Delta Run - Feb 08, 2009

The Delta Run is the first run that Per and I will do for the month of February. We will do the 10km race, which I need to meet my quota mileage for the day and which Per needs as practice run for her first 15km race, which will occur two weeks from now.

We got to the venue around 5:45AM and went to the registration booth to make the payments and claim our race bibs. There was a long line of runners by the time we got there but we didn't mind it as we were still quite early for the 6:30AM race. After claiming our bibs, we did a short (0.67 km) jog on the oval as a warm-up for the race. Stretches were done afterwards.

There were only about 200- 300 runners for this race, a welcome change from the very crowded races in Fort Bonifacio. This one feels more intimate and more exclusive (similar to Nike+ Race and Dasma-Forbes Run of 2008).

We started the race past 6:30AM, but that was okay as sun was still not out so it was still chilly. I went off at a pace of 5:10 minutes/ km and tried to see if I can keep this pace. I couldn't! I was tiring and breathing hard by the 2nd kilometer! Not only that but my stomach was giving me troubles. Oh man, I hope this won't be another disappointing race for me! I slowed down my pace and continued running.

I noticed that the race marshals were all students and they were doing a good job in letting the runners know which way to run. They were holding purple signs with the words "this way" written on it and had the signs pointed at the right directions. The 10km route was just two 5km loops and were quite nice to do. These students were also the ones manning the water stations.

On the final 5km, my stomach acted up again and there were times I had to stop and walk for a few seconds. I had a feeling I won't be able to attain my goals due to the walk breaks but I was still hoping that I can do a sub- 60 target and increased my race pace. Then, I saw the finish line up front and did a final sprint to the finish line!

My time was at 57:34 with an average pace of 5:54 minutes/ km. Distance as measured by my Garmin was at 9.76km.

Goals for this race:

1. Out of the 5 UP 10km races I joined last year, I only finished 1 at sub-60 so hoping to do that again for this race. Goal Achieved! Yehey!

2. Beat current UP record of 58:38. Goal Achieved with time of 57:34! Double Yehey!


I ran back to look for Per and once I found her, we ran together for her big finish in this race as well. At the finish line, we each got a bottle of Pocari Sweat and also some free taho! Yummy! For me, this race was quite organized in that it had a lot of water stations and the students were doing a good job in marshalling this race. There were no singlets given out but that was expected since the race fee was quite low.

Next Sunday we will be Mall of Asia grounds for PowerRun Race. See you there!

The easy to reach Starting Line Banner

RFB's Kili kili (armpit) Powers!