Nike Human Race Philippines - August 31, 2008

Get ready for the biggest race in the world. Get ready for the Nike+ Human Race. 25 Cities in the World will have this race for one day only. They will compete against each other for the fastest city time (taken as average finish time of the runners of each city). Unfortunately, Philippines wasn't part of the 25 Cities. How can we compete as our neighboring country Singapore already had 12,000 registered runners for this race?! Still, by the power of the local running blogs here, Coach Rio and Nike Philippines were able to organize a 10k run to be held in McKinley Hills, Taguig City.

There were a total of 300 runners for this event, all having their own Nike+ Ipod and Nike+ Sportsband attached to their arms. Per and I got there a few minutes early and were able to do a few warm up exercises before the race started promptly at 6:00AM. The route was uphill from the start up to the first 2KM, leading out of McKinley Hill and a straight path towards Heritage Park for another 2.5KM course around the area. After which, it will head back to McKinley Hill for the finish line. There was a water station situated every 2KM distance and they even offered bananas inside the Heritage Park.

The weather was quite hot this morning and we all had a hard time completing this run. I ended up taking two cups of water at every water stop as got easily dehydrated by the heat. My legs were sore from the start and felt really heavy moving around so had a hard time completing this event. But complete it I did with the goal of being in the top 241 people to get the Nike Finisher Band. My final time is at 1 hour 5 minutes, much slower than my usual time of 58 minutes to 1 hour but still good enough to get said bracelet. My Nike+ Sportsband show a distance of 10.33KM.

Note: Results of race can be seen at www.runrio.com

Aside from the highly coveted bracelet, there were a lot of free stuffs handed out at the Finish line. Among them were an old issue of Men's Health Philippines magazine (but not that old as was still released in 2008), a pair of Nike socks, a finisher photo, Rush water and chips. Considering there wasn't even an entrance fee here, I was surprised by the things we got and quite happy by all of them.

There were also a lot of raffle prizes given out ranging from cruises around the Philippines and gift certificates from Nike Philippines. Here in photo is Rio at the awarding stage.

The Human Race 8.31.08. JUST DID IT !

All happy at finishing the race and getting the nice stuffs.

Ladies at the finish line in their Christmas colored shirts

After the race, we headed immediately to Serendra to claim our bracelets at the Nike Store and have breakfast at Pancake House.

All full and all happy for this very successful event! Looking forward to the next Nike+ Human Race.

P.S. We were able to get some Human Race shirts before this event was announced so ended up having two bibs for this event: No 21 for Philippines edition and No. 207,246 (out of 1,000,000 runners) for the Global edition. Really liked the shirt as Nike Sphere quality and at back of it has the 25 City names. This can still be ordered at the Nike website.

Beijing Olympics 2008: Re-cap

The Beijing Olympics 2008 has officially ended last August 24, 2008 (Sunday night) with a final ceremony where the Olympic flag was brought down from its flag pole, folded up by the Chinese and handed over to the Mayor of London by the Mayor of Beijing. Yes, in four years, it will be London's turn to host this event. A warm up of what to expect in London is shown by a short film clip of London city, of its famous red double decker bus, of Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page performing on said red bus and British soccer celebrity star David Beckham kicking a soccer ball off it (and into the hands of a very lucky Chinese performer).


The Olympic Flame on top of Beijing's "Bird Nest" has been estinguished after 2 weeks of being lit. There were still some fireworks display on site ( I especially liked the fireworks that turned into the five Olympic rings) but they weren't as grand as the ones shown at the Opening Ceremony. The Olympics has ended. And it is now back to our regular TV programs.


During that time, I was able to watch a lot of events. Here are some of the highlights of what I saw:


Football: As mentioned in my previous entry, I definitely wanted to watch the Bronze and Gold Matches. The Bronze match was between Brazil and Belgium where Brazil was able to score and get the medal. It somewhat redeemed itself from the huge loss it suffered from Argentina two days ago but Gold prize is still far from its grasp.

