Yamaha Run - 3rd RunRio Manila Leg!

Here is another race from RunRio.Inc as part of its Manila Series: YAMAHA: RUN FOR HEROES.

With a target of 10,000 participants, the organizers are targeting runners for these race categories: 3K, 5K, 10K, and 21K. Race will be on JULY 3rd, 2011 and will start and end at BGC.

The beneficiary of this race is HERO Foundation, which is all about helping kids of fallen Filipino soldiers by providing them educational support so that each child may finish his/her schooling.

Should the target of 10,000 runners be achieved, Yamaha Philippines is kind enough to donate an additional Php 1,000,000 for this foundation. Now, if that doesn’t get you to register, here are a couple more reasons to join this race.

1. It is by RunRio.Inc so expect it to be a very well organized race in terms of water stations, marshals at important points, free photo downloads, chip timer for accurate race results, discounts at Planet Sports, etc.

2. It forms part of RunRio Manila Series. So if you have completed Goldilocks Run, and the upcoming Greenfield Run, then by registering in this race (and finishing it), you are one step closer to finishing the Manila Series. Special prizes to participants who complete the entire RunRio Series.

Note: as just announced, this isn’t a Trilogy and they will be having Rexona Race as its Leg 04! (Hopefully, not too many Legs in this series or it will be hard to finish it).

3. Nice Yamaha black and red singlet from New Balance! That alone more than covers your registration fee.
   

4. Additional perks for 21km finishers: A very nice Yamaha Run Medal with a matching Yamaha Finisher Shirt! There will also be finisher certificates but not sure if it applies for all race categories or just the 21K distance.
   

The 21K route goes from around BGC to Buendia Avenue via Kalayaan Flyover all the way to near South Super Highway intersection for the U Turn back to BGC.

REGISTRATION DETAILS:

Online registration period is from May 30, 2011 to June 19, 2011 only.

Delivery of race kits will start on June 5, 2011.

In-store registration period is from May 30, to June 25, 2011 at the following venues:

· RUNNR – G/F Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City (Tel # 4031787)

· R.O.X – Level 2 R.O.X. Bldg. Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City (Tel # 8564638)

· Toby’s SM Mall of Asia – G/F Entertainment Mall, Roxas Blvd., Manila (Tel # 556-0445)

· Planet Sports Glorietta – 2F Glorietta 3, Makati City (Tel # 8177896)

· The Athletes Foot ATC - Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City

· Planet Sports Trinoma – 2nd level, Trinoma cor. North EDSA, Quezon City (Tel# 9167451)

· The Athlete’s Foot Galleria – 3F Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas Pasig City (Tel# 6363162)

*All registration sites are open daily, 12nn to 8pm.

Special Registration Site (May 30 to June 25; open daily from 10am to 7pm):

· Yamaha YZone Flagship Shop – Lot 8 Blk. 8 ADB Ave. cor. Opal Road, Ortigas, Pasig City (Tel# 6379552)

June 5th: Great (and Challenging) Races!

Why did they have to put these races on the same date? Grrr !! All look interesting and here’s why:

REEBOK ZIGTECH RUN

To promote their new running shoes, Reebok will have their run at BGC (also known as Fort Bonifacio). With a 15km event, this run is different from the regular ones in that one has to run up 5 flights of a building around mid-way in the course. Hence, the Zigtech (Vertical and Horizontal) Run!

This is similar to the Men’s Health Urbanathon 2009 to which Per and I participated in and similar to last year’s Vertical Run by Sketchers too. Quite a unique experience!

AKTV RUN

A race by Runrio.inc, this one is held at Mall of Asia Complex and has 21km race event as its longest race category. Aside with all the perks of a Runrio Race (lots and lots of cold water and sports drinks, km signs, quick results, etc.), a bonus for 21km finishers would be the unique finisher medal (to which I love) and finisher shirt.

But it is still 21kms on a hot summer day! Luckily, the organizers made start time quite early so hopefully you will be nearing the finish line before you get tired from the heat!

MEN’S HEALTH ALL TERRAIN RACE

And speaking of Men’s Health, they have their own race at Nuvali Sta Rosa Laguna for a trail run (up to 16km), a bike race (up to 40km) or a combination of both (10km run + 20km bike).

I still haven’t tried running on Nuvali and that’s something on my wish list that remains unchecked.

Again, all these races present challenges in their own way (climb up a building, run a half marathon, do trail running) and I am sure, whichever you do, you will have a fantastic time!

Question is: which one to pick?

Brooks 15k Run - FAIL !

It started out so well...

I got my very nice Brooks XXL sized singlet on Saturday at RUNNR Store, BGC with my race kits. The finisher medal that I saw on “Brooks Run Happy” Facebook page was quite interesting – instead of the usual tin/metal material, they used wood instead with a nice smiling face on it. Finisher medals are for all finishers and not just for the longest distance.

