Metro Manila Run: Urban Runners @ C-5

This is the third edition of Jonel’s (Bugobugo85) organized “runabouts” in Metro Manila since the BHS to Luneta Park and back outing. Since then, our “runabouts” were our way of finding the answers of distances from one point to another. This particular run at C-5 was our way of finding the distance from the southern end of C-5 Highway to the Marikina Riverbanks (Starting Area of last year’s Pasig River Heritage Marathon). The decision to run at C-5 today was made after we finished our EDSA “runabout” last Sunday.

Having been late for 10 minutes at the assembly area (Shell Station near the SM Hypermart/Tiendesitas), I was surprised to see a group of runners exceeding more than 6 people waiting for me and eager to start the run which was in contrast to the past runs we had. After greeting the old and the new “urban runners”, I found out that I was the 13th runner! Without much further time to waste, we had our brief stretching and crossed the pedestrian fly-over to start our run, going towards the southern end of C-5 and running against the traffic.

Our run started slowly as it was still dark at 5:45 AM. I was asked to lead the run with a pace ranging from 5:45 mins/km to 6:30 mins/km and the urban runners, old and new, were strong and agile running along the sidewalk and edge of the highway. Instead of running under the Pasig River Flyover, I led the group towards the narrow sidewalk (about one foot in width) along/on top of the Flyover, telling each runner to experience ala-“Fear Factor” running and balancing along the uphill portion of the Pasig Flyover. After passing those elevated U-turns and construction sites, we were already approaching Market!Market!..McKinley Hill..Heritage Park..Libingan ng mga Bayani..and after 58 minutes we reached the toll gate towards SLEX. The distance from Shell Tiendesitas to the Toll Booth is 10.45 kilometers.

At the background is the Toll Booth towards SLEX. These runners were the “faster” hardcores, having reached the southernmost part of C-5 Highway in 58 minutes. From left, Martin, Jay Lee, Arman, Michael, Dr Joe aka The Loony Runner, Charlie, MarkFB, & BR.

 After waiting for the “slower group” and resting for about 10 minutes, we started our run towards Tiendesitas and to Marikina Riverbanks. We crossed the highway and ran against the traffic. The runners below were the ones on my back while we were on our way on a southern direction back to where we came from. These runners were fast and alert. They are really hardcores!

While aprroaching Jollibee after we passed the C-5 entrance to McKinley Hill, I decided to have our “pit stop” at the said place. We were able to reach the 15-Km point when we stopped at Jollibee. Some of the runners ate their breakfast and some just simply ate their Power Bars. We replenished our water bottles and Camelbak bladders with water after our breakfast. After some photo-ops, we were back on the road and I led the group again.

From Jollibee, we ran a constant pace all the way to where we started at Shell Tiendesitas to wait for the slower runners. At this point, my GF 305 registered 24 kilometers. After 5-10 minutes, we started our last phase of our run to Marikina Riverbanks and back to Shell Tiendesitas to finish the run. It was decided to run under the C-5-Ortigas Flyover in going to Marikina and wait for the slower runners at the Marikina Riverbanks.

I consider these hardcores as the stronger ones during the run to Marikina Riverbanks. At this point, my GF 305 registered 28 kilometers. After five minutes of rest, we continued our run back to where we started but we decided to run along/on top of the C-5-Ortigas Flyover before reaching our Finish Line at the Shell Tiendesitas. The run along the Flyover was the hardest part of the run because of the uphill climb and the absence of elevated sidewalk on the road.

Finally, we were back to where we started at Shell Tiendesitas with the “Survivors” for the 32K “runabout” along the C-5 Highway loop. My GF 305 registered a running time of 3:10 hours but the whole “runabout” took us almost five hours to include those pit stops and waiting time for the slower runners. We were running an average pace of 5:55 mins/km throughout the whole run with a total ascent of 1,260 meters. Again, these guys are really strong and hardcore runners. Well, I was not surprised as we are all preparing for the March 8 Philippine Marathon for Pasig River and this 32K long run speaks well of our seriousness and proper preparation for the said race. And by the way, the March 8 Marathon will be a part of our another long run in preparation and training for the 1st Bataan Death March 102K Ultramarathon Race Event.

Guys, thank you very much for the company and the challenging course for yet another significant “runabout” in Metro Manila. What’s next? Are we serious to find out the actual length of Ortigas Avenue and Extension all the way to Valley Golf Club and back for our next “runabout”? See you at the ULTRA Oval Track for our “speed training” sessions!