Posts Tagged with: "Races"

A reader of this blog, Mikey, posted an update about fellow Filipinos (including himself) who ran New York Marathon last Sunday.  Big thank you, Mikey!  Here’s what he wrote:

Greetings from New York!

Just wanted to report to you what had just happened in Barrio Nueva Yorka.

With Paula retaining, dos Santos regaining and yes no Kenyans this time, a good number of Pinoys made walastikish sub-4 performances, Franchesca Carpo of Makati – 3:48, Leonardo de Ocampo Jr. of Muntinglupa – 3:55, Dino Paolo Pison of Bacolod – 3:40, Jon-Jon Rufino of Makati – 3:42 and Achtung, Achtung: MICHAEL MESINA – a bumubukol na 3:12 – HE IS BOSTON BOUND!

Other kabayans garnered fairly good bragging rights of overrunning the five boroughs, Roman Azanza – 4:25, Rosanna Kristine Cruz – 6:43, Ana de Ocampo – 4:16, Margarita Beatriz Locsin – 4:50, Rishi Mirani – 5:57, Gem Padilla – 5:02, Genea Padilla – 6:01 and Vicente Rufino – 7:17.

Her Royal Highness Jamby’s taray on Senadora Pia Cayetano may have been a distraction, as she finished 4:10, two minutes off her last NYC. Her ading Direk Lino Cayetano finished with a 4:38.

I had a crappy 4:22, having hit the wall at Mile 23, and literally dragged my feet around the peripheries of Central Park. No excuses though, I went to a gunfight armed with a butter knife.

This is one karera which one real runner should do before allowing themselves to die!

By the way, the digits above were made by silly Pinoys who travelled half way around the world from their respective sitios, not included are Pinoy yuez citizens, grin card holders or even TNTs.

Another tidbit from Mikey:

Of the three Carpo sisters, both Manda (3:39) and Leica (3:40) qualified for Boston. Unfortunately, Franchesca fell short by 8 minutes. Sayang!

Wooah, congratulations to all the NY Marathon runners!

To the Carpo sisters, you make us proud.  Bow bow bow!

{ TRAINING RACE }

I had only two words in mind as I dressed for the race yesterday morning: TRAINING RUN. My “race mode” button was shut off that morning so that’s probably why I took my sweet time—even had time to touch up the pedicure on my dead toenail (yes, it’s dead again)—before I left for Bonifacio High Street.  

It came as no surprise then that I arrived just 5 mins. before the race start. When I arrived at the assembly area, I was in no mood to socialize (except to wish Cougcat good luck in his 3k and congratulate Carolyn on her Nike Women’s Half in SF) while I let out quite a number of yawns as I waited for the babbling host to just let the race begin. Fortunately, just after the Philippine National Anthem was played, JunC and Jay—my training partners that day—appeared and we had a few minutes to chat before the race started at 6:15 a.m. (thanks to the super talkative host).

Our plan was to run at 6:15 pace during the 10k race plus an additional 10k thereafter at 6:15 to 6:30 pace to complete 20k for me while Jun and Jay, who ran before the race, would reach a total of 25k.  

This was the first time I ran with a training group during a race and I’m sure glad I did. Our steady and relaxed pace allowed us to chat during the entire length of the race, yell out words of encouragement to runner friends who made their way back ahead of us (and maybe whisper “I’ll get you next time!” to a few others), and even stop at some water stations to splash some cold water on our faces. We even “recruited” Dra. Doray to run with us for a few kilometers before we parted ways.

The Fort Striders Club did a great job organizing this race. We went through the challenging Lawton-Bayani Road route without a hitch. There was an abundant supply of mineral water (not balde system as in Adidas KOTR) and marshalls were so helpful that they even poured this on our heads or faces as if they were personal coaches. I wished they had started at exactly 6 a.m. but hey that’s a minor inconvenience.  Congratulations to Fort Striders, especially my friends Taki and Glenn, for a successful race.

We crossed the finish line—agreeing to meet in 5 minutes for the next 10k—at 58:21 mins with an average pace of 5:54.  Total distance was 9.9k on my Garmin, pretty accurate measurement for organizers. We ran a little bit faster than our planned pace, but it left me feeling strong enough for the next half of our goal.

{ NEXT 10KM }

After a 5 minute break where I changed my top, munched on half a ClifBar, and found myself sharing an almost empty parking lot with Fernando Zobel, I met Jay and Jun at ROX to run our next 10k.

We were an indecisive bunch not knowing which route to take that would give us the most shade from the 7:30 a.m. sun. We decided to run loops around Market!Market! where more than half of the route was shaded and, as I requested, the roads were flat.

The next 10k was light and easy and filled with good conversation. Sometime during the run, I had what I’d like to call a “running epiphany” where I realized that I enjoyed this slow and steady type of run vs. a race; I would give up a 10k podium finish (and even cash prize!) anytime for an easy half marathon distance with friends. I could’ve screamed “I love to ruuuuuun!” right there and then, but I thought of Jun and Jay who didn’t have brown bags with them to shield them from embarassment.

