Posts Tagged with: "Races"

What an amazing experience!  I’m limping, I’m tired, and I missed my family terribly but I am still on cloud nine over the Singapore Marathon.  

I finished with an official time of 2:08, 196th out of 3,044 female runners in the half marathon category.  Not something to do cartwheels over, but considering my knee gave me hell starting at Km8 until the finish, I’m pretty proud of myself for surviving one of the toughest physical and mental challenges I’ve ever undergone.

Big congratulations to my Singapore roomie, Annie, who broke her marathon PR with  an official time of 3:59, she was 67th out of 1,998 female runners.  

Congrats to Coach Rio who finished 1:24  for his half marathon, which placed him at 12th for the men’s category and 3rd in his age category.  Galing!

I promise to write more tomorrow—as soon as I get down from this Singapore high…

* Photo courtesy of Red Sports

25th Runnex Executive Classic 5k/10K
December 7, 2008, 
UP Diliman
Reg Fee: 500 Php

Deadline of registration: Dec 6, 2008

The Executive Running Club of the Philippines (RUNNEX) in cooperation with The Quezon City Government and the Quezon City Tourism Council will be holding the RUNNEX 25th Executive 5K/10K Classic Run on December 07, 2008, 6:30am at the University of the Philippines Campus, Diliman, Quezon City.

The run is open to all professionals, businessmen and executives holding supervisory to managerial positions. Government executives must hold a minimum position of Division Chief while military officers must have a minimum rank of Captain.

This year’s race theme for the event is: “Human Energy For the Filipino Race”. The objective is to harness human energy For the Filipino Race’s future. It’s a race for physical fitness, energy conservation and environmental protection.

Registration Areas and Contacts:

RUNNEX SECRETARIAT 
c/o Lenilou Agustin

Rm 403-404 Juinio Hall
National Engineering Center
F. Agoncillo St. U.P. Campus
University of the Philippines
Diliman, Quezon City

Dr. LITO T. DURAN
- Duran Medical Clinic
Rm. 204 Ampil Building A. Bonifacio Ave., Cainta, Rizal 

Tel. No. 248-0288.
Facsimile 655-9498.
Mobile (0917) 4930517

RUNNEX CLINIC SECRETARIAT c/o Marivic Marty

Osmena cor. Ylanan Street
U.P. Diliman, Quezon City
every Sunday between 7: 00 to 9:00am.

Download registration form and race map here.

I don’t care if this Sunset Run is a week after my Singapore Half Marathon; I’m going to this one.  I can already smell the salt water, feel the pain in my legs from the steep and rough inclines, and imagine the picturesque sunset I’ll be viewing during the race.  Oooh, I cannot wait. 

Here’s more info from the Mizuno site:

10TH ANNIVERSARY SUNSET RUN
organized by Club Punta Fuego Inc.
in cooperation with Mizuno:

DATE & TIME 
13 December 2008, Saturday 
Assembly: 4:30pm 
Start of Race: 5:30pm 
Awarding Dinner: est. 7pm

VENUE 
Start/ Finish Area 
Main Rotonda, Peninsula de Punta Fuego, Nasugbu, Batangas

CATEGORIES 
3K/ 5K/ 10K

ENTRY FEE 
P500/ Pre-Registered Member 
P650/ On-Site Registered Member 
P650/ Invited Guest

Non-refundable. Includes: Race Kit, Giveaways, Awarding Dinner & Use of Facilities for Guests 
ADD P2,500 FOR A PAIR OF MIZUNO RUNNING SHOES! (Precision 8, Precision 9, Rider 10, Nirvana 2, Elixir 3, Inspire 4, Aero 5)

REGISTRATION 
1) For Club Punta Fuego members/guests, registration and payment must be made or before 08 December 08 (Mon). For more information call 751-4027.

2) For Mizuno invited guests, registration and payment can be made or before 08 December 08 (Mon) at Mizuno stores in: 
a) BMG Center, San Antonio St., Paseo de Magallanes, Makati City 
b) Bonifacio High Street

For more information call 757-3160 loc. 515

COLLECTION OF RACE KITS & GIVEAWAYS 
Participants may claim their Race Kits containing the Official Race Number, Safety Pins and Route Map upon registration.

Certificates and giveaways may be claimed upon completion of race course.

It’s confirmed. The Philippine Marathon—initially cancelled—will be pushing through on February 22, 2009 thanks to the support of the ABS-CBN Foundation.  

With that news confirmed by race organizer Gay Maddela and announced by Patrick C. via SMS yesterday, there were a lot of runners sporting wide grins and walking on cloud nine rejoicing over the fact that all the past months’ training had not gone for naught; there’s a confirmed marathon for February!  Woohoo!