Parking was quite easy at BGC as I parked my car about 100-200 meters away from where the race would commence. Enough time for me to get there in time and to do a little stretching. The tents, starting lines, etc were all laid out nicely while the 15km runners (me included) await the gun to be fired for our 5:30am race.

But then...the gun didn’t fire. Minutes passed and still the Emcees were talking away. The runners were doing their own countdown (5...4..3..2...1..0) and still no official go signal. More minutes passed. The Emcees were still yakking away but the sun was coming up. Runners were getting restless. What is happening? Some 15 minutes have passed and still more yakking from Emcees! Can’t really blame the hosts as maybe that was instructed to them by the organizers but it was just irritating. What the hell was going on? Why can’t we start?? Did they forget about us? Didn’t they know how hard it was to run 15km with the sun draining you? I was ready to just go up front and talk to someone or just run on the road whether or not the race had or hadn’t officially started! Then the Booing started. Lots and lots of booing!!!! And still.... nada, nothing! The Emcees were (finally?) noticing and asked the runners if they were all ready to run to which we all replied “Boooo!”. Man, that was terrible!

After what seemed forever, the race finally started amid a small display of confetti. Pathetic!

There were no sports drinks in this race. No long tables at their water stations. Rather, it was just one to two water containers on one small table, with three attendants filling up cups as runners go to them and wait for their water. Good thing I wasn’t aiming for a fast race so didn’t mind waiting for it. There was one water station on top of Kalayaan Bridge than ran out of plastic cups and that was when we were just at 3-4kms!

Thankfully that was an isolated incident and rest of the race went off without any problems. The organizers put more water stations at the latter parts of the course, which was good too.

At the finish line (course measured 14.5kms according to my Garmin), I got my loot bag, which was a loot bag inside another loot bag with a lot of ad flyers and brochures. What the! There were two hand sanitizers but that’s about it. Sigh!

Oh well, at least the medals and singlets were nice. Still... it was a disappointing race for Brooks Running Shoes! Boo!

Goldilocks 21km - Struggle!

This may be one of my slowest 21km time ever but that’s expected for a guy who got (a lot) fatter, lacked training and ran with my Kryptonite (Summer Heat)! The heat I can’t do anything about but for the weight gain and lack of training, well, there really is nobody to blame but myself.

Still, I joined this race for the finisher medal that I could add to my collection. After all, with no cut off time imposed here, I could basically walk the entire route and they (marshals/ organizers) still have to wait for me to finish my race. That’s the advantage here. You can join a half marathon with little or no training as long as there is no time pressure for you. But you should still know your boundaries. That is to say, don’t force yourself to run all the way if your breathing and legs are telling you that they can’t handle the speed or endurance you set for them. Walk, drink water, jog, walk some more. And that’s exactly what I did starting from 7km all the way to 21km mark (which explains the 8min km pace). The disadvantage of lack of training is of course getting tired quite early in the race and taking a long time (with the scorching sun) to finish it.

But finish it I did and got the nice finisher medal plus a bonus: a really nice finisher shirt that fits me perfectly!

My results are as follows:

DENNIS QUE PE
Bib No. 2462

Finished 2:48:48

Overall: 1,320th out of 1,638 Runners
Male: 1,154th out of 1,382 Runners
M30-39 (Age Category): 432nd out of 518 Runners

Free Barefoot Shoes! - VivoBarefoot Neo

Note: this was revised last Friday but due to some technical problems with Blogspot, it reverted to its original post. Putting up again revised post on this...

Thanks to Terra Plana Philippines for these shoes and for Barefoot Running Philippines for the Barefoot running sessions at Ultra. Looking forward for more of these sessions and (hopefully) more raffle prizes!

Guess the luck of a preggy woman extends to her husband... :)

In claiming my prize, Per and I visited their store located on the 3rd floor of Trinoma Mall (right next to Marks & Spencer). For this model (VIVOBAREFOOT Neo), there were four color combinations to choose from: white/red, white/ green, white/black, and yellow/black. I got to say these shoes really looked stylish and after trying most color combinations, I settled for the white/red ones. Retail price for these shoes are at Php 5,500.

These shoes don't look like your ordinary bulky running shoes but rather chic, fashionable walking shoes. But don't let its appearance deceive you as they are quite comfortable and I've been wearing them for days now. The thin insoles could also be removed for a more "barefoot" feel and these shoes could be worn with or without socks. The shoes are perfect for me given that they have a wider toe box compared to other running shoes out there (Adidas, Nike) and perfect for those thinking of running barefoot but didn’t want to get feet dirtied or blistered.