For the Gold Match, they moved the venue to Beijing instead of Shanghai, where all other football matches were held. Nigeria was pretty strong and defensive but Argentina was stronger in that it was able to score a point during the second half of the game and get the gold. A back to back Gold Medal for these Champions!


Basketball: I first watched this game when USA went against China to see how Yao Ming would fare against the Dream Team. He was pretty good but with USA's five great players, it just wasn't good enough to get a lead on USA. It was clear from the start of this tournament that USA is after the Gold Medal. This Dream Team were being called The Redeem Team by others, as they try to get back the gold they lost four years ago. And get it they did by first defeating Argentina in the semi-finals, then taking out Spain at the finals. The Gold Medal match was closer than I had expected as there were instances in the 4th Quarter of the game where Spain was just trailing behind by 2 points. But then USA brought in Kobe Bryant and the small gap widened to more than 10 points. Still, this is better than the average 30 point difference that USA commanded over the other countries during this tournament. Spain and Argentina deserved their medals as they showed how strong their teams were and they won't back down from a challenge by the USA, no matter how strong the USA is.


Tennis: I failed to see Nadal's claim to Gold but was able to catch the Women's singles finals. What first caught my attention to this match was when USA's Venus Williams was surprisingly defeated by China's Li Na in just two sets of the game. Could China possibly get an Olympic Gold?

Li Na's next opponent was Russia's Dinara Safina, who in her own Quarterfinals match, outperformed as well as she defeated world number one Jelena Jankovic! Safina was able to win against China's Li Na and let down China's hope for a Gold Medal. Li Na lost to another Russian for the Bronze Prize while Safina lost to Russia's Elena Dementieva to claim a Silver Medal.

Still, Safina will be part of Russian history as Russia got the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals for the Women's Tennis Singles.

4x100 meter relay: Saw only first round of this for both the men and women's category. Jamaica looked to be pretty strong for this race. USA had a run of bad luck as in the men's race, the baton was dropped on handing it to runner Tyson Gay. This automatically disqualified them. The women experienced the same thing when the baton was also dropped while turning it over to the next runner. Bad Juju perhaps? Jamaica eventually won the 4x100 meter men's relay. No idea for the women's but probably Jamaica bagged the gold too.

Marathon: This was in the TV schedule but for some reason, it wasn't shown. I was lucky enough to watch the Women's Marathon repeat coverage that same night but didn't see the Men's 42k run the following Sunday (live or repeat). Too bad as was excited to see this. No idea how Ryan Hall did here but he didn't make it for the top 3 ranks in the race. Kenya took the coveted Gold medal.

On the women's run, it was an unexpected finish as Romania's Constantina Tomescu took the first place after leaving the pack and just kept on running at a very fast speed. Quite impressed with her performance given her age of 38 years old and the competition she had against her (a lot of the runners were in their 20s). USA hopeful medalist Deena Kastor pulled out early in the run due to leg injury. England's favorite runner Paula Radcliffe was with the race pack nearly throughout the race but had to slow down later on in the race. She finished 23rd in this.

Triathlon: Definitely my favorite event in the whole Olympics given the hard thing each athlete had to do: swim 1.5km, bike 40km, run 10km (in four 2.5km loops)! There were a lot of things that happened here most unfortunate of all was the 6-7 bike crashes early in the race, and had a lot of competitors leaving the race due to injuries. Switching from bike to running shoes were also important and determined who would lead the pack and who would suddenly get left behind. The most controverial of all was when there was a food cart right in the middle of the running track! Unable to go around it, Australian frontrunner Snowsill had no choice but jump over the wall to continue her running. What the hell? Apparently it was around lunch time when it happened and Chinese staffs still uncustomed to the importance of the Olympics dragged the food cart in the middle of the course to give off lunch boxes to the marshals! Unbelievable!

