According to Desi Arana of Smart Sports Marketing (one of the race sponsors) the NB Power Run to be held on Sunday will be postponed. This is due to tropical storm “Ondoy” which is battering Metro Manila (under storm signal #1 as of press time). According to another source from Smart the new date for the race would be on November 29, 2009. For questions, call their office at 898-1933 or all NB and Planet Sports registration stores only.
As of 26 Sep 2009 05:13 GMT
Well, maybe. Presenting the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics: a car that’s at par with Toyota Prius 2010 in terms of emission, lowest drag coefficient of any BMW car at 0.22, and killer looks that looks a bit like a trainer:
Doesn't it look like a trainer shoe?
I know it has nothing to do with running but won’t you agree that this cool car is such an eye-candy?
Photos courtesy http://green.autoblog.com/gallery/bmw-vision-efficientdynamics-concept/.
1of 3 international marathons being staged in the country this last quarter of the year and the only one outside Metro Manila is the Subic International Marathon (SIM). One unique feature of this race is that the full marathon would be held on a Saturday afternoon, on October 24, 2009 at 4PM. A sunset marathon? It starts at SCTEX Floridablanca Toll Plaza and ends at Remy Field, Subic Bay. Side events are staged the following Sunday morning.
Sealed SIM race kit as I received it
0, zip, nada—no timing chips for this race though. The race packet was virtually empty as it contained only the race bib and safety pins—no race route, no flyers, nothing! At least the kit comes with a nice singlet though.
The front side of the SIM race singlet
Back view of the singlet
1of the most prestigious marathons in the Philippines as claimed by SIM, this is one local marathon one shouldn’t miss! Despite the “manual” system of timing the uniqueness of running on a Saturday afternoon away from the hustles and bustles of the city plus a chance to run on the SCTEX itself makes this race its distinct from a “typical” marathon. Subic here we come!
101: This is not a vanity number, I got it by mere coincidence (must be a sign of something good)
Alaska Milk Corporation CEO Fred Uytengsu is competing in another Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii—this time not for the win but for underprivileged Filipino children via Children’s Hour Philippines.
To help, please download the pledge form. If you can’t pledge, you may give a token amount thru G-Cash. Just text DONATE<space>Amount<space>4-digit PIN<space>CHILDRENSHOUR and send to 2882. For more information, please call Vic at 894-1163, Bukay at 752-1180, and Ching Arguelles at 840-4500 or visit http://www.childrenshour.org.ph/.
Around 4:30AM we arrived in front of Chinese International School, the vicinity of the assembly area of the race. According to the race packet the 21K would start at 5AM but according to online sources it would be at 5:30AM. The latter turned out to be closer to the actual but the confusion made us arrive in the assembly area early. Unfortunately many still had a late start because the race actually started 5:22AM—eight minutes before 5:30AM as stated in online sources.
Even at 5AM it was still very dark—Christmas season is indeed here. It was not until a few minutes later that it became light enough to see the road. 5:30AM was indeed a good time to start sub-marathon races at this time of the year—any time earlier and we’d be running in the dark. It also made me wonder about the forthcoming QCIM which could start at 4:30AM.
5:22AM the race finally started. From our starting line behind the International School we made our way to Campus Drive before heading back to McKinley Road—it’s probably best that we had this difficult leg early in the race while our feet were still fresh. After turning around near the British Embassy you see the long line of runners and have an idea on where your friends are placed.
It wasn’t hot that morning but it was very, very humid. I didn’t realize this at first until I saw that I gulped down more than half of my 500mL sports drink so early in the race. Thankfully there were ample supplies of water along the route (more often than not I used to pour over my head to cool me down) and some cold drinks from the sponsor (I think it was vitamin-ized water). I love the fact that the drinks from the sponsor was cold but I was a bit concerned because it contained L-Carnitine—usually mixed with drinks and claims to help burn fat. As if we won’t lose enough fat during our 21K ordeal.
