Race for Life 2010

Last November 13, we were back to where it all started—at the front of the Every Nation Building near the British International School. I’ve been waiting for this race since June.

Ah… memories of our first ever race just kept coming back:

• Barely made it to the gun start last year since we didn’t know where to park. Went to the race separate cars.. bad idea.
• Wondered why runners had their numbers already pinned (kala namin sobrang excited lang sila). We still had our race in envelopes and struggled to pin our bibs to our shirts.
• Pins and needles on my neck 500 meters after the starting line; had side stitches..
• The cheering squads… “One kilometer na lang, sir!”; “Good Job!”
• New shoes (aka paltos-makers) and basketball shorts
• Finishing a race for the first time… (this one kept me running the whole year)
• And the calf pains had me limping for a week.

This year’s race was a little different. We were an hour early to gun start and a car short—this got us good parking spots. We were also wearing proper running gear (Ye-yeah , at least kahit sa porma mukang experienced na rin).

We (me and my brothers-in-law) registered for the 10k (My sisters and queen ran 5- and 3Ks). Fees were twice as last year’s, but it’s for a good cause. We even saw the scholars at the start of the race; nice to know someone really benefits from these events.

The gun (aka “man using microphone “) started late. It should have started around 5:45, but I’m pretty sure it was way past 6 am when we were running crossing the starting line. Ran around Bonifacio Global City and made our way to the dreaded Kalayaan Flyover—which is now a standard for 10Ks in the BGC. I thought my short Baguio runs would have me tearing up this uphill monster. Sadly no, ran at a 6:09 mins/km pace to Buendia, and 6:30 on the way back.

After the flyover, I had roughly three more kilometers of pavement to pound. Thankfully , they placed two more hydration stations before reaching the finish. One station only had Pocari Sweat; took a couple of gulps and ran again. I burped my way to the next station that had water only. Needed a few more swigs to get some more burps out and poured the rest of the water on my head.

I had a little more steam after hydrating. Looked at my watch  and 51:30+ minutes have passed; I planned to finish the race under an hour, but I wasn’t so sure I could make it.

I blasted Quiet Roit’s Cum on Feel the Noize, followed by Pearl Jam’s Rearviewmirror on my ipod (a couple of my go-to songs whenever I need a little boost)  and gave it all I got. By the last 500 meters, I was running at a 5:15 pace. Finished at 57:40 by my watch (58:18-official).

Not my best finish, but still one of my best runs. Small races like this give me the most satisfaction.

This race caps a year of running. Did not let two weeks pass without running. Ran countless times in the rain. More than 600 kilometers of self propulsion… more than 20 lbs lighter… and more good memories than I could ever put into writing.