Condura Run

Five reasons why I was excited for the Condura run:

1. It was the first major running event of the year. By “major” I mean more people and more attractions.
2. I was excited to try on my (again) new shoes - my Asics GT-2150.
3. I still have momentum after running a great BookRun the previous week.
4. It’s held at the Fort again and I'm already familiar with the terrain.
5. We were saving the dolphins! It's an odd combination though... Condura? dolphins?

Parking was a terrible experience though. They closed the entire parking lot near Fitness First and so the remaining parking lots were already full at 5:20am. Luckily, we brought mom’s tank (aka “Honda CRV”) which we used to plow a nearby empty lot (it was not meant to be a parking lot but a lot of people followed and parked their cars… mob rules apply I guess).

We did the usual pre-race routines (stretching, fill up water bottles, take pictures) then jogged all the way to the assembly area which was a lot glitzier than the Philstar Run and the Book Run events. First, the assembly area was huge, complete with a DJ and a video screen. Second, they got dancers who did a dance/stretch routine with a cool club background music. Lastly and my favorite, a few seconds before the gun, they had a fireworks display which really had my blood pumping.

When the gun went off, I had to walk the first few meters since I was in the middle of the pack and everyone else was walking. When the crowd finally parted, I was able to jackrabbit my way in between some old folks. The route was a bit different than the old ones and this one featured a lot of uphill runs to which I employed my only strategy – walk up, run down. The problem was that there was a long stretch of uphill and so I walked almost the entire section. Then came the downhill and I saw my target for the race – Miriam Quiambao. No, I’m not trying to hit on her. I want to make sure I finish faster than her. When I pulled beside her, it was the start of the downhill part and then I sprinted all the way down as if I really really really really had to pee (which I did actually). After the downhill was a small road, a rotunda then another long stretch of downhill to which I again sprinted down. I wish I could curl myself into a ball and just roll down the hill. In the final stretch, I had a few more in the tank for short bursts of speed but eventually I unofficially finished the race at 39:30 (based on my sportsband timer).

The problem was, like in the Philstar race, there was a loooong line at the finish line because the organizers at the finish line had to rip off the bar codes from your bib number. The problem was that the bar code was hard to rip off and the organizers were too careful. This means that after forcing myself to sprint the last few meters to get a better time, I found myself helplessly waiting and watching the seconds just add up to my official time. When the official results came out, I clocked in at 45 minutes! The worst part of it was that Miriam Quiambao somehow blinked her way to the finish line and clocked in at 35 minutes! No fair! My nephews placed 75 and 156 while my brother was 299. Me? *hay…* 1648 :-/

After the race, we went over to the Condura village to claim our medals, get some drinks and take pictures. The Condura village felt like a school fair with booths, food, photo ops and a lot of people. Nothing spectacular, just endless people, food and dust. We went home when the sun came up.

We had two weeks to prepare for the next run – Century Superbods Run!