5th Ave. I got an unexpected guest who paced with me. I knew he was faster than me so I told him to go ahead anytime he felt like it. It was his first 21K and I knew he could even break my 21K PR (he is a fellow takbo.ph member and is one of my DailyMile buddies so I have an idea how fast he is). During this particular race I was not aiming for a new PR—I was doing this run as part of my training and assessment of my “raw” skill level—whether my relatively relaxed run would still lead to a sub-2 hour 21K. All throughout the run I barred myself from looking at my current pace but I had to break that rule when he asked me what our pace (per kilometer) that time was—4:43. That time I wished I could tell him that without me knowing it as well but that’s impossible and I didn’t want to be rude. If there were some things I’ve learned about runners during races these were:
The latter would be my situation for this race, and since I found out I was running beyond my normal cruising speed I think that subliminally made me run slower. Maybe next time I’ll put a tape over my GF405’s screen whenever I decided to run a relaxed race so I won’t know.
The loop cords that were given during the race were odd—too small to wear as a necklace, too lose as a bracelet! I was afraid of losing one accidentally as I saw many of these lying around along the route so I placed it in my hydration belt. There were five of these cords all along the 21K route and I virtually had to stop almost as many times just to secure it on my belt. If I was aiming for a PR I would’ve been very angry.
By running the race loosely I was able to free myself of the time pressure. Except for that time I knew of my current pace, I was running keeping my heart-rate low at a level where I consistently am able to breathe through my nose and at a speed I was comfortable. Sometimes not knowing is better (as many GF users would attest).
RotaRun “21K” Route
Nearing McKinley Road I was hearing that we were just a few hundred meters to the finish. At first I thought it was for everyone else but 21K since I knew it was too soon for 21K but when the signs directed us to McKinley Road I thought we’d still return to C5 before heading back. When I saw the signs directing us towards the finish I asked a marshal if 21K also goes that way. When it was confirmed I was really concerned that I may have skipped some routes of the race! Did I really made some unintentional shortcuts? Upon crossing the line I was asked if the distance for 21K was really short and that’s when I knew it really was. Even without a Garmin I could tell that the 21K was way off the mark (I can feel it with the distance I ran and I can tell it with the time elapsed). I crossed the 21K finish line with a gun-time of 1:34:36 (unofficial, self-timed)—had it been close to an actual 21K I would’ve been very proud. Checking the GPS distance and compensating had it been an actual 21K I would’ve broken my old 21K PR (even at seven minutes per kilometer pace).
.jpg "Another photo-op for takbo.ph gang")
Another photo-op for takbo.ph gang, courtesy Carlo
Looking back at the race (from a 21K perspective) as a whole it was Good. In fact the only issue I had with the race was the seriously short 21K (checkout my running logs to see the actual GPS distance). While it was beneficial for PR purposes (Press Release) it does bring forth a dilemma. That dilemma is: how do I log thee? Indeed this was a “21K” race PR, but it was far from 21K. Should my 21K PR retain itself since that was a valid 21K, or should I have a “21K Race” PR?
Special thanks to Marga for the “shuttle service,” Bong Y. for our “special arrangements,” and Carlo (Drum and Run) for the pictures.
How does QC (Quezon City), QCIM (Quezon City International Marathon), October, and 2009 relate to each other? Aside from the obvious relationship of QC and QCIM, the staging of the first QCIM on October, 2009 was not a coincidence (or was it?).
As most residents of Quezon City know we celebrate Quezon City Day every August 19th, the birth date of the late President Manuel L. Quezon (August 19, 1878) whom the city was named after. So why was the QCIM not held last August and instead this October? Quezon City was actually established on October 12, 1939 so this October, 2009 is the 70th anniversary of the city. Isn’t an international event such as the QCIM a great way to celebrate this event? Happy Anniversary QC!
