Last Sunday was the 5th edition of the Octoberun which is a yearly road racing event organized/managed by the members of the Fort Striders Running Club. My high respect goes to this running group as it had been consistently holding their running practices and workouts with their members at The Fort for the past years since the place started to have wider streets and vertical constructions.
Few days before the staging of the race, I asked Felsie from the Fort Striders if the race will push through because of the threat that Typhoon “Pepeng” would hit Central Luzon and she answered positively. I had predicted that this race will push through because I know the people who are behind this running group—they are dedicated & “hardcore” runners who are serious and know what & how it takes to manage a good road race.
Runners who decided to join the race were surprised to see that the weather was perfect for a road race. The atmosphere at the starting line was very personal and casual as runners would flock with their respective running club members and involve themselves with conversation about running, the typhoon/flooding, and the incoming races.
After a short prayer, singing of the National Anthem, and brief instructions from the Race Organizer, the 16K race started and we were off. Feeling from the way I lifted my knees and saw how my feet hit the ground, I knew I was starting with a fast pace. I tried to maintain my pace all the way along the streets of The Fort until I started to run uphill towards Essensa. Knowing the course, I tried my best to maintain a pace below 5:00 minutes per kilometer along the Lawton Avenue and towards to the turn-around point at C-5.
While running along the route, I’ve observed that the race was well-managed—long tables for the water stations, presence of route marshals, and the traffic of vehicles was not bad at all when the race is done as scheduled. It was good also to see the faster runners on the other side of the road for two times because the route has two turn-around points. I had the pleasure to see the members of the Elite Team Bald Runner battling it out on the lead pack. It was my chance to assess how these athletes/runners carry themselves and maintain their running forms and their ranking as compared with the other fast runners. By looking at their running forms and facial expressions, I could already assess if they are running with confidence or not.
Stronger and younger runners would overtake me along the route but I just maintained my pace as I knew where I could speed up and recover on the road. I would consider this race as tune-up race for the longer road races in the coming weeks and maintained a “tempo run” pace for this race. After all those positive thinking, counting of pace/strides, and mental “mantras”, I was already nearing the finish line and I found out that I still have extra energy to propel myself to the Finish Line.
I finish the race in 1:14:20 hours with an average pace of 4:52 minutes per kilometer (or 7:50 minutes per mile) but my GF 305 registered a distance of 15.3 kilometers instead of 16 kilometers. Being dismayed about the lack of distance, I did not mind or thought of comparing my finish time with my past races. After a few days, I realized that I was able to improve my time after comparing it with my past races in the 15K and 16K (10-mile Race) distance races. In fact, I was able to improve my time by 2 minutes for the 15K or 16K distance. I would attribute my improvement with my longer distance speed runs at the Oval Track ( 3 X 2,000 meters up to 3 X 5,000 meters) and my weekend long runs.
Team BR & Team Hardcore @ The StartPicking Up My Pace Towards The Finish LinePodium Finish For Elite Team Bald Runner (5K)Podium Finish For the 16K Runners & Elite Team Bald Runner
After the race, I took some time to chat with Jonel aka Bugobugo and the members of Team Hardcore at the TKO 250 booth. I was able to meet also the Jinoe, Quennie, and the rest of the takbo.ph people who are also involved in the TKO 250 project for the victims of Project Ondoy. I promised to myself that I will be putting in Ten Pesos (P 10.00) for each kilometer that I will run in road races starting with the 5th Octoberun 16K for the said project. So, on this road race, I was able to donate Two Hundred Pesos (P 200.00).
Before the team left at the venue of the road race, I was able to award the “1,000-Km Club” Finisher’s T-shirt to Junrox aka Tiger Boy. Congratulations, Jun! I hope this program was able to make you a stronger and faster runner!
@TKO250 With Team HC, Takbo.ph, & Team BRJunrox aka Tiger Boy Receiving his 1,000-Km Club Finisher's Shirt
I was doubly surprised when Carrey, my favorite supporter/sponsor of Elite Team Bald Runner handed to me bags of groceries for my runners. Thanks for supporting my elite runners! Yes, we are also victims of Typhoon Ondoy!
