News: Amazing Pinoy Run Update

The race has been moved to May 25, 2013 (Saturday) at the same venue.

Here are other information with regards to this race:

Fun Run with 8 Challenge Stations to conquer!  Sounds exciting!

Race maps for various categories.  All will be inside BGC area, which is good for me.

So many freebies from joining this race:  finisher medals, finisher shirts, singlets and more...

These are the "more" that I was talking about - raffle prizes, food and drinks and lots of giveaways!!!

In short, you burn calories, you experience doing new challenges and get a lot of goodies after the race - a WIN- WIN Situation!

Register now!

News: En Activ Hydration Belt Promo

MECHANICS:

1.        This promo is exclusively for registered 2013 Run United 2 participants.

2.        Purchase 10 pieces ENERVON ACTIV at any of the authorized registration centers of RU2 (worth 120php) and get the limited edition Active Health Hydration Belt for only 200php (includes 2 bottles X 180mL).

3.        Race bib number must be presented when availing the promo.

4.        Promo can be availed once per bib number only.

5.        Promo Duration: April 26 – May 26 or until supplies last.

Per DOH-FDA Permit No. 0831 s. 2013

Race Report: Run Against Cancer - A Fast 10km Race!

Run Against Cancer was an important run in that it helped build some awareness on the fight against cancer.  This race was for a good cause and I was glad to be a part of it and witness all these cancer survivors run and finish their respective 3km, 5km or 10km race.

In terms of the race itself, it was very organized in that it started on time, had ample hydration areas (lots of water and Pocari Sweat drinks) and distance was exactly 10 kilometers.

I loved the race route too as it went around BGC area and involved some uphill climbs and downhill descents as well.  It was a fast race for me and everything worked perfectly for me (which was rare).  Much as I hate doing it, the 10km runs Alvin made me do paid off for me in this race.  I took one water break in this race as hydration stations were a bit congested and I wasn't that thirsty.  With an early gun start of 5am, we didn't have to face the summer heat too.

My finish time was at 1:01:30, which was more than a minute faster from my previous 10km race and my average pace was at 6:08 (10 seconds faster from Rebisco run).

This was my fastest 10km for 2013!  Praise God!

I felt so happy that I ran for another 6km around BGC area for a total distance of 16km.

Congrats to the race organizers for a good race.  This race may be over but the race against cancer is still ongoing.  Let's continue fighting it!

Examples of Good People Helping Boston Marathon Victims

By now, everyone has heard about what happened in the Boston Marathon race recently, which involved two bombs going off near the finish line, killing an 8-year old boy and two girls and putting hundreds others into hospitals!  It was a tragic event but amid this attack, I thank God that there are more good people than bad people out there!

Here are examples of some of them (as reposted from Time.com's newsfeed)

Carlos Arredondo: The cowboy-hat-wearing Costa Rican immigrant and peace activist was handing out American flags to the runners when the first bomb exploded – a tribute to his son Alexander, a Marine who died in Iraq in 2004, NBC News reported. Arredondo told the New York Times that after the blast he jumped over a fence and ran towards the people lying on the ground — where he found spectator Jeff Bauman with his shirt on fire and the lower parts of his legs gone. Arredondo beat the flames out with his hands, tied a t-shirt around the stump of one of Bauman’s legs, and kept him company until emergency responders arrived.

Dr. Allan Panter: This Gainesville, Georgia, doctor was watching his wife run from the sidelines when the bombs went off. While half a dozen people around him fell to the ground, the doctor started treating the injured, though he told ABC News that he spent most of his time trying to resuscitate one woman in particular until emergency personnel arrived with a stretcher.

Joe Andruzzi: The former New England Patriots offensive lineman carried an injured woman to safety, and a photo of the courageous act has gone viral. He did not know the woman’s name; he only knew that she was from Virginia, and that she and her three daughters were looking for her husband, who was running in the race. Just moments ago, he had carried a man covered in blood to the medical tent. Andruzzi’s instinct to help runs in his family; his brothers are NYC firefighters who worked at Ground Zero during 9/11. A cancer survivor himself, Andruzzi had been at a marathon watching party for his cancer charity at The Forum, a restaurant along the finish line, when the explosions occurred.

 

 

 15 National Guard Members: When 15 active-duty Massachusetts National Guard soldiers planned to run the Boston marathon with 40-pound “rucks,” military backpacks stuffed with “CamelBaks of water, extra uniforms, Gatorade, changes of socks—and first-aid and trauma kits,” they had no idea the supplies would actually come in handy, they told Mother Jones. They were participating in “Tough Ruck 2013,” marching the 26 miles in honor of U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. When the bombs went off, the troops, who were assembled at the medical tent near the finish line, sprang into action and began “pulling burning debris off of people so that the medical personnel could get to them and begin triage,” the 1060th Transportation Company’s Lieutenant Stephen Fiola told Mother Jones.

Alyssa Carter: The cousin of Celeste and Sydney Corcoran — a mother and daughter from Lowell, Mass. who were injured in the attacks — Carter has already raised more than $220,000 on the crowdfunding website GoFundMe.com to help pay her cousins’ medical bills. Sydney sustained sharpnel injuries, while Celeste lost both her legs.


Boston Restaurants: City eateries such as Appleton Cafe and Vapiano have been donating food and letting people use their establishments as places to regroup, according to FOX News. At one point, El Pelon Taqueria was offering free watermelon juice and wi-fi, and letting people use its electrical outlets to charge their phones. The Middle Eastern restaurant Oleana volunteered on Facebook to put up anyone who needed a place to stay. On Reddit, a California woman Liz Kosearas organized Random Acts of Pizza, a thread where people worldwide can arrange via GrubHub for Boston pizzerias to deliver pies to needy people or places where people are working around the clock such as Boston hospitals, fire houses and police stations.

