It’s the Philstar Run2009 event, my first running event and we entered the 5K course.
There was already a small crowd there for the 21K which was starting at 5:30am and most were wearing the standard issue event singlet. The remaining either wore full body suits, tights, branded singlets or singlets from other races. I couldn’t wear the event singlet since even at 3XL, the darn thing still didn’t fit me. I had a dri-fit shirt on instead and some basketball shorts.
There was a commotion right before the race. There were security guards running and shouting something about a guy in blue. It looks like this guy stole something and now he’s being chased by security. If you’re planning to do a grab and run, why would you do it in an event full of runners?
We lined up for the start of the run as it started to drizzle. Drizzle means no sun, which means it’s good… I think. I did some more last minute ankle rotations and stretches while this guy at the PA started counting down. I reminded my brother and my nephews to go ahead without me since I plan to start really slow so I can pace myself. Diesel engines need to warm up faster.
One thing I was nervous about – I haven’t seen anyone fatter than me. There was this huge guy but he was just taking pictures. My nephew suddenly came up to me shouting “Ninong! Ayun o mas mataba!”. I looked and confirmed that I was at least the second fattest guy running in the event. I just wished he didn’t shout it out loud though.
The run started and everyone jogged along 28th street. The street was crowded and when I started to pick up the pace it was like driving along EDSA where I would snake in between groups of people. This one guy was already exhausted at the end of the street and started walking – one objective completed: Don’t be the first guy to walk.
0.75 KM – Right foot started to hurt. I was staring at it while thinking if I did something wrong like wear thick socks or lace up my shoes too tightly. I looked back up and realized I was the only one running with my head down (bad for running posture). As if I could stare away my foot problem anyway.
1 KM – As planned, I have to walk .5 km to rest. In my practice runs, I could go further than 1Km but I end up walking most of the way later. Time to take more pictures.
1.25 KM – a scooter with sirens asked the 5K runners to part in the middle like the red sea. The scooter zoomed by followed by 7 or 8 runners from the 21K. I think they were the leaders of the 21K run.
2.1 KM – This was the botched part of the course. The thing is, you start at Bonifacio High Street then run all the way to Lawton where you’ll find a U-turn slot then you need to run all the way back to High Street. While nearing the U-turn slot, the runners who were already on their way back were shouting something.
“Balik! Balik! Mali daw.”. Some race marshals asked them to turn around since they should be on a different route. I had to ask around to confirm that it’s not just a mean joke. It was true.
We ran back to this race marshal a few meters back and crowded around her while asking where we were supposed to run. My brother and my uncle were both there. She explained that it was supposed to be there ahead but she was hesitating as if she was unsure. This led to a lot of angry runners as we probably wasted around 5 minutes asking and confirming. I broke through the crowd and asked that she just tells us where we should go. She pointed towards Lawton street so I jogged towards there.
It’s funny though since the rest of the runners I was with were mumbling as they clomped along – “%&@# organizers yan” or “sayang time ko” or “sino ba kasi nag plano nito?”. Tsk tsk, I smell a lot of protests after the race.
2.5 KM – At the U turn slot, a race marshal pointed that the 5K runners should run back now while 10K runners should go ahead. They didn’t give us anything – no stamp, no wristband, no anything. What if I cheated and took the U-turn a few meters back? There was no way of telling right? (Apparently, a lot of people did this in frustration with that botched course thing). Pinoy talaga…
I saw this other slow, chubby guy who I used as a baseline. I could zip by him pretty easily. Once I started walking and I saw him passing me, that was the signal for me to start running again.
3.25 KM – Here’s something I didn’t train for – running uphill and downhill. I stupidly walked at the bottom then started sprinting uphill. Stupid because I was going as fast as this guy who was just jogging and yet I was exerting double the effort. When the downhill part came, everyone started running while I was walking out of gas. People were zipping past me. Experience is what we call our mistakes right?
3.5 KM – I stepped on a rock and by instinct I hopped to a stop and took a quick seat on the sidewalk while I check my knee, my foot, my calf and my ankles. Knee was surprisingly ok (thanks to that patellar band), ankles were tender but were good, feet were tired but with 1.5 KM to go, they would have given me the thumbs up.
“If my feet had hands they would have given me the thumbs up” >> one of the stupidest analogies ever in this blog.
4 KM – A stabbing sensation hit my tummy. Darn, it’s that side stitch thing. Again, I hopped to a stop while I bent over to relieve the pain and told myself that we were 1 kilometer away from the finish. If this were the Stations of the Cross, this would go as “Arnold falls for the second time”.
Good thing I did research on this earlier and an article advised runners who encounter this to run with their hands behind their heads. I guess this clears up something on the tummy area. Runners would ask me if I was ok to which I pounded my chest and gave them a nod. Great, now my chest hurts.
I started running now with my hand behind my head. I guess other runners are wondering who I’m surrendering to.
4.5 KM – I was officially out of gas. My burst of runs doesn’t last longer than 10 seconds and I ended up walking. I looked behind me and saw “Mr. Baseline” a good block away from me which means I don’t have to rush. My brother, my nephews and my aunt should be finished by now. I saw my uncle earlier ahead of me so I was guessing he was already done too.
4.9 KM – Time to empty out the tank. Whatever I had left, I should burn them off now on the last part of the run. Once I walked past this intersection I suddenly burst into my final full blown sprint as if someone just let the neighbor’s angry dog out. My form was no longer correct and I couldn’t feel my knees anymore. I passed through the finish line which flashed “45:something:something” and was greeted by my aunt. My uncle trodded along next and I started to wonder at what point did I pass him. Ye-gads... I looked terrible.
I saw Miriam Quiambao next posing with some runners, making her the second celebrity we saw today. Earlier at the parking lot, we saw Rovilson Fernandez who walked past our car but didn’t even bother taking a picture of him.
Me: “Pao, si Rovilson Fernandez o!!”
Pao: “Oo nga no!!”
Me: (drank Gatorade)
Pao: (ate a banana)
I walked towards our car and saw my brother and nephews with an open cooler chugging on Gatorade. Anjo finished at 27 minutes. Mycky finished at 30+ minutes and my brother finished at 40 minutes with Miriam. I know my brother can finish the whole thing well below 40 minutes but for some reason he slowed down. Let’s call it the “running with Miriam” effect
I told them I finished at 45 minutes but I spent a couple of minutes on that botched part. My aunt told me that they were supposed to give out wrist bands to show that you really turned around at the designated U-turn slot, which they never did. I heard also that runners who finished at around 35+ minutes encountered “traffic” in the finish line since the organizers had to rip off that serial number thing on your bib. My brother explained to me that it was frustrating since instead of running across the finish line the way I did, they had to fall in line in the finish line and saw precious seconds tick by.
I noticed during the race that some were well equipped with a racing belt and notches for bottled water. I had a belt too but it a do-it-yourself running belt using my office belt, a camera case with a belt notch and two office binder clips to keep the case from sliding. I also noticed that I was the only one running with a camera. How Pinoy is that?
I realized also that Nike was not the leader in running gears. I looked around and people were wearing Asics, New Balance, Asics, Adidas, Asics, Asics, Asics, New Balance and Asics. There was one wearing the new Nike Lunar Glide+ but no one else was wearing my 2 year old Aix Max 180’s.
Overall, it was a good run albeit my turtle-like speed. At least I wasn’t nursing any injuries after the run. My knees, ankles and feet all held up fine. Something tells me we’ll see a lot of these events next year.
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