While reading the back issue of the magazine “Running Times” dated November 2003, I came upon an article entitled “A Master’s in Marathoning: Choosing the Education of Running” by Mike Tymn. The article stated that running a marathon race is in itself a post-graduate education degree that has a curriculum and subjects to be attended to. For a student who enrolls in this Graduate Studies on Marathon Running, it would take years before he/she could complete or graduate depending on the goal/objective to be attained—to simply finish or finish within a desired time or improve one’s PR or qualify for the Boston Marathon! The following is some of the excerpts from the said article:
The marathon curriculum begins with courses in anotomy, physiology, and medicine. We learn about cardiovascular endurance, anaerobic threshold, oxygen debt, target heart rate, maximal oxygen uptake, running injuries, pronation, supination, to name just a few. The curriculum continues with courses in Physical Education as we are schooled in the principles of adaptation, overload, progression, specificity of training, recovery and rest. We are exposed to interval training, fartlek, LSD, circuit training, stretching, tapering, pacing, peaking and overtraining. We learn about diet and nutrition, finding out what to eat and what not to eat. We are introduced to carbohydrate loading, electrolyte replacement, and proper hydration.
The marathon curriculum includes lessons in psychology, as we must better understand how to deal with problems in goal setting, self-motivation, mood swings, errors in anticipation, regression under stress, and fear of failure. We learn about such things as mental rehearsal, visualization, and self-reward reinforcement.
There are also lessons in planning, time management, and conflict resolution, especially for the runner who is attempting to balance family and occupational responsibilities with the demands of training.
I see the marathon as a microcosmic lesson in life. We learn to commit ourselves to a goal, to discipline ourselves to the demands of that goal, to develop, adapt and evolve, to pace ourselves for both the short and the long haul, to cruise, to struggle, to overcome, to struggle again, to push on, to slowly “die”, (as oxygen is depleted), then to be “reborn” (as we cross the finish line).
There are so many lessons.
We learn that we can work a lot harder than we had ever realized possible, but we also learn that we can work too hard and set ourselves back.
We learn that we can start too fast and never finish, and we can go out slow and never catch up.
We learn that winning or achieving our goals can be fun and fulfilling, but we also learn that winning can bring unwanted pressures and harmful stresses.
We learn that being a poor loser is better than being a poor winner.
We learn that our fiercest rivals can be our best friends.
We learn that success can instill pride, but it can also bring an abundance of humility.
We learn that we can get slower with age but faster with adaptation and experience.
We learn that there are a lot of contradictions in running, just as there are in life, and the key is a balance mixed with just the right amount of patience, persistence and perseverance.
More than anything, marathon running is a course in philosophy, an attempt to answer the essential questions of life. To what end? At what price? The questions and answers are endless.
Whether you are an elite athlete who makes running as your source of income or a competitor who finds challenge in trying to find your body limits or a runner who wants to engage in an active healthy lifestyle, running in itself is a way of life.
So, if you want to graduate in this course of Masters in Marathon, you have to “pay your dues/fees”, study your lessons, do your assignments/homeworks, and above all, pass your quizzes and comprehensive examinations!
(Source: A Master’s in Marathoning: Choosing the Education of Running by Mike Tymn. Running Times Magazine. November 2003. pp. 29-30)
You might wonder why ultra trail runners would run for one to two days to finish a 100-mile mountain trail run within the prescribed cut-off time and receive a Finisher’s Belt Buckle at the Finish Line and the “bragging rights” to have finished such endurance running event. My ultratrail runner-friends Ben Gaetos, Rick Gaston, Eric Lumba, Carmela Layson and Jose San Gabriel would know the answer!
I am posting the following Finisher’s Belt Buckle as an “inspiration” to finish one of these popular 100-Mile Mountain Trail Runs.
San Diego 100-Mile Run Finisher's Buckle
Javelina Jundred 100-Mile Finisher's Buckle
HURT 100-Mile Run Finisher's Buckle
Western States 100-Mile Run Buckle Award
If there is somebody among my readers who knows a company/business outfit in the country who can make or produce these “big” belt buckles, please leave a comment.
It is my plan and vision to extend the BDM 102 into a 100-Mile run from Mariveles, Bataan (Km 00) up to Camp O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac and a Finisher’s Buckle will be awarded in addition to the Finisher’s Individual Trophy and Medal. Not for the next edition (next year) but it could be in its future editions.
Runners will have the option to finish BDM 102 or go all the way to BDM 160.
After 6 days since the rains of Typhoon Ondoy flooded the entire Metro Manila, I finally thought of bringing out my camera and took some pictures this morning around and within the premises of our “training camp” in Pasig City. Here are the pictures I took.