God loves His Children and to have three taken away so early in life, I am confident that justice will prevail and that the terrorists will face the desired consequences either on Earth or in the Afterlife.

 Let's pray for the families who were affected by this attack, let's pray for quick recovery of those people still in the hospitals and let's pray that the Human Spirit will prevail, that it will not be knocked down by something as cowardly as this attack.

Close Encounters at Outbreak Manila BGC (April 13, 2013)

Outbreak Manila Race held its fourth edition at BGC area last April 13, 2013.  I was able to join its first event in Nuvali back in 2012.  At that time, the race was done during the day but you had to conquer a trail run, with a lot of zombies lurking behind trees and bushes and trail paths were a lot narrower so it was hard to avoid said zombies.

For the fourth edition, the setting is now in the city but to make it more exciting, the organizers decided to turn it into a night run!  Just like its past editions, there would be a series of waves where runners would be released to the zombie hordes every 10 minutes or so.  The objective is simple:  with your three "lives" (in the form of red strips around your waist), you have to outrun, outmaneuver and out think the zombies in the hope of getting to the finish line with at least ONE LIFE intact!

I registered for myself, my sibling and her family, and some friends for wave 4 (6:30pm) but it wasn't until past 7 pm did we start our race.  The reason being was that the organizers wanted it to be a little darker and spookier for all of us!

At the race start, you can choose whether you want to be part of the appetizers (you would go off first), main course (where almost everyone would go here!) or the dessert (no idea why anyone want to choose this).  Two of our group members decided to split from us and went to the appetizers while the rest of us stuck to the main course.  After all, it's safety in numbers.

As the countdown reached zero, the appetizer wave was released (there were less than 10 of them), then it was us!  We were like cattle being released to the lions!  Immediately, there were two zombies in front of us and they were running towards us.  A lot of screaming ensured and more running!

It became a vicious cycle of running to avoid the zombies, then walking when the coast was clear, then running some more.  At one point, there were around 7 zombies just waiting for us on the road.  Time to hit those fast twitch muscles!

There were also areas in the course where you had to go through some obstacles with zombies inside.  A little bit more dangerous and I even saw one woman trip and fall to the ground.

Pretty soon I got separated from my sibling and her kids but just kept going until I saw two members of our group up front.  We jogged a bit together but got separated again.  About 3km into the race, a zombie ripped off my bib by accident but was nice enough to tell me about it and even pointed to the bib, which had fallen to the ground. As I was re-attaching the bib back to my shirt, another zombie just stood in front of me, waiting for me to finish fixing it!  Crazy!  I asked him if he could just target somebody else.  Yes, as if you could do that in a real zombie attack!  He said "no" and eyed the red strip on my belt.  Dang! 

I took time re-attaching my bib so I could catch my second wind.  When I was ready, so was he!  And I had to run, dodge, run back, and did some other things to finally evade him and leave him behind me.  I looked at my belt after.  Red strip still there.  Phew!

I thought that was the hardest one but as I neared the finish line, there was one zombie blocking my path.  I would run and veer to the left but he would do the same too.  Okay, I had become the target again!  Runners would pass us on my right side but still he would eye me and the red prize! 

So I had to dodge again and I passed him. 

Usually, when you pass a zombie, they would let you go and just go after the next runner.  But not this crazy guy.  He actually ran after me!  What the %^&$ ! And he was sprinting too as I was sprinting!  Okay, this would not turn out well for me!

To make matters worst, his fellow zombie saw the chase and blocked my way!  Okay, two against one hardly seemed fair but who am I to complain in an actual zombie run.  So I had to find some way to dodge him and outmaneuver the one behind me and I kept on running.  And still, they ran after me.  Oh great, now there were two of them now! 

I saw that the road would curve and figured they should stop before that happened.  So I ran and turned the corner, and saw that they were still running and within reach of me!    Okay, these two zombies are just plain passionate about their roles. 

But before they got my life, a race marshal interrupted their run and told them they had to go back to their spots!  Ahhh, I was saved!!  Bet the marshal was surprised they got that far!

Out of breath, I once again looked at my belt and saw the red strips there!  I got away intact from them! Human - 1, Zombies - 0!

And it was the finish line: with one section for the dead and one section for the alive.  I walked proudly to the alive section and showed them my belt with two intact red strips and got my finisher medal!

I surrendered my belt with the red strips to get the loot bag and finisher shirt and waited for the others to finish.

Some of us lost our "lives" in this race with  bigger "casualties" for Nat who lost all her lives and her bib too!  And Janine who lost all her lives and had her shorts torn as well!

But it was still a great experience for all of us.  Can't wait for the next edition (but may prefer to volunteer as a zombie)!

My first zombie medal!!!

Total race distance was 4km but didn't care anymore as just wanted to finish the horror run!  :)

Why Run? Reason # 9

REASON NO. 9:  TO BE CLOSER TO GOD!

This usually happens when I am running by myself and have a lot of quiet time, and I use it to pray to God about my safety, about the blessings He has given me, about my family, about anything actually.  You can say whatever you want because God loves you and listens to you.

Running is a good outlet for quiet time as there is nothing to distract you here: no TV, no phone calls, no parents or friends to talk to you.  It is just you for the next 30 minutes, the next 2 hours, or however you feel like it.

I also pray when I am in a hard race (say: BDM, Condura Marathon) and I pray that I get to the finish line safe and sound.  I pray for strength and I pray for thanks, that I am able to run that day because not everybody can do it, and that is one of the many blessings God has given me.

Amen!