Power Run 15k (Post-race) - Feb 15, 2009

The Power Run race was scheduled to start at 6:00AM at the back of Mall of Asia and Per and I got there around 5:40AM, enough time for a short warm up jog and some stretching. There were a lot of runners this day and we ended up at the very front of the starting line (with the very fast runners!) as couldn't go inside anymore. I will be doing the 15km race while Per will be doing the 10km race. Each of us have our own goals for this race: which is a new PR given the flat course of this race vs. Fort Bonifacio and better road vs. the uneven road of U.P.

The only drawback that I could think of that could deter us from reaching our goals was the very confusing race route as there were just too many turns in this race. Hopefully, the marshals will be able to do a good job in leading the runners the right way.

From the start of the race, I ran with Nike classmate Dennis and we both maintained a constant pace of 5:30 - 6 minutes/km. We did two loops at CCP and it was here we got our first straw (blue) to put around our necks (we had a total of 3 straws in this race). At this time, I was looking for water and noticed that there weren't many water stations in this race. Good thing, the weather was nice so that helped me keep going.

After CCP, we headed back to MOA. It was here a problem occurred as at a certain point, the road split into two: one going straight and one turning right. Some runners were running straight while others were turning right. The 10km runners were all turning right but for the 15km runners, we didn't know which way to go. A lot of people were asking the guy marshal who was just STARING at them! He was shocked by all the runners interrogating him and just didn't know what to do!!! Very weird! For comparison sake, he looked like a deer which got blinded by a car's headlights and just couldn't move anymore! He was holding his "15km runners this way" sign but not using it to point to any direction. At this point, the 15km runners gave up on the unresponsive guy marshal and we all just turned right with the 10km runners and hoped for the best. I thought it was a mistake and that we might end up finishing the race at a shorter distance, but at this point, there was nothing else to do but follow the crowd and hope for the best (a lot of the fast 15km runners ran straight as saw them in the distance before I made my turn)!

(Note: Upon looking at the race map at the finish line some 30 minutes later, I saw that all runners (both 10km and 15km) were supposed to turn right in this area so why was the marshal confused??? He could have just told everyone to the turn right and stopped anyone for running straight!! He is definitely the worst marshal ever in all my races! Really really strange...)

I caught up with Dennis and told him that maybe we made the wrong turn. I was discouraged as finishing the race at less than 15km means I won't be able to achieve my goal for a PR. Luckily, we were correct and I was able to finish my race with a Garmin measured distance of 15.06km. I was happy with the correct distance but also so tired and looked for the nearest drink area (which ran out of water/ sports drink but good thing I've got some back up drinks in my car). At the finish line, I gave a high five to Dennis for a job well done and saw also Nike classmate Marvin, who finished his 15km race a few minutes ahead of us.

I saw some other Nike classmates/ bloggers who did the 15km and all of them ended up doing the 17km/ 18km route due to bad directions by the marshals! I would have been as angry as they were if I had gotten lost too!! You would expect that with a high fee of Php 300, the race organizers would have managed this race better!

I did another 2.4km jog after the race to cool down and to add some mileage for this run. Very slow pace as I was exhausted already.

My GOAL for this race: Achieve new 15km PR. Goal Achieved at time of 1:28:11 !!! Yehey! Very very happy in that I've reached a sub-90 minutes 15km run for the first time in my life! Awesome !! :)

Per's GOAL for this race: Achieve new 10km PR. Goal Achieved at time of 1:10:40 !!! Double Yehey!!! She is quite happy too as this was her finish time goal and she was able to shave off 3-4 minutes off her previous 10km PR!! She should be ready for her first 15km race next week, where I would expect it to have good marshals and lots of water as it will be organized by Coach Rio. See you there!!!

Per happily pointing out that it should be a Valentine's Special Run.