Good thing Snowsill knew what to do or she would have lost the lead she had over the other runners. In the end, Australia was the clear winner for this event as it took home the Gold and the Bronze (and two Emmas at that).

Athletics: Didn't even know this is what they are calling it these days instead of track and field. Aside from the 4x100 relays, saw 100 meter runs, 1,500 meter runs, pole vaults, long jumps, high jumps and 5,000 meter run. Quite impressed with Miankova of Belarus new Olympic record for her hammer throw. They will need a new marker for 2012 London Olympics for the 80 meters as her throw went to a distance of 76.34 meters. Of course, everyone's favorite Jamaican with his golden Puma shoes, Usain Bolt made new world records in the 100m, 200m, and as part of the 4x100m relay. In the qualifying matches for the 100m, he was turning his head to look at how far he was vs his competitors and that was for the 10 second run! Unbelievable! Doesn't even look tired every time he makes a new world record. And speaking of unbelievable...

Swimming: MP all the way. Michael Phelps that is. 8 Gold Medals in his 8 events here. With 8 Gold ones, he set a new record for any one person in one Olympics. Not only that but 7 of his events breached new world records. A total of 14 medals in his very young life. Another new record as well. He has already expressed interest in joining the 2012 Olympics after being interviewed so don't think anyone can beat him in my lifetime.

As Olympics go there were some achievements and some disappointments. Most notably of all was that of China favorite Liu Xiang when he pulled out of the hurdles event at the first round due to leg injury. A lot of Chinese who travelled to Beijing went to watch this sole event and a lot were shocked when he abruptly left the stadium and went back inside his locker room. It was a sad day for China as a lot were in tears for their favorite son. Hopefully, they won't lose hope in him and he will be able to compete in the next Olympics.

The Olympics is at an end after a busy two weeks so till the next one, it's back to watching Powerpuff Girls for me. Haha!

Olympics Football: Remembering FIFA World Cup '06

The Olympics is ending soon and that is unfortunate but maybe it is for the best because for the past few days I have been glued to the television set, flipping through the three or four Olympic channels and holding the Olympic TV guide in my hand (which I got from the local newspaper). I have become a certified couch potato and that is never a good thing.

Faster, higher, stronger is the motto here as the world's best athletes vie for the the Olympic Gold. One of the first games I watched was the football match between Argentina and Australia. Being a football watcher two years ago for the FIFA World Cup match in Germany, I wanted to get the same feeling I had before when I would wake up at 3AM to watch the live performances at a Makati bar. Prior to that happening, I didn't understand what the fuss was all about, why everyone in Europe was so into it, and what made it so special to say basketball or tennis/ badminton, so I decided to try watching one match with my girlfriend. And that's when I got addicted to viewing the sport. Even my friend Peter who had nothing else to do that night and found out we were going to a bar, joined us. Not for the game which he had no interest in, but for the booze. Little did he know that even he got drawn in by the games and became my early morning partner in our quest to see the live games (being just five houses away from each other helped a lot too). We would usually plan to sleep by 9PM so that we can wake up at 2:30AM. I would then pick him up, drive all the way to Makati to one of the bars having live coverage, order some drinks, cheer/ boo the two football teams with the crowd, finish the game, pay the bill and head off to one of the fastfood joints for breakfast before going back home again for a quick shower and drive to our respective work areas. We would do this for three days leading up to the finals and to the famous head butt by France's Zidane. Italy won that day, France first runner up and host country Germany second runner up. It was an exciting two weeks for us and we all started getting our own souvenir shirts from Adidas to wear proudly on these shows. I was able to get Brazil and France I think and had an old Australian cap, which I wore to an Australian match. It was just good fun and when the team we rooted for got defeated, we would just then look for another team to cheer for again. After all, there was no Philippines here so might as well have fun in every match. So football has gotten us in that short time. First time I saw Beckham play too and realized he was that good as he usually scores the winning shot for England via a penalty kick. Janine was able to join us once or twice as she was a certified football player back in her high school (her dad's a coach!) so she was able to explain the various rules to us first-time viewers and answer all our questions: What is a red card? What is a yellow card? Why is there no such thing as a green card?! Why can't that person play in the next match? How long is the overtime? Who is Michael Ballack? Haha.