The Quezon Memorial Monument is 66 meters (217 feet) tall because it was President Manuel L. Quezon’s age when he died). The three vertical pylons represent Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, and the three mourning angels that surmount it are actually holding sampaguita wreaths.
Pacers for both full and half marathon distances are now published along with their corresponding finish times and approximate average pace on http://www.runnex.org/qcim2009/. Expect this list to be updated as more volunteer pacers fill up some vacant slots.
It has been a long time since I was running on the road and since I had no race or group runs for the weekend I decided to do one of the routes I’ve long wanted to do: traverse Metro Manila from East to West. Like my first road run along EDSA which followed MRT-3 this long run followed the route of LRT-2 closely except that I skipped the first station (Santolan) which was a bit off my route, and it didn’t follow the tracks to the service line but instead included the original LRT-1 route for some distance.
This run was supposed to start early Sunday morning but early morning rains ruined my plans so I decided to use the rainy weather to my advantage and defer it for another afternoon run. Unfortunately with this change of plan and time constraints I had to cut my route by a few kilometers from the original target of SM Mall of Asia to UP Manila. Nonetheless it was slightly compensated by starting in Commonwealth Market instead of the original Ylanan Gate of UP Diliman.
2:58PM I started my long run adjacent to Commonwealth Ave. This would be an exceptional time to start a run which was only made possible by the very cloudy weather. I had a little difficulty starting this run because of strong winds that blew against me so you may think of it as a unique challenge.
To make this route more interesting I also included one of my newly discovered routes, Zuzuaregi, to get to Katipunan Ave. and from there it was straight towards Katipunan Station of LRT-2.
.jpg "LRT-2 goes below ground towards Katipunan Ave.")
LRT-2 goes below ground towards Katipunan Ave.
Following LRT-2 via Aurora Blvd. was interesting but immediately I realized that it wasn’t easy—sidewalks were ample but the problem was the air quality. It was very difficult to breathe along Aurora Blvd. because of the huge traffic that goes on this narrow road. Then there was Cubao—people traffic was a concern so running was virtually impossible.
.jpg "Crowded Aurora Blvd. below Cubao Station of LRT-2")
Crowded Aurora Blvd. below Cubao Station of LRT-2
Cubao is a highly developed urban area in Quezon City and with so many structures covering the road there’s hardly any sky in the area of Aurora Blvd. in front of Gateway Mall and as a consequence there’s no GPS signal in the area. I was only able to restore my GPS signal after the Cubao Station of LRT-2.
.jpg "A common sight in Aurora Blvd. are jeepneys known as “patok.” These jeepneys are not for the faint of heart.")
A common sight in Aurora Blvd. are jeepneys known as “patok.” These jeepneys are not for the faint of heart.
.jpg "After the crowd and traffic of Cubao Proper Aurora Blvd. which leads to…")
After the crowd and traffic of Cubao Proper Aurora Blvd. which leads to…
.jpg "…the infamous Balete Drive")
…the infamous Balete Drive
.jpg "Gilmore—the best place to buy gadgets in the Metro")
Gilmore—the best place to buy gadgets in the Metro
After a few meters from Gilmore I enter San Juan where there are hardly any changes. After San Juan I re-enter Quezon City where most of the changes in the route occurred.
.jpg "One of the newest landmarks of Sta. Mesa (Quezon City) is the Mezza Residences (with a passing LRT-2 train below) which could probably be one of the tallest residential buildings in the country…")
One of the newest landmarks of Sta. Mesa (Quezon City) is the Mezza Residences (with a passing LRT-2 train below) which is one of the tallest residential buildings in the country…
.jpg "…which is just across SM City Sta. Mesa (still in Quezon City), one of the oldest SM malls")
…which is just across SM City Sta. Mesa (still in Quezon City), one of the oldest SM malls
Just after SM City Sta. Mesa is the border with the City of Manila. Sta. Mesa, Manila is close to my heart as it was a second home for me for about 10 years. Here Aurora Blvd. ends and continues to Ramon Magsaysay Blvd. This segment of the route from Cubao brings back a lot of memories as I used to pass through here, riding a “patok,” everyday during my College days.
