Despite the rains and strong winds early this morning, I prepared to run the Araw ng Maynila Half-Marathon Race. I woke up at 3:10 AM, shaved, took a shower, ate my cereals and oatmeal, drank a glass of Ensure, wore my running kit and accessories and I was out of my place at 4:00 AM.
It was not raining along the road towards Luneta Park but I had observed that the wind was too strong and that I could see branches and leaves scattered along the street towards the assembly area. Thinking that the race would start at 5:00 AM and with an arrangement with my staff that I will have to get my race bib at the assembly area before the start of the race, I wanted to reach Luneta as early as possible.
When I reached Luneta at 4:30, I saw some runners waiting at the grandstand while a group of persons were talking and having a meting at the stage portion of the grandstand. As I left the car parked and proceeded to the grandstand, I could feel the strong wind that blows from the sea. I was trying to look for one of my staff who promised to give my race bib for the race. Unfortunately, I could not see one of the runners from the Armed Services and I started also to wait at the grandstand.
I was able to talk to one of the runners and he told me that the organizers of this race had invited the runners/athletes from all the universities/colleges and schools in Manila but the runners from University of Santo Tomas had just left the place. He also informed me that the race was postponed to a later date.
As I was about to leave the grandstand, a utility van arrived and the non-runners who were having a meeting went down from the grandstand and carried the food (in styrofoam packs) from the van to the grandstand. As soon as the food reached the grandstand, the volunteers/marshalls offered to us the food.
As I was about to get my share of the food, the guy who was giving me the pack told me that the race is going to be postponed to a later date because of the typhoon. The food pack consists of an egg omelette, one piece of jumbo hotdog, and lots of rice.
After getting my free breakfast, I went to my car and left the place. It started to rain and the winds blew stronger on my way back to Fort Bonifacio. I need to sleep some more!
To all the runners, I hope to see you on next Sunday’s Rush to Infinity Mizuno 15K Run. Happy running!
Bald Runner 
it was a bummer today this typhoon frank.after preparing and psyching up myself all week,here comes not the sun but frank.i was up 2am and seeing that the rains were on and off,i thought of listening to the radio,dzmm in particular.that was when it was announced at around 4am that mayor fred lim postponed today’s run for the saftey of all runners.i hope that the race won’t be set on a same date as that of mizuno’s, u.p.’s or even la salle’s races which are all having their runs in the coming next three sundays.guess,i would have to pound the threadmill today for sunday’s mileage instead.
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BR, sorry to hear about the postponement but being in one typhoon myself, Mayor Lim made a wise decision for all the runners. Hopefully, from what I read in the previous post, there can be an agreement of all concerned to reschedule the race on a Sunday when there are no other races scheduled.
Everything’s okay here. Finished the 10K despite the unusual high humidity in SF. Have a good upcoming week.
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I guess I left too early… missed out on the free breakfast! hehehe see you at mizuno! 😀
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When I woke up at 3:45, I was sure the race was going to be cancelled since the wind was howling outside. I still decided to proceed to Luneta though to check it out. I was in no rush since I knew there would be no race. I got there at 5am and I saw about 100 people in the grandstand. I went up and some organizers told me they would reschedule but would take into consideration the other races that had already been set. They offered me the free breakfast but I declined since the huge tarp covering part of the grandstand was already flapping wildly in the wind and I was afraid it would come off anytime and injure other people. Saw in my egroups today that the race had been rescheduled to July 6.
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lakay, although i was not fully prepared for this race, i wanted this to be part of my long run for the weekend and typhoon frank brought havoc and deaths to some of our countrymen. at least, i had more time to sleep, rest, and read my books..and write for more posts in this blog. thanks for the visit & comment.
wayne, the typhoon really battered metro manila at the time the race was supposed to start and it was a wise decision to postpone it to a later date. congrats for finishing another 10K race.
loony, well, i gave my breakfast pack to one of my staff. according to him, the jumbo hotdog was good! yup, i just registered yesterday for the mizuno run this sunday.
datc, actually, before you arrived, one of the stage props which was used by the Couples For Christ anniversary last saturday fell down just on top of the stage! for some time, we’ve been watching that big tarp hanged on top of the stage because the movements and sounds it created with the strong winds gave us something to look & observe. i guess, we’ve been “entertained” with that big tarp and loud conversations from the colunteers/marshalls. see you at the mizuno run!
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