OLYMPICS FOOTBALL

Going back to the Olympics, I am now confined in my own room (so no gas, booze, food expenses) to watch the games. On Australia vs. Argentina match, Argentina was able to score one goal on the second half and used the remaining time to play with the ball. Australia struggled and in the end, Argentina won 1-0.

The next match I was able to see was for the Semi-Finals. This time it would be Argentina vs. Brazil, which should be a good match given the strong background of the two teams. Argentina the reigning Olympic Gold champion and Brazil five-time world champion has a lot going for this match: Argentina wants to get a back-to-back Olympic Gold (which hasn't happened in the past 40 years) while Brazil, although a five-time world champion, has still failed to secure a spot in the Olympics record books for the Gold medal. For the first half of the game, no goals were scored although both teams were quite aggressive in trying to do so. The second half was quite surprising, starting off with the first goal for this game via Argentina's Aguero. Brazil went wild and tried to make a score to tie off the game but Argentina's goalie was good in blocking two shots going his way. About 5 minutes later, a big surprise came up as Argentina was able to make another shot and by Aguero again who was standing close to the goal when the ball went his way. So 2-0 already and with a couple of minutes to go and Brazil still having a hard time scoring. Brazil got a penalty kick and its captain, the famous Ronaldinho took the shot, to which it was blocked by the goal keeper. Brazil seemed very unlucky that night.

FROM BAD TO WORST

Things headed downhill for Brazil when Argentina gets a penalty kick. This would be done by Argentina's captain Juan Riquelme and he would put Argentina into a huge lead of 3-0! Brazil tried to score but ended up getting two red cards for its players, leaving only 9 players in the stadium vs Argentina's 11 players! It was a terrible day for Brazil ! Argentina would win that game.

Argentina will now go to the Finals against Nigeria (winners of 1996 Olympic Gold in Atlanta) so it will be interesting to see which team will get a second Olympic Gold. This will be shown in Philippine sport channels Saturday afternoon. Brazil, on the other hand, will go on a match against Belgium (11PM tonight at CIS or 12 midnight at Solar Sports) for the Bronze medal award. Both games will be interesting to see and will definitely try my best to catch them. After all, FIFA is still two loooong years away!

Beijing Olympics 2008 in Hong Kong

I have been caught up with the Olympics Fever as I watch night after night of different sporting events in various TV channels. I can’t even remember watching a single Olympics event when Athens and Sydney hosted the sport event four and eight years ago, respectively. Maybe it is because it is China that is hosting for this Olympic that captured my curiosity.

With a spectacular opening ceremony held in Beijing last August 8, 2008 at 8:08PM (that’s five 8s for five times the luck even if it was done in a Chinese “Ghost” month, said to bring bad luck, very conflicting and confusing Chinese views), it looks to set a level that will pose a challenge to any future Olympic host country. The fireworks were spectacular (never mind the fact that some of it may have been computer generated), the performers number greatly at 15,000 people, with near synchronized dancing, and the acts show the rich culture and history of Ancient China that most of us are accustomed to. The grand finale wherein the torch was lit up was truly great as I do not think anyone forecasted that happening. For those who still did not know, they attached a safety harness to the last Olympic torch bearer, lifted him up with his torch and carried him around the Bird Nest Stadium walls while said torch bearer re-enacts slow motion running. Said torch bearer is also one of China’s Olympic Gold Medalist. When the torch was lit up, more fireworks were launched from the ground. The 2008 Olympics had truly begun! The marching parade of each country soon followed. While some countries had 20-30 participants representing their counties (most notably that of China and U.S.A.), other countries had only a handful of competitors joining this big event. They were all treated equally and given the proper respect by all countries. It probably lasted two hours before the parade finally ended for a total 4 hours since the ceremony started.


