Category Archives: News + Promos

I’ve been blogging about running for almost six years now and, through the years, I’ve been witness to some great things in running.  How the community has grown from a couple thousands to tens of thousands.  How races grew in number from once a month to every weekend or even more.  How almost everyone is a runner now or knows a runner.   How the online community grew from blogs, forums, websites, social media sites, and more.  It is still growing…and evolving.

Today, I met Raymond Racaza, the founder of a new running website: Run.ph.

I will tell you now that I predict this to be the new and primary source of running information for the local running community.  I visited the site and it is everything—and more—of what majority of the runners now need and want. Myself included.

– Screenshot of Run.ph –

Here’s what you can expect:

1) Simple and easy to navigate.  The website is clean and simple.  From the home page, one can see upcoming races.  One click and you get the basic info.  Another click and you get all the race information you need.

2) Convenient online race registration.  If the race organizer allows for online registration through Run.ph, you can join the race through the site.  If you had already created an account in the Run.ph, all information will be stored and you will never need to input your information again.

3) My Run.ph Page.  You can have your own page enlisting the races you wish to join.  After the race, you can post notes on your thoughts about the race.

4) Share to Facebook and Twitter.  You can sign in via Facebook.  From your My Run.ph page, you can click on a race and with one click you can share to your friends on Facebook that you’ll be joining the race.

5) Run.ph Mobile App.  Soon, there will a Run.ph app for smartphones.

6) Results via text.  For some races, runners may sign up for text alerts regarding the release of the official results.

7) Directory — SOON.  The site will have a complete list of coaches, running stores, and more.

8) Articles — SOON.  Interesting articles from various contributors will be posted.

9) No ads.  Raymond was clear about this.  He will not be posting ads on the website for two reasons: first, he prefers a clean look with no “billboards” screaming at his readers and, secondly, the site is an advocacy; he doesn’t plan to make money out of it.  (Hurrah for you, Raymond!)

And, last but not the least…

10) Borne out of passion for running.  Through the years, I’ve seen it all.  Bloggers, organizers, and events that were fueled by the opportunity to make a quick buck from the running boom and how quickly they disappeared or, if they stayed, how the product simply fell or still falls below everyone’s standards.  But, I’ve also seen people—visionaries, dreamers, achievers—who are driven by their passion for running who wished for nothing more than to give back to the sport that gave them so much.  Today, I saw that in Raymond.

Raymond started running after his wife gave birth.  His weight had ballooned to 180 lbs as he ate along with their new baby.  He got into running as a means to drop back to his regular 140 lbs.  In 2008, he bought the domain name Run.ph.

This dream of his took him a full five years to create.  It is obvious that a lot of thought went into creating a website that is so simple and easy to navigate.  It is equally obvious that this is a passion project for him.  He doesn’t want to earn from it.  He doesn’t want to be popular through it.  In his words “I just want to give back to running because it changed my life.”

And, with that, Raymond and Run.ph get my full support.  Visit Run.ph now.

Hope you can make it to the Success Summit! I’ll be a speaker!

Event: Success Summit
Date: May 10, 2013
Time: 9AM to 5PM
Venue: Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati

SPEAKERS:

Raymond Aaron
– North America’s No. 1 Success Coach; New York Times Top Ten Best-Selling Author
– Topic:  “Successful by Choice”

Norman Black
– Former CBA, NBA and PBA Player
– Multi-titled Champion Coach
– Topic:  “Developing a Blueprint for Success”

Alex Araneta
– Chief Catalyst of Catalyst 360
– SMI-Certified Sales Trainer & Keynote Speaker
– Topic: “True Picture of Success”

Jim Lafferty
– Former CEO of Coca-Cola Nigeria and Procter & Gamble Philippines
– Topic: “Creating your own Personal Brand”

Rose Fres-Fausto
– Author of “Raising Pinoy Boys”
– Philstar.com Columnist
– Topic: “Preparing Yourself for Financial Success”

Jaymie Pizarro
– a.k.a. The Bull Runner; Renowned blogger, Graphic Artist
– Topic:  “Turning Passion and Purpose into Profit”

Ging Igual
– TalentSmart U.S. EQ Trainer
– Topic:  “Managing the Soft Side of Business with E.Q.”

In behalf of the TBR Dream Team, we would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Jimmy Ocampo who passed away this morning. He was a registered participant of TBR Dream Marathon 2013 this coming Sunday.

To honor his life and his passion for running, we wish to award him a TBR Dream Marathon medal on Sunday. His colleague, Don Ubaldo, has offered to run in his name.

RUN FOR JIMMY

All TBR Dream Marathon 2013 participants who wish to run for Jimmy on Sunday may get blank race bibs at the Poster Making Booth at the Dream Village activity area starting 1 AM on race day. You may write “I’m running for Jimmy” or a short note for Jimmy and pin this on your back while running the marathon.

RIP Jimmy Ocampo, TBR Dream Marathon Batch 2013.

We surprised our TBR Dream Marathoners with two videos last night. One was sentimental and touching…

This other one was simply star-studded! (Thank you to friends and teammates Iya Villania and Drew Arellano for shooting this for us! Mwah mwah!)

All TBR Dreamers Batch 2013 were treated to a Send Off Party last night at the Unilab Compound.  This was also our Race Kit redemption for all the participants.

(NOTE:  To those who couldn’t make it to the Send Off Party, please click HERE for RACE REDEMPTION schedules.)

– Over 500 guests arrived for our Send Off Party –

– Runners claimed their race kits –

Hosted by no less than Tessa Prieto-Valdes and Boy Ramos, the evening started with greetings from the TBR Dream Team followed by race briefings.

– TBR Dream Team: Lit, myself, Neville, Macel, and Jun with hosts Boy and Tessa –

– Tessa with TBR Dreamers –

– Runners redeems their race kits –

– Runners enjoying their cocktails –

– Dennis, Tina, Jay, and Patty –

Alex Panlilio, Operating Vice President of Unilab Active Health, the race’s Presenter, wished the runners well and spoke of Unilab’s partnership with TBR.

– Alex Panlilio of Unilab Active Health. He is also a TBR Dream Alumni –

– That’s me! –

There were also games and a raffle where runners took home a load of prizes from our sponsors with two lucky runners winning the grand prizes, Garmin Forerunner 1o.  The fun-filled evening ended with a special video for Batch 2013.

– Ton Gatmaitan of GroupM for Gatorade, Gemma Pagsibigan of Navco, Lit, and TBRDM2013 Participant, Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan –

– Lucky winner of the Garmin Forerunner 10 –

To all our runners, DREAM BIG. RUN STRONG.  We’ll see you at the finish line on the 24th.

Photos courtesy of Tong Pascua.