Posts Tagged with: "Metro Manila"

I had a good laugh early this morning when, upon checking my Inbox, I find an email entitled: “Guess Who I Saw!” from Odette of Adidas. It was more of a shameful, hide-myself-behind-a-race-bib kind of giggle because of what I decided to wear that day: a navy blue Nike top with matching shorts. Despite my loud and proud proclamation of love for the Adidas KOTR singlet, I decided against wearing it in an effort to stand out against a sea of runners in red. Check out the photo and you’ll see that my mission was definitely accomplished! Haha!

Can you find yourself here? Let me know if you do!

– Adidas King of The Road 2007…woohoo! –

Thanks to Odette Velarde for the photo.  Odette, as mentioned, I promise to wear my Adidas singlet at the Milo Marathon! haha

I received my Milo 10k race packet today together with my son’s and husband’s 3k packets. Thank you Mayi for signing us all up!

– Singlets of all shapes and sizes for the three of us: my hubby, son, and I –

Phooeey! Staring at the documents enclosed, I start to break a sweat when I read the following:

1. a whopping 10,000 runners are expected. As Mayi mentioned, my knees will tire not from the run, but from pushing and shoving against all the other runners.
2. the 42k race route. I’m just running a 10k for this one, but man oh man, 42k plotted out on the map freaks me out.
3. the traffic re-routing plan. After the Adidas KOTR, I was starving to death while stuck in post-race traffic. I hope traffic won’t be bad here, but I’m not taking any risks—I’m packing breakfast for the entire family!

– Race Route for Milo Marathon 3k/ 5k/ 10k/ 42k –

As with any race, however, my excitement over the following compensates for my worries:

1. It’s my 1st Milo Race. A Milo race is a Milo race. It is one of the biggest and most popular races in the country. I just had to join it.
2. Plain and simple route. To others (such as my good friend Annie), a race without hills is stale and boring. For me, it’s glorious! No surprises nor wrong turns. (I know, I sound like a sissy, but at least I’m honest!) Plus, it gives me a bigger chance of beating my PR hah!
3. My son and hubby are joining again. My 6-year-old who joined me in almost all my races turned his back on the Adidas KOTR after he announced that “Running is not my sport. I’m into baseball and soccer now.” So, with sadness, I simply let him be. When I invited him to join me for the Milo race, it was with great delight that he replied “Okay, i’ll join. Running is not my sport, but I’ll run to build my muscles in my legs.” He then leaves the rooms singing “Milo e-v-e-ry-daaaaay!” Wow, what media can do!
4. The Nestle Food Stub. As I’ve said, I’ve never been to a Milo race, so the tiny blue stub attached to the upper corner of the race materials definitely aroused my curiousity. Food huh?! What kind of food? Nestle Honey Stars with their low-fat milk? Yeah, I love those. Throw in a iced Nescafe after the run and, as frivolous and cheap as I may sound, I will be a happy camper.

So, have you signed up for the Milo Manila Marathon? The 3k/5k/10k/42k starts at Kilometer 0 along Roxas Blvd. Luneta Park in Manila on July 22, 2007.

Registration is ongoing and ends on July 20. Register at Vasquez Madrigal Bldg. 51 Annapolis St. Greenhills. For more information, call Mr. Biscocho at 727.9987. Bring a 300g wrapper of Milo to register.

Thanks to Hitme, I got invited by Peter_ob (from Philmug) to my first Nike+ Challenge a couple of days before I even tried out the nifty little gadget on the road. I had no idea how these challenges work, but anything that could give me more reason to run faster and longer sounded like good news to me!

The Manila Miles 25 Days Challenge was to begin on a most auspicious date: 07/07/07. (I felt luck would be by my side throughout the race, but I’m sure so did all the other 40+ runners!) So, I did register and crossed my fingers hoping that I would win the race to the most distance in 25 days without obssessing about it to the point that it took over my life (as running has obviously done!) I looked through the profiles of the other contenders on the board, evaluated their pace and distance, and developed my winning strategy. Okay, I’m kidding about the last two phrases!

It’s been a little over a week since the challenge started and fortunately it has not consumed me. Phew, thank God for that! I’ve stuck to my regular running program—which basically covers 40 to 45 km a week—and I just upload this to the Nike+ site and pray a silent prayer that the other runners experienced one of the following to shorten their distance: 1) heavier workload, 2) diarrhea during a long run, or 3) stolen rubber shoes. Hey, I’m kidding…again! This challenge is all about friendly competition, just to get all of us runners more motivated and excited about running further than we usually would.

During the early parts of the challenge, this is how the board looked…

– Manila Miles Challenge: July 10, 2007. A bull run run run, a bull run run! –

Oh, my son was just so proud of me! When he saw this, he screamed “Yes mama, you are the winner!” with both hands jubilantly raised up in the air. I almost burst into tears with joy about my son’s reaction when he suddenly pauses and asks “Wait a minute. You are the bullrunner, right?”