.jpg "A typical LRT-2 train which looks a lot like those seen abroad")
A typical LRT-2 train which looks a lot like those seen abroad
.jpg "The new trains of PNR—looking a lot more like an LRT train")
The new trains of PNR—looking a lot more like an LRT train
.jpg "The very busy intersection of Nagtahan")
The very busy intersection of Nagtahan
Eventually I reached the very busy Recto Ave. Even on a Sunday there are so many people here reminding you that indeed you are in the City of Manila—the densest city in the Metro. To be honest I was afraid to run in this area because I might look like I was running away from something.
.jpg "LRT-2 Recto Ave. Terminal Station")
LRT-2 Recto Ave. Terminal Station
.jpg "LRT-2 service tracks crosses the LRT-1 line")
LRT-2 service tracks crosses the LRT-1 line
For some distance I was able to follow LRT-1 and amazingly my GF405 was able to track my location (to a certain extent) despite the limited GPS reception in the area. Unless you ran on Rizal Ave. itself you’re basically running indoors in this area. Finally after Carriedo Station (Quiapo) of LRT-1 I can see the sky again.
.jpg "Finally a view of the sky")
Finally a view of the sky
.jpg "Crossing Pasig River (can you see how dirty the air was?)")
Crossing Pasig River (can you see how dirty the air was?)
.jpg "The Post Office Building as seen from Pasig River")
The Post Office Building as seen from Pasig River
.jpg "View from the front")
View from the front
.jpg "The newly re-painted clock tower of Manila City Hall")
The newly re-painted clock tower of Manila City Hall
From Manila City Hall it was the typical Roxas Blvd. route for me and like I mentioned earlier I ended this long run near UP Manila via Padre Faura, 23K in total distance, 1,400 calories burned. Here’s the complete route:
My Route
It was more difficult than I expected (humidity, air pollution, very bad sidewalks, people and vehicle traffic) and I wasn’t able to maintain a decent speed throughout this route (“pic-stops” and walking)—but it was worth it! Despite gobbling up more dirty air than all my previous road runs I was able to revisit routes that I no longer pass through and my dream of “traversing” Metro Manila from East to West was now a reality. Frankly I don’t think I’ll be doing a re-run of this route but for those who’d like to give it a try you have my full support! I hope you had a great weekend as well, run safe!
Have you ever thought of running like you used to when you were a child—no schedules, no pace, no distance, no pressure—just pure clean fun? I was lucky enough to have a chance at that last night at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) during my long run. I was pretty bored of the typical Bonifacio High Street (BHS) route and out of nowhere I just thought of running wherever! No defined routes and distance, just being spontaneous. The only rule I followed was to run wherever in BGC I haven’t been to and hopefully not get lost—and I didn’t, so here’s what happened:
Is this route crazy or what? (Click for more details)
At about 4K into my run I received an SMS from a friend that they’d be running towards McKinley Hill. I was at the time already in Market! Market! and taking the usual route to McKinley Hill would take some time. I really was planning on going to McKinley Hill for some hill training and that’s when I thought of joining my friends—by taking C5 to get there.
I was dismayed when I found out how near McKinley Hill was from Market! Market! I’ve never been to that section of C5 before so I had no idea it was that close. After some time I finally met up with my friends along Lawton Ave. and crazy as I am I joined them in their run instead of heading back despite already covering 8K at that time. For some weird reason I was able to convince them to head back to Market! Market! the same way I did going to McKinley—via C5. Like earlier stated it was short but from McKinley it was not easy as it was a very long uphill run on the flyover! From there we had some interesting route going back to BHS and for me ending with a total of 12.92K for the night (including the 1.21K warmup run I had around BHS).
