My running gear was almost exactly the same as the one I wore last year for Philstar: same running shirt, same basketball shorts and the same running socks. This time though I used my Adidas Response running shoe and a running belt. Last year, I used my Nike Air Max 180 and a makeshift running belt (my office belt + belt bag).
I did a horrible job in preparing for the run since I slept at 2am while my alarm was set to go off at 3:45am. I couldn’t sleep early that night and when I finally did, I received a production support call and so I had to work at dawn. Waking up after 2 hours of sleep was torture. My head hurt, my legs hurt, heck, even my elbows hurt, my eyes were watery and my tummy was rumbling. I lazily got dressed and dragged myself to the car. My brother and nephews, all well rested practically pranced to the car and were already doing warm ups.
At around 5:30am, we were already parked at the Fort and were doing some stretching exercises. I was still sleepy that time and I walked around in circles like a zombie. When I bent over to touch my knees they cracked, my back cracked too and I suddenly had to pee… the signs of a superior athlete. We all jogged towards the assembly area and by then we were good to go, well except me who was already tired and winded after that half KM trek.
When the PA announced that the 5K was about to start, we lined up somewhere in the front to get a good head start. The PA also announced that Dingdong Dantes was going to run with us. I didn’t see him but I saw this crowd of photographers and endless flashes going off. Marian Rivera was also there and she was walking through the crowd towards my direction until she stopped in front of me. I had my “Sorry, di ako si DingDong, kamukha ko lang” joke but turns out we were beside Gabby Eigenmann, another actor who’s a friend of Marian.
After the photographers were shooed away, the race gun fired and the confetti fired through the air. I ran through the crowd and accidentally elbowed two guys along the way.
There was nothing new in the run since I learned a lot from the last race: trust your map, walk uphill and run like hell downhill. The run went smoothly and in the end I managed to empty out the tank and finish with a full sprint. When I crossed the line, I was breathing heavily, I couldn’t feel my knees and I was dizzy. Waiting for me from the finish line were my brother and nephews who looked as fresh as daisies.
Mom was there too and she was shouting “SHAHANI! SHAHANI! SHAHANI!” while pointing at this girl. “Picturan mo!” mom said.
“Sinong Shahani?” I asked.
“Si Shahani!”. I looked but I couldn’t recognize her. (It turned out that that was Shalani Soledad, Noynoy Aquino’s girlfriend).
Then there was this big crowd that suddenly formed at the finish line. Yep, you guessed it, Mr Bench Brief himself was there. Mom was now shouting “SI DINGDONG! SI DINGDONG! KUNAN MO NG PICTURE SI DINGDONG!!!”. I walked towards the crowd but then Miriam Quiambao suddenly walked by so…
DingDong and Marian were both being interviewed and had their bodyguards nearby. No one could take any pictures with them and all had to settle with stolen shots from afar. My brother though had an ingenious plan - I went in front of Marian to take her picture and my brother went behind her so he now had his picture taken “with” Marian. That sneak…
On our way back, we bumped into Coach Rio. Honestly we only know him from the Century Tuna Superbods Run ad. I only knew him for having Sideshow Bob hair. Extremely friendly guy as he invited us to join the Century Tuna run. He didn’t pay for the registration fee for us though but still… great guy.
We stayed for awhile to watch the awardings in case we won anything... we didn't.
Up next, Condura Run!
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