into Sen. Pia Cayetano, Ani de Leon, and Joey Torres, who also started late. They were enjoying a leisurely run and chatting all the way.

I felt that my 8k run at McKinley Hill last Thursday helped me a lot during this run. The long uphill climb didn’t feel as tough and I felt strong enough to go at a good pace.  At around the same time, hubby expressed his regret over having a humongous sandwich before the race. It made him feel heavy and he was struggling to maintain pace.

POWER UP

When we reached Lexus, we stopped at a water station for a sip. Hubby told me to go ahead and, with a quick goodbye, I proceeded to run at race pace. Suddenly, I felt powerful and strong, almost like I was infused with 5 Hammer gels intravenously.

I found my rhythm and enjoyed every minute.  By this time, the rain had dissipated so it was easier to run at a faster clip.  Except for a short break at the St. Luke’s intersection where the traffic enforcer stopped us runners to make way for the cars (why oh why?!), I was running at 5:30 to 5:45 pace.

HAPPY ENDING

According to my Garmin, I ended the race at 45.33 for 7.9km with an average pace of 5:46 min/km. I wish I had started the race on time and at the actual starting line, so I could claim that I officially finished, but no worries.  Running under the rain is always a joyous experience (read the fun we had at Eco Dash last year).

– with Coach Allan, Jun, Hubby, JV, Kaye, Councillor Doray, and Rio.  I’m the one who is lit up like a UFO.  I road tested my Nike Storm-Fit Jacket and Newton Stability Racers, both for the 2nd time. And, both passed with flying colors! These great gear deserve their own separate posts –

DRY ‘EM UP

As soon as we got home, I placed dry newspapers inside both our soaked running shoes to absorb the water. By day time, my Newtons were dry while hubby’s Asics needed another batch of dry newspapers. (Never ever place running shoes under direct sunlight to dry…unless they are owned by your worst enemy!  Insert evil laughter here)