[running past] philhealth nationwide [run] 2013

[RUNNING PAST] are stories about the running events that I have joined before I started this blog. Expect retro-post such as this to pop up every now and then. 

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The Philhealth Nationwide Run 2013 in February 17, 2013 was the 2nd fun run I joined.  My barkada had such a great time with the Red Cross Million volunteer run that we had to repeat the experience. We chose another run that would benefit health care just like with the first run. I just chanced upon the poster of the Philhealth run in one of the LRT stations, and that was that.

with my original running group

It was our first time to 10 km and it was so tiring! We ran from Luneta to EDSA and back. We ran but, most of the time, we walked and took pictures. Haha. Back then I was still not aware that there are lots of photographers in running event. If you wanted a souvenir, all you need to do was smile for their cameras :)

i was the group's designated photographer...

 

...so there were lots of selfies while running

We finished 10 km in 1 hour and 48 minutes. Yeah, we survived our first 10 km run! That was definitely better than 5 km!  We received a finisher's certificate. Yey!  I remember watching the finishers of the 18 km category and felt envious.  Haha.  Envious of their speed, of their endurance and of their medal. We told ourselves that one day we will run just as fast and just as long. :)

finishing 10k at 1 hour and 48 mins

not bad for first timers

happy with our finisher's certificate

10k run, check!

st. luke's [run] for wellness

I think the universe is conspiring to make my return to running a lot easier.  Just like with my come-back run, I didn't have to pay for the registration of my second run for December.

Last December 07, I joined the St. Lukes Run for Wellness with my some of my co-faculty. Mia, one of the senior faculty members distributed free Run for Wellness prepaid cards at the office.  They were from her husband, Ricky who works as a medical consultant at St. Lukes Global. (Thanks Ricky! Thanks Mia!)

Wow! Another free run! Fun run number nine! Who could say no to that? After we registered online, Mia and Ricky even picked up our running kits for us.  Yey!  Too bad they ran out extra large singlets.  I got a large instead.   Later, I read in the running fora that a lot of runners didn't get the singlet size they reserved.  Hmmm... must be a miscalculation on the art of Proative, the run organizer. Anyhow, it was still a free run and also a charity run for Yolanda, so no complaints here :).

I ran 10k with my friends Edward and Chris.  Both of them had a faster pace than I do but because of recent musculoskeletal pains, they both decided to run-walk 2:1 along with me. Chris eventually ran ahead of us. We also had other friends in the race, Mia, occupational therapists Krizza and Dane, and running newbie, Rom, but they ran under a different category. Having someone to converse with while running is really a big help.  It keeps my mind from thinking about the distance I still have to run or the small aches i feel here and there. Near the end of the race, Edward and I met David, a chatty law professor from Fatima on his comeback run after several years of hiatus. Turns out David also knew some of TBR dreamers we've also met in the run.  Small world indeed.

with Edward and David

(photo credit: Sherwin Guzman of Photo-Ops)

TBR dreamers 

(photo credit: We Run for Good Health)

The run featured blue powder stations which we tried to avoid as much as possible. Haha. Spoil sport, I know. But we weren't able to avoid all of the stations and eventually got hit near the finish line.  That stuff was difficulty to remove but at least it smelled good unlike the "colors" they used in Afterglow.

We crossed the finish line after 1 hour and 36 minutes (according to the finish line timer; the organizers haven't posted the official results yet).  It was easier for me to stick to the 2:1 pace because I was running with another person. When we went back to the assembly area, we weren't able to get loot bags anymore because the organizers already ran out. Perhaps we ran too slow. Haha. We just took a few pictures and left to eat breakfast.

My running pace has improved and I didn't feel very tired and wasn't aching all over after the run unlike the after the first few fun runs I joined. The training is really paying off.  Yey! :)

with Edward, Chris and Rom after the run

 breakfast of the champions:
celebrating Rom's first run with a hearty breakfast

(photo credit: Edward Gorgon)

nike we [run] manila

After a long hiatus, I joined another fun run. Last Dec 1, I was part of the Nike We Run Manila. This was fun run number eight.

It was actually a birthday gift from my flat-mate and fellow TBR dreamer, Chris (Salamat Chris!). It was the first time I experienced registering to a run using a prepaid card. So Cool! We registered as running buddies since having one is a requirement by the event.

On the day of the run, I almost didn't go.  I was still recovering from my cough and cold and wasn't feeling 100%. I also had work deadlines to finish.  But the run was a birthday gift and I couldn't say no to a birthday gift. :)

We got a text from RunRio to come to the venue at 1PM to avoid the traffic.  Deciding that it was sound advice, we left Manila early and got to Marikina a few minutes after 1PM. We avoided the traffic but we had to wait three hours for the run to start. Prior to going to the race venue, we stopped by the house of Chris' lola and picked her up for lunch. We ate at Krung Thai, an authentic Thai restaurant a few blocks away from the race venue (Sarap!). I saw a few runners having lunch there too.

After lunch, we headed to the race venue. It was packed! There were so many runners and all of us were running the same distance. By 3PM, the announcers told us to proceed to the starting line.  Even though we still needed to wait an hour for the race to start, we were already part of the second wave! I think there were three waves in total.

so many eager runners waiting for the event to start

with running buddy Chris

After an hour of waiting, the race started. I did a 2:1 run-walk ratio, something I learned from my TBR training. It was refreshing to run along the streets of Marikina.  The air was not-so-polluted; the residential sights were a big contrast compared to the buildings of the usual fun run routes; and the cheers of the residents themselves were enough to lift anyone's tired spirit.  The streets were narrow though.  Too many times I had to weave around some of the runners and walkers to get past them. There were adequate hydrations stations.  The stations were as long as one city block with Gatorade and water. Unfortunately, even if there were huge garbage containers at the end of each hydration station, most of the runners still chose to throw their cups on the street. Tsk tsk. I wonder how the Marikina government reacted to that.

I crossed the finished line after 1 hour 58 minutes (1 hour 49 minutes according to my timing chip). My usual pace is 10 minutes per kilometer. So I guess that's not so bad considering I'm not that well during the time of the run. :)

It took me less than a minute to get my finisher's shirt and water bottle. They were that organized.  Kudos to RunRio and Nike for this well-organized event but I hope they choose a different venue next year.  A lot of people had trouble getting to and home from the venue; the streets were too narrow for 15 thousand runners; and based on what I heard  from different fora, a lot of residents were negatively affected by the traffic redirection. If not for that, it would have been a perfect running event.

Run Gopher at the finish line 

(photo credit: JRLO of the Running Photographers)