We ended our 10k with an average pace of 6:55km to complete a full 20km for me. This was the farthest distance I had ever run.  Wooohooo!  And, as I ended without any hint of injury, I took it as a sign that I was ready for NB 25k.  Double wooohooo with cartwheels (if only I could do them)!  See you at Clark!

I read the morning papers, er, just this afternoon and I was glad to see photos of the 1st Mayon Trail Run on the frontpage of Phil. Daily Inquirer.  The run helped to promote awareness for climate change.

Oh boy, it looked like an awfully challenging and tiring race but I’m sure the over 150 runners who participated crossed the finish line with smiles on their faces despite the mud on their shoes.

According to Inquirer, the winners of the 18k trail run were:

MALE:

1st: Elmer Sabal (1:09:30)

2nd: Allan Ballester (1:10:08)

3rd: Cresenciano Sabal (1:10:35)

FEMALE:

1st: Leszl Gitarueles (1:32:26)

2nd: Merlita Arias (1:45:07)

3rd: Ellen Tolentino (1:49:08)

Congratulations to the winners and all the finishers!

Click here for the Inquirer article.

Having slept close to midnight the previous night, I desperately needed my morning brew to get me up and about yesterday morning. So, despite the coffee ban I declared for myself in the previous post, I had half a cup of instant coffee with graham crackers for breakfast. (So much for all the planning!)

I arrived at the race venue, Cuenca Park at Ayala Alabang, a little after 6 a.m. frantic over my tardiness as I still had to register onsite. As I lined up at the registration booth, I was met by Coach Patrick Joson, the race organizer, who welcomed me with a smile, personally handing out my race packet even if I wasn’t sure he remembered me at all when I met him at Mizuno Run Club ages ago.  Turns out, I had enough time to claim my free Yabang Pinoy mug and band, put this back in the car, run to bathroom (twice!) before heading out for the assembly area.

This was a relatively small race in a relaxed, light, and fun atmosphere.  It was great to chat with running friends at the starting line almost forgetting at times that we were at a race, not a cocktail party.  No worries from me as this was going to be a training run; my goal was to run an easy 6:00 min/km pace for the race and run additional miles at 6:30-7 to reach my total of 18.5 km for the day.  The race started without fanfare, someone just yelled and we were off.

As we headed out towards Cuenca, I knew that my pacing plan—just like my coffee ban plan—had flown out the window. I was running at around 5:15, even reached a high of 4:27 during the first kilometer. I couldn’t help it. This was much too fun. 

After a few kilometers, I was running 3rd behind two fast women runners. I don’t recall how long we were running in one straight line, but time flew here as I just tried my best to keep up with them.  When the 2nd woman slowed down to drink, I crept up behind her to grab 2nd place.  Before I could yell “Wooohooo!” in my mind, I realized I had made a terrible mistake. Now, I knew she would be breathing down my neck the entire time and I had to push harder. Argh!

Pretty soon, this strong lady runner swept past me and I placed 3rd again. For the rest of the race, I ran close behind her running at around 5:20 to 5:30.  It was pretty much like this all throughout the race. Phoooey.

As we neared the finish, I recalled that Patrick had run the route the previous weekend and informed me early on that it was short of 10km, 8.8km to be exact.  So, around 8km, I slowly increased my pace to chase after the 2nd woman. Unfortunately, she did the same. As we neared St. James Church, we both managed to outpace the 1st woman.

We were soon sprinting towards the finish and, judging by her good form, I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch up with her. I crossed the finish line with an official time of 46:43 mins. for 8.6 km (even shorter than Patrick’s measurement) with an average pace of 5:26 min/km.  

Woah, by far, this was the most competitive race I had ever run.  Quite ironic, since this was probably the smallest race I had ever joined. I never got the name of that fast woman runner, but I did congratulate her after the run. It was so much fun!

She won 1st place, while I grabbed 2nd.  Wooohooo! 

Instead of waiting for the awarding, I met up with JunC (who won 4th place…Congrats!) and Dindo for yet another 2 loops of the race course for our long run. We ran an additional 10km at an easy 7:15 average pace which allowed for great conversation about running and family life.

I ended the morning in high spirits. The 2nd place finish was great, but it was the long run sans injury that made me jump up for joy!  Singapore here I come!

P.S. Sorry no photos. My long run was a priority that day.

Congrats to Patrick Joson for a great race!  Water was overflowing. Next year, hopefully we can make it exactly 10k. 🙂

Congrats to Mark Parco for placing 3rd (?) and bringing home a ricecooker! Me-Anne, glad your back into running. Nice seeing you Tiffin, Joe, and Eric. Patrick, sana you joined!  Idnod, it was nice to meet you even if I had to force your name out of you! To JunC and Dindo, long run again!

Official results are out for Adidas KOTR 10k and 21k at RunningDATcom’s blog. Click here.  UPDATE: 5k results available there as well.

My official time for 10k was 52.52 minutes with an average pace of 5:18 min/km.  Pretty much the same as the numbers on my Garmin.  

First placer in the distaff category was Mercedita Fetalbero with a time of 36.35 with a pace of 3:40…phew! I was the 18th woman to cross the finish line.