Upon tallying up my runs since I started August last year I just found out that I already covered 1,000K distance! With this last run I currently have 1,007K under my feet and counting towards my first 1,000K for the year which currently stands at 885K. it was truly a rewarding night since not only did I cover areas of BHS I’ve never been to, I was also able to break 1,000K.
Last night running-bloggers were gathered at Kabisera for the much anticipated first Quezon City International Marathon (QCIM) and all I can say is that I’m definitely excited. Unlike other marathons in the country the QCIM covers only one city—Quezon City of course and with a great route it surely is one that you shouldn’t miss. This event is being organized by Finishline and Runnex in partnership with the Quezon City government.
Being an international race you may opt to join the local or international categories provided you are a native of the Philippines, otherwise you automatically fall on the international category. This is due to the different prizes at stake for the different categories:
International Category Prizes:
| Male | Female | |||
| Place | Prizes (Php) | Place | Prizes (Php) | |
| 1st | 300,000.00 | 1st | 300,000.00 | |
| 2nd | 200,000.00 | 2nd | 200,000.00 | |
| 3rd | 100,000.00 | 3rd | 100,000.00 | |
| 4th | 75,000.00 | 4th | 75,000.00 | |
| 5th | 40,000.00 | 5th | 40,000.00 | |
| 6th | 30,000.00 | 6th | 30,000.00 | |
| 7th | 25,000.00 | 7th | 25,000.00 | |
| 8th | 20,000.00 | 8th | 20,000.00 | |
| 9th | 15,000.00 | 9th | 15,000.00 | |
| 10th | 10,000.00 | 10th | 10,000.00 | |
| TOTAL | 816,000.00 | TOTAL | 816,000.00 | |
Local Category Prizes:
| Male | Female | |||
| Place | Prizes (Php) | Place | Prizes (Php) | |
| 1st | 150,000.00 | 1st | 150,000.00 | |
| 2nd | 100,000.00 | 2nd | 100,000.00 | |
| 3rd | 75,000.00 | 3rd | 75,000.00 | |
| 4th | 50,000.00 | 4th | 50,000.00 | |
| 5th | 30,000.00 | 5th | 30,000.00 | |
| 6th | 10,000.00 | 6th | 10,000.00 | |
| TOTAL | 415,000.00 | TOTAL | 415,000.00 | |
If you’re confused to which category to join I suggest you put in Local. There are certain details about this and I suggest you contact the organizers for more information.
Due to persistent public demand pacers would be available in varying paces for both 42K and 21K. If you aim for a particular finish time I suggest you look for these pacers. You may also look for me on race day as I am an official pacer for 42K with a finish time of 6 hours (about 8:31 / km pace). Pacers for 42K include 3:45, 3:50, 4:00, 4:15 4:30, 5:30, and 6:00 finish time (in hours).
The organizers always keep telling us to put our race bibs up front but do we really know why? The primary reason for this is to allow the race marshals to guide and assist you as soon as you’re in their field of sight. If you’re not contented with that think PhotoVendo—your pictures may not be taken! Photographers may not take your pictures if they didn’t see your race bib, and even if they did if it didn’t register with the photo you have no way of finding it conveniently.
QCIM race bib and timing chip
Slots in all categories are limited so it’s better to secure your place by registering early. You also have the benefit of a cheaper registration fee, multiple registration locations (including online), and convenience of not having so much crowd. Registration starts this Friday, September 11, 2009 until October 4, 2009 at the following: Timex SM Megamall, SM Southmall, Glorietta 3, SM North EDSA, SM Mall of Asia; Nike Park Bonifacio High Street; and Second Wind Teacher’s Village, Diliman. Should slots still be available beyond those dates you may only register in Quezon City Hall until October 11, 2009 with a higher registration fee. Race kit with singlet and timing chip will be given upon registration.
For more information about this race you may visit http://www.runnex.org/qcim2009/.