As for Clark Marathon, I shall wait for news of this race, which is also scheduled for February 2009, and post it here once I find out.  (I separated List of Races 2008 and List of Races 2009 already.  See sidebar on the right.)

For now, I will keep myself busy happily training for my first full marathon in February 2009—whatever it may be.

TBR RACE REVIEW: UNICEF WALK ON THE CHILD’S SIDE 2008

Organizer: Rio de la Cruz
Overall rating (5 highest): 3

WOOHOO, HIGH FIVE!:
– challenging 10k course (as always whenever McKinley hill is included)
– fair atmosphere with kids’s entertainment (inflatable), photo wall, finisher’s family photo, raffle, etc.
– race marshalls were everywhere
– quick response of marshalls in emergency
– UPDATE: Same day release of race results

GOOD JOB:
– ample supply of mineral water at stations
– mile markers

AAW, BETTER JOB NEXT TIME:
– high traffic after entering McKinley hill
– limited parking space
– crowded race start (roads are too narrow in that area)
– need for more portalets (lines were too long)

_______________________________________________________

[ MY FIRST DNF ]

The Unicef Walk on the Child’s Side wasn’t going to be a “walk in the park” for me. This was the plan: I was to run 10k with JunC at 5:30 to 5:45 pace. Yaya would dress the kids, who lay asleep in the car, and have them race ready by 6:45 a.m. Hubby would run 5k so he could be back in time for the kids’ 2k at 7 a.m. Hopefully, I would run fast enough to be back for the 2k as well.

Now, this is what happened: JunC and I ran within 5:20 to 5:30 for the first 5k. It was quite fun to finally run fast again after so many long slow runs the past weeks. But, upon entering Heritage Park at around 5k+, my left knee started bothering me; it was just a slight nagging pain that I could’ve ran with until the finish. But, with Singapore Half only two weeks away, I’ve been practicing extreme caution and over-paranoia. So, bereft of any runner’s ego, I slowed down to a walk and bid JunC goodbye as I made my way to the marshalls’ booth asking them to drive me back to McKinley.

At first, they planned on making me ride a motorcycle with a marshall. Gawd, I had no pride when it comes to DNF-ing, but I certainly didn’t want to tell the world about it. I was about to search for a brown bag to cover my face when Billy, a Heritage Park marshall, volunteered his car instead of us having to wait for the medics.  As I was about to heave a sigh of relief, the host at Heritage announces on his microphone “Thank you for joining the race, Ms. Jaymie.  We hope you join us again next year!”  Oh boy, let’s tell the world indeed.  In no time at all, we were back at McKinley with a few minutes to spare before the 2km walk’s start.

[ A FAMILY OF RUNNERS ]

I knew it was a “2km walk”, but my press release at home was a “2km run.” My two kids were looking forward to this “fun run” for days, but they had very different goals. As it was my 7 year-old son’s 3rd or 4th run, he knew how tiring it could be so he only aimed to finish. On the other hand, my Little Miss Bull Runner, who was joining her 1st, had more serious plans. When I tucked her into bed the night before, she whispered “Mama, I’m going to win the race.”

I held my daughter’s hand, while hubby was with my son.  When the race started, it was a slow walk through the crowd and I could see the disappointment in Little Miss Bull Runner’s face.  But, as soon as there was space, we took our positions and I yelled “Ready, Get Set…Go!” as I always do when we race after school, and off she went smiling as she climbed up McKinley Hill.

We frequently stopped for walks and water breaks throughout the race, but for the most part, my daughter was dragging me to run faster.  Whenever Little Miss Bull Runner spotted Kuya in front of her, she would look up at me and say “Mamaaaa!” as if to say “We can’t let the boys beat us!”  

Before the race ended, as we climbed the other steep hill towards the exit of McKinley, I let go of my daughter’s hand and let her run free; as expected, she showed off her patented aerodynamic propeller-arm run for a final sprint.

As we neared the finish, hubby and I agreed to cross the finish all at the same time to ensure that no one “won” the race. The kids were spent, but they were happy.  This was definitely a good experience for the entire family.  

– Little Bull Runners with Little Foreign Runners –

When I tucked my daughter into bed that evening, she asked me if she won the race.  I replied “Yes, you won…and Kuya won too!”  Then, she asked “But…where’s my prize?”  Uh oh, let me think about that.

Thank you to the race organizers, especially those at Heritage Park, who took care of me during the little emergency!

Thank you to Dindo, JunC, and Marvs for photos!