In terms of the weight of the shoes, my 11.0 to 11.5 size would be approximate 9.0 oz, which is similar to the NB 903/ 904 series I used to have (and to which I used for running full marathons once upon a time). It’s heavier than other minimalist shoes (Vibram Fivefingers) but still lighter than most running shoes.

The real test for these shoes was when I used it for running, which I reluctantly (as didn’t want to have them dirtied) did last Thursday night at Ultra Track Oval.
From a target of 2.5 -3km short jog, it extended to 6km with water breaks every 2.5kms.

I got to say I did not feel any heel pains when I ran in these shoes. My calves were tight so had to walk it off at 2.5km to loosen the muscles again. But I’m thinking that this could be the “barefoot” way of running as the exact same thing happened to me in my previous barefoot run sessions. I was able to run my fastest 400 meters repeatedly as well, which I wasn’t able to do for some time now. It being lighter than my average running shoes could have helped with that as well.

On a negative side, the tongues of the shoes were mildly damped after running 6km so I am not sure if it was the hot weather that night, or my faster than average pace, or the material used in the shoes that lead it to absorbing the sweat more than my regular New Balance shoes, but this needs to be explored further.

As mentioned, these shoes and other models are available in Trinoma Mall but they also have stores in Mall of Asia and in Cebu, among other places in the Philippines.

CCF Run + Forbes Run = 21km Weekend Run

Saturday (May 7, 2011):

I first ran 3km inside the village before heading out to Tiendesitas for the CCF Run to Build 10km event.

I parked my car at Tiendesitas before heading out to the starting line where I saw a lot of familiar faces all doing the 10km race (Benny, Jay, Nat, Dave, Carolyn, Gigay, Mich, Meynard, Alvin, Anson, Vincent, Jobel, etc.).

With a very hilly route, PR is thrown off as people ran to have fun and for a bigger goal, which was for the construction of CCF's future building.

I walked a lot of times as the sun got to me and I was careful not to run too fast as I had to run 3km more after the race, my longest slow run since March! Wow, fitness level is definitely at its lowest for this RUNNING FATBOY! But no choice for me if I am going to survive the following weekend's Goldilocks 21km Race!

I finished this race at a super slow time of 1:13++ (I think.. as my name wasn't posted in the official results), got the nice loot bag and disappeared quickly!

So sad! I didn't want to leave yet but knew if I delayed this further, I wouldn't have done the 16km self-imposed target I set for myself (as it was getting hotter and hotter)! Well, it was good that I left and re-fueled as I was able to finish the last 3km and with enough energy to run some more. 16km distance conquered! Confidence re-built for a 21km run!

Congrats to all finishers for this race! Even with the hot weather, there were ample water stations located strategically along the route.



Sunday (May 8, 2011): Forbes Earth Day Run

This has got to be the most expensive 5km and 10km run in the Philippines! To note, a 5km race which includes a bib and a singlet costs Php 800, while a 10km race which had the same items as a 5km race costs Php 1,000. There are no chip timers, no finisher medals, no loot bag, nada!

And you can't run this alone. It's a buddy run so in order for you to run a 10km race, you need to get a partner and each of you shell out Php 1,000! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !!!!

It's for charity... but still....$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ !!!!!

So I ran bandit! I knew the route anyway and I made sure not to stop at any of their water stations for the 5km race. I even went out to the next street to make the turn instead of going down the road
to head back so that's another 500 meters for me.

5km route was just a simple 2 loops around North Forbes Village. Another come-on for this race was that you will be running with Ms Earth Philippines Contestants. But still.... Php 1,000 for a 10km race is really expensive!

I kept wondering what made this run so expensive: is it because it wants to target the exclusive residents of Makati Villages only (as registrations only available there)? Do the Ms Earth Philippines contestants charge high fees for this run? Is the singlet made of gold threads? Is the "every-corner" direction signboard too high of a cost for the race committee? Does the nice luxury car that started the 10km race command a high fee from its owner?

After finishing the 5km run, I still did not have an answer but just glad that this run is for charity. Then I saw the faces of the runners and they were all cheerful and smiling. They held hands as they crossed the finish line (requirement for the Buddy Run). Lots of kids running with parents, spouses running together, friends with buddies. All in all, they had a great time! And that is something you can't put a price on....


A proud Bandit runner !

News: Greenfield Clean Air Run 2011

Here is another race from RunRio.Inc:

Greenfield Clean Air Run 2011 will be held on May 29, 2011 at Greenfield City, Paseo de Sta. Rosa and will have 5km, 10km and 21km race categories. For runners bringing their kids, said kids can run the 500 meter dash.

Race Start Schedules are as follows:
5K 5:50AM
10K 5:30AM
21K 5:15AM

Prices are Php 600 for 5K and 10K categories and Php 750 for 21K categories.