I saw this while I was in Hong Kong (was there from Aug 5-9,2008) and that was my first experience for this year’s Olympics. Hong Kong, being part of China, will also host its own Olympic Event, that of the four Equestrian competitions. They even have a mascot of their own, to complement the five mascots of China. Whereas China’s mascots represent the elements of fire, wind, water, earth, and that of a PANDA (???), Hong Kong’s represent that of a HORSE. I don’t know what they call their Hong Kong mascot but if you combine the Chinese names of the five mascots of China, it roughly translated to “Welcome to Beijing”. Since some events will be held in other Chinese cities (aside from Hong Kong, there is also Shanghai, Qingdao and Tianjin), I wonder why they used Beijing instead of China as a country in welcoming the competitors?

In Hong Kong, there weren’t any fireworks on 08.08.08 but they showed live Olympic coverage at the shopping mall for anyone interested enough to watch them. I was able to catch the first event at Time Square in Causeway Bay, where China’s Chen XieXia was competing for the women’s 48kg weightlifting title, and gave China its first gold medal. Very impressive in that she was able to lift a 117kg barbell (more than double her own body weight) off the ground, hold it above her head for a few seconds before finally letting it go. As you can see from the picture above, there was substantial interest among the Hong Kong people with regards to China's Olympic performances.

The Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui was also lit up around 8:00PM to show the Olympic events. This is to coincide with the light show they have at the Harbour every night. There was also an Olympic Torch and the five Olympic rings displayed here. An Olympic Piazza was also set up nearby but it was closed when we went there.

In terms of souvenirs, there were some scattered Olympic stores in Hong Kong selling pens, pins, flags, shirts, caps and whatnots but nothing caught my interest. Almost all local and international sports brand (Nike, Puma, Adidas ) have their own Olympic clothes and apparel line for sale as well. I ended up just buying four stamp pieces from the local post office depicting the four Olympic Equestrian events held here.
The countdown has finally ended. The Olympics is here! Photo taken on August 9,2008...14 hours after Olympics had started.

Hong Kong's famous Clock Tower on Tsim Sha Tsui (next to the Cultural Center and Space Museum)

Hong Kong's own version of the "Water Cube"

Even the Hong Kong buildings show off the Olympics!

Night view of Hong Kong

Men's Health Miracle Run - August 17, 2008

As luck (or is it Miracle?) would have it, this run was scheduled before a holiday so there is one extra day of rest for those who woke up early for this race (and another extra day of rest if you are from Quezon City). Things work out fine for me this time around in terms of preparations: my alarm went off right on time and I got to the Fort Bonifacio area about 10 minutes before the gun was fired, which was enough time for some last minute stretching. Too bad all of my running buddies missed out on this event (Kervin, Per, Janine+, Jeanne: I know you all woke up late! haha! kidding! :)). Nearly all of my siblings registered for this event so I wasn't alone in this race (and lead to a new meaning for the term "sibling rivalry" race-wise as we all try to out-do each other).

It was hot by the time the race started at 6:30AM so my goal was try and finish it as quick as possible before it gets hotter. From the looks of it, it doesn't seem to have reached the 1,000 runners target that Men's Health had but being good sport that they are, they decided that instead of donating Php 200 for each runner who finished the race, they will instead put in Php 400 per person, on top of Php 200,000 donation to charity if everyone finishes it.

The race course was relatively flat most of the way and takes about two 5KM loops in order to finish it. There were ample water stations, which also offered bottled multi-colored and multi-flavored Gatorade to all the runners. It was such a sugar buffet for me that I fear I may have drunk more calories than I burned. Ended up skipping two water stations as got too bloated already.