Last Sunday the San Pablo leg of the Milo Marathon Eliminations was staged and of course I together with a couple of friends from takbo.ph was there to lend our support and of course see the City of San Pablo.
The eliminations had 3K, 5K, 10K, and 21K races with the latter serving as 42K qualifiers for the Manila Finals. Cutoff times to qualify for the finals were 1:15:00 (men) and 1:35:00 (women).
It was another 10K race for me. What’s good with Milo Marathon was the professionalism it maintained even on provincial races. The 21K started a few seconds before 5:30AM and the 10K also a few seconds before 6:00AM. Naturally the number of participants was significantly less in number than those in Metro Manila but the 3K and 5K was well attended by school delegates, although still less by Milo Manila standards.
.jpg "At the runner’s coral before the start of the 10K leg with Carina, Mcoy, and Mark")
At the runner’s coral before the start of the 10K leg with Carina, McCoy, and Mark
Milo San Pablo was unique by having a different Start and Finish lines, although just a few meters away.
.jpg "The Start line")
The Start line
.jpg "The government building of the City of San Pablo was the finish line for this Milo leg")
The government building of the City of San Pablo was the finish line for this Milo leg, just a few meters away from the Start line
.jpg "The start of the 10K race")
The start of the 10K race
.jpg "The road was flooded green with 3K and 5K runners")
The road was flooded green with 3K and 5K runners
The 10K route was virtually straight but it was anything but easy—it was one of the toughest courses I’ve had with a lot of very long uphills and downhills that makes McKinley Hill a walk in the park. The 21K was even worse and as a testament there was no female runner making the 1:35:00 qualifying time. The GPS/aerial distance was very accurate (based on GF405 data) for the 10K so the actual ground distance may actually be much longer.
The 10K route of Milo Marathon Eliminations San Pablo
The first ¾ route of the race was excellent since the number of runners was much less but like any Milo race it becomes very crowded once you reach the 5K turnaround (last 2.5K) where you clash with the majority of the runners—make that walkers. Since the road was quite narrow running through the crowd was very tricky and keeping a good pace was difficult. I even had to make a full stop during the race when I ran out of room to run when the convoy of the leader of 21K caught up with me during the last few hundred meters of the course.
.jpg "Me (right) making my way through the sea of runners towards an almost PR 10K finish")
Me (right) making my way through the sea of runners towards an almost PR 10K finish
Finally after 48:58 (unofficial, gun-time, self-timed) I finished my Milo San Pablo 10K race. The finish line was flooded with 3K and 5K runners and it was on a steep uphill after a 90-degree left turn so it really was a time-breaking course. Although I didn’t finish anywhere near a podium finish I’m proud to have another sub-50 (minutes) 10K race especially on such a tough course.
.jpg "Takbo.ph at Milo Marathon San Pablo Finish line")
Takbo.ph at Milo Marathon San Pablo Finish line
For some of my friends their time wasn’t just good enough—it was good enough to place! Congratulations to Roselle (Running Diva) and Carina for both placing 8th in 21K and 10K categories respectively. Congratulations as well to Cindy for finishing her first 21K!
.jpg "I’m seeing green and it’s not Milo—it’s envy!")
I’m seeing green and it’s not Milo—it’s envy!
.jpg "Carina (8th place, 10K), Cindy (21K debutante), and Roselle (8th place, 21K)")
Carina (8th place, 10K), Cindy (21K debutante), and Roselle (8th place, 21K)
.jpg "Not a podium-finish but a podium picture!")
Not a podium-finish but a podium picture!
If I was to give my evaluation for this race I would give it a Very Good remark. I had so much fun with this race that I’m considering running another Milo Marathon leg in the province again in the future. Thank you Milo for bringing the sport to the provinces and congratulations for a very well executed event!
Special thanks to Pepsi for the pictures of the race
Thank you for visiting!
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