Registrations are now ongoing (until May 15, 2011) at the following places:

- R.O.X. – Level 2 R.O.X. Bldg. Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City (12nn–8pm) .
- Toby’s SM Mall of Asia – G/F Entertainment Mall, Roxas Blvd., Manila(12nn– 8pm)
- Planet Sports Glorietta – 2F Glorietta 3, Makati City (12nn – 8pm)
- The Athletes Foot Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City
- Planet Sports Trinoma – 2nd level, Trinoma cor. North EDSA, Quezon City(12nn – 8pm)
- The Athlete’s Foot Robinsons Galleria – 3F Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas (12nn – 8pm)

Singlet Sample



Route to Race Start (based on South Super Hi-way)


There are also FREE Shuttle Buses for people who do not have access to Greenfield but this is on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVE basis and runners who registered early (meaning right now!) for this race and want to avail of the shuttle bus service should inform the attendants at the registration areas so they could issue you a bus stub. Unfortunately said bus stubs are just good 1 per runner so if you plan to take your non-running family/ friends with you, you may need to bring your own car to that place.


Where to take the shuttle bus




Sample of Bus Stub

This race also serves as Leg 2 of RunRio Manila Trilogy Series with Goldilocks Run as its Leg 1. Leg 3 could be the upcoming Rexona Run but have to wait for further news on this. I hope to complete this Trilogy (fingers crossed).

There will also be a special finisher giveaway for 21K runners who have completed their races but as of now, it is still a surprise. Can't wait to see what it could be!

See you there!

Barefoot Running Session 2

After a successful event in MOA a few months back (click to read: Barefoot Running) a new challenge was presented to me: run 5.2km on Ultra's Oval Track. This would mean running the 400-meter Oval Track 13 times with no shoes or socks involved.

But before I took the challenge and got my feet dirtied, there was a short talk on Chi Running given by Lit Onrubia. In his talk, he discussed the importance of using balance in running, the proper running forms needed to protect one's body from injury, proper landing and take off, counting cadence, etc. This was followed by another short talk by Mike Logico, a regular barefoot runner, who explained some more things with regards to this new (or is it "new" old) form of running generating interest in the country. Mike gave up on his running shoes after getting injured with it for so many times (sounds familiar?). He then continued running barefoot and hasn't turned his back on it since then. It was, in his own words "his last hurrah" to running.

Both talks were quite interesting and I really took this to heart. Being injured myself for the longest time, it was something that definitely caught my attention and made me wonder, "what if running barefoot was the cure for all those runner's injuries due to wrong running forms?"

Once the talks were finished, we applied what we've learned on the Oval Track. Just to put it in perspective, I haven't been running consistently for some time. Usually it is just on a Sunday for a 10k race and that's about it. I ran last two nights ago at Ultra and did 2.4 km (6 loops) before I stopped to drink water and basically sat down for a couple of minutes. I did a few more loops but was exhausted by the end of it. It was tiring, difficult and I can't wait to reach my target distance of 8kms (after lowering it from 10kms). I kept drinking water, walked a lot and just didn't like the feeling I got. My last 2kms were at a super slow pace of 9 minutes per km!

So I had low expectations for this run too. I figured it would be harder without the support and cushioning of rubber shoes. That it would be stressful for my legs and take a lot more hard work to accomplish it. I even set a lower standard of just completing 3kms here rather than the 5.2kms I originally aimed to do.

Well, there's some good news and bad news: on the bad news - my feet were really really dirty after the run! That was expected of course but the wet, muddy ground didn't help at all. I also developed some small blisters on my left foot.

On the good news, I wasn't tired...at all! I completed the 5.2kms distance and felt I could do a whole lot more. There were no pains in my heel or knees nor that of my shoulders. It was as if I did not run at all! Wow, what a wonderful feeling! So twice I've ran barefoot and twice I was happy by the results.


Group shot!


Mike teaching us proper stretching and how to strengthen our legs further

As a bonus to today's run, there was a raffle prize for one lucky person care of Terra Plana Philippines as they plan to give one pair of VIVOBAREFOOT NEO! Drool !!!!!!

Guess who got it?



Lucky no. 6 !

Can't wait for the next session! Makes me wonder too: what would be my first barefoot race?

Thanks again to Barefoot Running Philippines for a great event! Find and add them on Facebook for future running sessions, caveman style!

And of course, a big thanks to Terra Plana Philippines for the shoes. Can't wait to try it!!

Those who are interested in minimalist running shoes can also visit their stores:

The Barefoot Store
Level 2 Entertainment Mall SM MOA
Level 3 Trinoma

Level 1 Alabang Town Center

Terra Plana/VIVOBAREFOOT Cebu

Level 1 Ayala Center Cebu