I ran most of the way with very little walking but dismayed at the finish line and upon checking my Nike+ sportsband and seeing I still breached the 1hour mark. Weird though that my official time on race was about 58 minutes and 35 seconds. I let this discrepancy go but then my sisters also informed me of delay in Men's Health timer! Oh man, I guess there is no such luck in my under one hour target for this. Maybe on the next race.. On a good side, my Nike+ sportsband finally registered a near accurate distance of 10.1km so felt quite happy with that.

Took some pictures afterward and hung out at the Nike+ booth afterwards with friends and family.

The boys getting a photo together..

Not to be undone, the girls also took a photo of their own.

We made amends and did a group shot. haha

Shot taken with "Fast and the Furious" Coach Rio

Men's Health awarding stage with Timer (last count at 6,600 km)

The big check for the big money. All going for a good cause. Very Big of Men's Health for that!

Nike+ Human Race - August 31, 2008

Yes! It is finally coming here and it will be held in Fort Bonifacio too! Sweet!

Eventhough Philippines isn't part of the 25 cities on the planet's biggest race, it still didn't deter the organizers (Thanks Rio & Nike Philippines) from still doing a race to be held on 8.31.08.

Details of race as follows:

Start: 6:00 A.M.

Venue: McKinley Hill

Distance: 10KM

Target Participants: Maximum of 1,000 Runners

Registration Area: ROX BONIFACIO HIGH STREET, TAGUIG CITY (starting August 18)

RUNNER SPECIAL PRIZES: FIRST 600 FINISHERS WILL RECEIVE NIKE DRIFIT SOCKS (think this alone costs Php 300 -350 per pair already)

*ALL FINISHERS WILL RECEIVE FREE PHOTO (1 PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT 4x6inc. By: PHOTOVENDO ) AFTER THE RACE

Entry Fee: None!

Yes, it is free but here's the catch: you need a Nike+ Sportsband or Nike+ Ipod kit to join this race. Can't afford one? Then go to http://www.thebullrunner.com/ or http://www.benmchan.blogspot.com/ for a chance to win one!

So only question remains: Will YOU be part of the 1,000,000 racers world-wide ????

Men's Health Miracle Run - August 17, 2008

Men's Health has come up for route map for this Sunday's Miracle Run in Fort Bonifacio. According to this, race starts at 6:30AM (not 6:00AM) and looks to be doing two 5K loops at the various schools for the 10K race. Course looks flat so will try and do my 10K for less than an hour with ultimate goal of less than 58 minutes. I am curious as to what the Miracle Run Counter will look like and what part of the total 10,000km my 10km run will be a part of (hoping for the first 4,000km).

On their website (www.menshealth.com.ph), they have removed Powerbooks as part of their registration centers and now just allow registrations at All-Terrain Bike shop in Libis, at R.O.X. in Serendra, or at Summit Media office in Pioneer.

I haven't gotten my kit yet so hopefully this will be ready when I go to their office this week.

Milo Marathon - Where's RFB????

After doing the Milo run, some photos were taken and based on picture above, my girlfriend and I decided to have some fun and hide me among the sea of green runners. Try and find RFB below. Have fun! hehe.

Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

Picture credits to my girlfriend Per for this. . . :)

Milo Marathon - August 3, 2008 (post run)

I nearly missed out on this race when my phone alarm didn't go off. Good thing there was a second alarm and once it went off 10 minutes later, I hurredly fixed my things and drove off to pick up my girlfriend and head to Luneta Park. Then the second problem occurred. The race organizers have closed off Buendia Avenue in preparation for the full marathon. I didn't know any other route to Luneta Park except through Buendia Avenue! Forced to look for another way, I got lost twice before finally finding my way there. Then I encountered another hitch when they closed off Roxas Boulevard too! Today definitely wasn't my day. Things just couldn't get any worse than this. As cliches go, things did get worse as it started to rain hard. And I still couldn't find the way to the starting line! I was on the verge of panicking as know how late we already were. By stroke of luck we found the place (still didn't know how that happened), parked twice and sent off twice by marshals (no parking zones!), before we finally settled down to a spot about a minute walk from the Starting line. By the time we got there, the 5KM race had already started. The 10KM race started much earlier which was what I registered for! I was so late for this but determined that I will just finish the race for the experience of it. Then it rained even harder.

