Whaaa! For three years I’ve been running at Run United, this was the first time I missed a gun start… by 20 minutes. I guess joining so many races sometimes made one to neglect small details like – assembly time and gun start. I just turned 40 something the other day and maybe such lapses come with age.
Nevertheless, I still did my customary bag deposits at the baggage counter, went to the starting line ran along the course of the 21k route…alone. Yes, I was a sole runner cruising along the Seaside road trying to catch up with the rest of the 21k runners who were kilometers away. But finally, when I reached Taft Avenue, I was able to catch the end tail of the pack. I knew it was the end tail because I immediately saw Elpi Galido the “Slow Runner”, gliding the road at his most comfortable pace. So when I went passed by him I just gave him a tap on the shoulder and throw a few encouraging words to this guy, who have inspired a lot of people (including me) to run under all circumstances.
At the turn-around slot near Edsa, I realized I just passed the 7k mark so I tried to navigate myself along the crowd and tried to at least make up from the 20 minutes I lost. I noticed that even there were cone barriers to keep the vehicles from getting too close to the runners, the volume of cars, jeepneys and busses and the exhaust fumes they produce were just too overwhelming for most of us most especially on the Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue near Taft Avenue area. Soon after I passed by it and crossed Roxas Boulivard, it became loose a bit, but the road texture became rougher compared to the last time I ran there last year at Adobo Run. That’s the thing when you run barefoot, any small changes in the road condition in the usual running rout can be felt easily. Good thing I’ve been doing this kind of running style for quite a while now and slowly I have grown accustomed to run on any type of road surfaces with much less pain now. Truly, the body can adjust overtime.
It was the first time that Run United/Runrio plotted a 21 course solely around the MOA area. It was not the usual one-way course where it normally started in BGC and end up in MOA. Thisa year, the organizers changed the course to cut cost on the logistic expenses of brining the baggage and runners in two locations. But apparently, this new course has resulted to some over-crowding at the end part of the race. As the 21ks started to merged with the 10s and 5s, that was when confusions came in. Nonetheless, some of those glitches were almost un-noticeable considering that everyone had a fantastic time running.
I crossed the finish line with much longer time as I expected. But it didn't matter to me now, because I’m set not get faster anyway but I'm preparing myself to run longer race distances. The after race-program was great as well, since the weather was perfect and most of the runners stayed longer and tried to participate in most of the booth. Many sponsors gave away products as raffles but unfortunately I didn’t won any, but that is ok with me, because my eyes is focused on another bigger prize which is the Run United 3 Philippine Marathon!
Note: All photos courtesy of Running Photographers. :)
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