Men's Health All Terrain Race - June 15, 2008 (part 2)

Race started at 7:00AM for the 12k Trail Running. Not much runners compared to the fun runs held in Fort Bonifacio as it's quite far from Makati area and since it just offers a 12k route, it eliminates a lot of people just looking to do shorter runs (hint, hint).

At the beginning of the race, there were already a lot of uphill climbs, which prompted a lot of people (myself included) to walk instead of run in an effort to save on energy. But organizers made up for the hard start by having a lot of downhill running at last leg of the race. Course was a mix of concrete ground and pebbled (and some muddy) trails.

When I had a hard time getting a skin tan at the beaches of Boracay, here it was very easy as my skin got dark just from running for more than an hour. It was that hot! Automatic darker skin for all of us! Good thing there were enough water stations here to sate our thirsts.

It took me a very long time of 1 hour and 23 minutes to finish this 12km course but had already come up with a list of excuses to make up for it:

1. It was my first 12k Trail running race so regardless of how slow I am compared to my regular 10km races, it is still a personal record for my one and only 12k Trail running record. Clearly, this excuse is a one-time thing only.


2. I wore heavier but safer trail running shoes so not used to its weight and feel. But glad to have worn this old pair as it got dirty from the mud and saved me from a lot of potential ankle sprains had I worn my regular running shoes.


3. There were some open but inclined areas where I was thinking of running instead of walking but with the very hot weather, I didn’t want to run and risk a heat stroke. Yes, it really was that hot! Besides, none of the runners around me were running so figured they must all know what they were doing.


4. My performance here is still better than the Mens’ Health 8KM All-Terrain Race I joined exactly two years ago when I finished it at about 1 hour and 10 minutes. And this race is 50% longer than that one.

The bike race followed at about 9:00AM. We didn’t stay anymore for the awarding of prizes or Father’s Day Festival, as both would happen after the bike race, which would take another hour of waiting under the scorching sun.

Definitely a nice place to run given the change of familiarization in area, course and grounds but it is still something I have to think twice of doing a third time because of the long distance travel from my house.

Me and Gigay with Awarding/Announcing Stage at Background

All happy that we finished it regardless of our time. The word is SURVIVAL!

Group shot with Annlee, Wawie, me and Gigay

Start of 20KM Bike Race