But instead of getting depressed, I was smiling. All around me were students running and walking in the rain. Some were wearing jackets while others were holding umbrellas. Some were avoiding the rain and shrieking/ screaming as they ran. Others purposely jumped into the puddles in front of them. It was fun watching all these people doing their own thing in the rain. I was having a good time. I was enjoying the rain. It was a "fun run" for me. A welcome break from all those runs where I try to beat my PR. This was a run I would just enjoy for the heck of it. Hell, I even stopped to take a leak in a toilet nearby, which I never do in a race. And it was here that I had this weird encounter with a runner who told me to use the urinal when he was still beside it, clearly done, but wouldn't leave it! I mean he even motioned to me twice to use it. In that span of time he could have made one step backward to give the much required space but noooo he just wouldn't leave!!!

Anyway back on the run... It was hard to weave among the students and people choosing to walk instead of to run. In the end, I just ran on the sidewalk but it was still crowded. It was a good feeling though, to be among all these people and take part in the biggest running event in the Philippines (here at Luneta, it was already huge but they did 3 more Milo races in the country, which all started simultaneously).

At the 2.5KM mark where the 5KM runners were making their U turns, that was when I really ran. I was among the last already for this category but didn't let that discourage me as kept telling myself that it is a fun run for me. The route is just along Roxas Blvd. heading up the flyover before heading down again for the turning point. It is relatively flat all the way and only hurdles were the huge puddles of water around me. At this point the rain had already stopped so there was a cool clean feeling in the air as I felt all the dirt and smog were washed away by the rain. There were ample water stations (half expecting it to be filled up with cold Milo drinks but that was not meant to be).

At the 7.5KM mark, there were more people already as 5K and 10K runners merged together but with the wide road and late time, it was easier to go around some of them. I crossed the Starting line and made a left turn to run to the Finish line but before reaching it, I had to run among students eating fish balls, double parked cars and runners taking pictures.

I finally crossed the finish line and according to my Nike+ watch at a time of 1:06 (but inefficient at recording distance of only 4.23KM! what the $%#@!). I had a very slow time but with the huge crowd and the walk and toilet breaks, I was expecting my time to be 1:10 so still quite happy. Official time though was at 1:16 which showed how late I was in starting the race.

Next year I will be more prepared and will definitely beat my Milo time! Eventually had two cups of Milo drinks at the finish line and saw a little bit of cheerdancing performance at the stage.

After the race, I took some memorable pictures with my friends before heading off to Max's Fried Chicken for some breakfast. And as for my girlfriend's run? Well, when it started raining really hard at start of our run, she made a quick U-Turn back to the car and spent the next hour catching some Z's. Nevertheless, I am still quite happy that she was part of this event. Expecting her to beat her Milo distance next year too. Haha!

Group shot with Jeanne, me, Janine and Per.

Tourists????

Per looking so fresh and clean! I wonder why? :)

With fellow runners Janine and Jeanne and my first time at Luneta Park.

Cool! The 0 KM mark at Roxas Blvd. Didn't even know they had this!

Spotted...(part 4)

SPOTTED....

At Mizuno Rush to Infinity Run June 2008:

Annlee with her brother Wilbur

Annlee again post-race

Janine+ in her many poses :)

Edwin after his 15k race


Per and Kervin at front of the pack with Janine+, Wawie and me (with my head down) right behind them.

Stevie post-race

Janine+ at Menshealth Urbanathon in 2007. The race that gave birth to our 10K runs!!!

For more photos, go to http://www.theactiveachiever.com/gallery/photos/

Who knows... you might even spot yourself!