Last night, I rechecked the board to see the changes that occurred in a mere week’s time. Ack. I don’t think I can match up to njrunner_fred’s distance. I concede! Njrunner_fred is apparently training to qualify for the Boston Marathon so go go go njrunner_fred! I am right behind you…literally!

– Manila Miles Challenge: July 16, 2007. A bull run gone gone, a bull run gone –

Wake up guys! Today is the first day of registration for the Milo Manila Marathon on July 22 with the starting point at the Quirino Grandstand.

Choose from a 3k (and run with the kids), 5k, 10k or—as my Coach has selected—the 42k!

Bring a 300g wrapper of Milo to register. If let’s say it’s a 1kg wrapper than that would entitle three registrants to sign in. Registration is at Vasquez Madrigal Bldg. 51 Annapolis St. Greenhills (same as Adidas’ registration). It’s pretty convenient because they have a booth right outside the building. Registration ends on July 20. For more information, call Mr. Biscocho at 727.9987.

So, who’s signing up?

Now that was a fine race. Let me rephrase that: it was one helluva race. This may just be rookie talk but truly for me it was the most well-organized and orderly of the mere five races I’ve joined so far. You gotta hand it to Adidas and RACE for taking care of us runners. From pre-registration (when will we ever stop talking about those red singlets?) to its start (aaaaw, did tears not well up in your eyes as you listened to the national anthem against the backdrop of a beautiful sunrise?) until its finish (or at least my own finish since I left before awarding started), I would say that almost everything was well-prepared for. The minor bumps along the road—long lines at the portalet and the wait at the baggage check-in—were exactly those: minor little flaws that I overlooked once I heard the oh so romantic and deep voice of that host!

– Err…next time, can someone please remind me not to come this early? –

So, anyway, there we were—Annie and I—impatiently waiting for the race to start as we stood just a few rows behind the starting line along with the sea of runners in red who were, needless to say, impatient as well. At exactly 6 a.m. the gun was fired and we were off. After making a right from the starting line towards Roxas Boulevard, I knew the route would be pretty simple. It would be straight, straight, straight, climb up and roll down the Buendia flyover, hit the 10k turnaround, climb up and roll down the Buendia flyeover, straight until you make a left back into the Quirino Grandstand. Soon after my brain had absorbed all that (which was just a few seconds, mind you!), Annie had skipped ahead…uhm…way ahead.

I ran at my own pace (around 75% effort if Coach B asked me) but, after a few minutes, doubts seeped into my brain if I could even keep this up. I had slept at 11:45 the night before (coming from a 10-hour road trip from Pangasinan) so I thought I could forgive myself for not breaking PR on this race. After all, I had a good excuse! Before these evil thoughts could get any further, I cleared my mind and focused on the race. Just enjoy it, I thought. If I get tired, I could always slow down. If I don’t break my PR, i’ll try again next time (although I would curse myself for weeks.) With that, I kept my pace steady, chatted with Renz, checked out the view in what was to me unfamiliar grounds, and relaxed. Surprisingly—and guys this is going to be dull and boring—but the entire run was smooth sailing for me. Why, even the Buendia flyover, which made me shudder when I saw it from afar, posed less of a challenge than I initially expected. As I climbed the hill, I could almost hear Coach B whispering “slow down, take shorter strides” and that’s exactly what I did. As always, rolling down freely with my arms outstretched was my favorite part. When I hit the 10k turnaround, I felt like I got my second wind with a sudden burst of energy pushing me further. So, off I went with the gusto of a runner who had just started a race. The last part of the 5k was quick as I remember it. I just ran, and ran, and ran and I loved it. Aaack, I so loved it! Before I knew it, it was over.

I checked the time and I was ecstatic: 56 minutes 27 seconds. I broke my PR. I shaved off a whopping 4 minutes! Wooohooo! “Yeah, I AM the Queen of the Road!” I exclaimed…to myself…silently…so no other runner would think I was crazy.

– Runners make their way to the finish –

– All queued up at the Finish Line –

– With Mars, a highschool batchmate I hadn’t seen since…uhm..highschool. See you at more races, Mars!

Before leaving, Hitme (and his macho driver) arrived bearing gifts. The best gift any runner could receive: a bundle of Runners World magazines! Truly, this man must be called “Running Santa” for his generosity, jolly disposition, and good choice of presents! Hitme, no, it’s not because of the tummy!

– Hitme’s driver delivering my stash of Runners World Magazines! Doesn’t he look like Rudolph? –

Driving home from the race, Annie texts me announcing great news: she won first place for 10k in her age group! I couldn’t be happier for the bestest running buddy one could have! I could go on and on about Annie, but I’ll save that for another post. For now, I shall reluctantly but humbly pass on my crown to Annie as the official Adidas Queen of the Road for 10k. As if I ever had the title anyway!

– With Annie, winner of her age group for 10k with a time of 47.43, and her friend Rose –

Winners of the Adidas King of The Road 21k:

Men’s Category: Eduardo Buenavista 1:07:28

Women’s Category: Jho-An Banayag 1:19:17