Botak Paa-bilisan Race - October 19, 2008

I am all set for this race to be held on October 19,2008 at Fort Bonifacio at 6:00AM. I was able to register for this event in last Sunday's PMI PROUDLY 60 Run for the 10Km race.

For a registration fee of Php 250, it comes with a race bib and that of a Botak Orange Singlet. According to the rules and regulations found inside the brown envelope, all runners MUST wear the singlet when joining the fun run. The problem I encountered here which was the same as what I encountered in the MILO race, was that the XL Singlet I got DOES NOT FIT me. There should definitely be a Running Fatboy Size or XXL size to fit on the ummm... big boned runners like myself! Well, they might still come up with an XXL sized singlet as I got the organizer's contact details for exchange of shirt.

Note: PMI's singlet also doesn't fit me but at least they don't require all participants to wear said singlet.

This will be a series of races that BOTAK will organize in different locations in the country but for 2008, this will be the only race they have. Other races they will do will be in Malate (Feb 15, 2009), Quezon City (May 10, 2009), Mall of Asia (August 2009), and back again to Fort Bonifacio (Nov 2009).

At time of my registering, they said there is 3Km, 5Km and 10Km categories but they are only taking participants for 5Km and 10Km so a guy had to get their contact details for joining the 3Km race with his family.

There will be cash prizes for first three finishers for each race and cash prizes for top three finishers in each age categories for each race.

My Recommendations: I hope they come up with discounted prices for those participants who have joined one of their races to have option of paying less minus the singlet on succeeding runs.. That would encourage us to join more of their races. Besides what would I do with four generic Botak Singlets that I can't do with one?

Joining and completing all four races successfully will reward participant with finisher medal, certificate or a finisher singlet for all races. Joining all four runs will lead to a total expense of P1,000 and four generic Singlets so it will be nice if there is special incentives for joining all of them.

On a personal Note: I will be doing my first half marathon on October 12, 2008, a full week before this event. I don't know how much I have recovered by then for this race so this might not be a personal best target for me but more of a recovery run. Will see how I feel after my half marathon. But will definitely aim to still finish this, whether to run or to walk. Per has also registered for the 10Km race so I may run with her as well to try and beat our joint finish time that we set in PMI PROUDLY 60 RUN. But again, that would depend on how conditioned I am on this day.




My race bib. Paa-bilisan: catchy name!


Botak registration booth at U.P. Campus