Water On The Streets After 6 DaysAnother View of The Flooded StreetElite Team Members On Their Way To Relief CenterGetting In Line At The Relief Distribution Center"Amphibian Transport Vehicle" (ATV)"Personnel Amphibian Vehicle" (PAV)Waiting For A Passenger
Thrash Everywhere, Collected Everyday But More Still Clogged The Creeks
Contents of One Bag of Relief Goods
Another Set of Goods In Another Relief Bag
Out of the four members of my Elite athletes who lined up for the distribution of relief goods, only two of them were able to receive bags and the pictures above indicate the contents of each bag given. There is still a lack of relief goods for the people affected with the floods.
With the rains brought by the incoming Typhoon Pepeng since last night, the water on the streets had gone higher by few inches. But what is good is that, electricity had been restored in our “training camp” a few hours ago! My Internet connection is back!
Life must go on! In one way or another, everybody is affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy.
Our “training camp” in Pasig City is still surrounded with flooded streets and we don’t have electricity (after 5 days). One of my staff and her family had evacuated her house to a higher place due to flooding and my running coach’s house/residential area is still submerged in water that after four days, he had to evacuate his family due to lack of relief/help coming from the local government and from non-government organizations involved in the relief operations. His family could not withstand the stench of bad smell and the lack of potable water in their place. I am glad my staff and their families are all safe. On the other hand, some of my athletes (due to their duties with the Philippine Army) had been involved in the relief and rehabilitation efforts in Marikina City as part of the manpower that had been “shovelling” and collecting the mud and dirt in the streets for disposal.
Despite all these concerns and activities, we still have to “squeeze” some time to maintain the level of competitive performance of our elite athletes and conduct our “speed training” sessions at the Oval Track without any miss in order to attend to the Team Bald Runner-Professional Group. Yes, we are involved in helping the victims of Typhoon Ondoy but we have to help and attend first to our staff who are also victims of the flooding and at the same time help other runners to keep them focused in their training for the “big” marathon races in the coming weeks! This holds true also to our Elite athletes.
I am overwhelmed by the simultaneous efforts of our runners in coming up with charity and donation efforts to the victims of the floods and Typhoon Ondoy. I really salute and highly commend your efforts with the hope that you continue doing such act even if the victims are in the Visayas, Mindanao, and Batanes. Silently, I’ve been donating some cash and goods for the past year and months to charitable institutions whenever there were typhoons and floods in other parts of the country. And I’ve continously maintained my Project Donate A Shoe and Project Donate A Shirt up to this date with the hope that more donors will contribute in these projects.
Now I know where I will donate those shoes and shirts/singlets that are stocked in our “training camp” and for those which we will receive in the future. After all these relief/rehabilitation activities and “news overload” about distribution of relief goods, I will “silently” go to some places (which are not yet being reached by the relief agencies after 4 days!) near our “training camp” to distribute such donated shoes and shirts/singlets from our friends.
Life and Running must go on! See you at the Starting Line!
(Note: How I wish I could post an article about my insights & observations about the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy but that would be inconsistent with the advocacy of this blog. Let this blog be devoted to only running)
I copied the following post from one of the runner’s blogs. I hope everybody will enjoy reading or maybe, following these commandments.
The 40 Runner’s Commandments by Joe Kelly
1. Don’t be a whiner. Nobody likes a whiner, not even other whiners.
2. Walking out the door is often the toughest part of a run.
3. Don’t make running your life. Make it part of your life.
4. Keep promises, especially ones made to yourself.
5. The faster you are the less you should talk about your times.
6. Keep a quarter in your pocket. One day you’ll need to call for a ride.
7. Don’t compare yourself to other runners.
8. All runners are equal, some are just faster than others.
9. Keep in mind that the later in the day it gets, the more likely it is that you won’t run.
10. For a change of pace, get driven out and then run back.
11. If it was easy, everybody would be a runner.
12. When standing in starting lines, remind yourself how fortunate you are to be there.
13. Getting out of shape is much easier than getting into shape.
14. A bad day of running still beats a good day at work.
15. Don’t talk about your running injuries. People don’t want to hear about your sore knee or black toe.
16. Don’t always run alone.
17. Don’t always run with people.
18. Approach running as if the quality of your life depended on it.
19. No matter how slow, your run is still faster than someone sitting on a couch.
20. Keep in mind that the harder you run during training, the luckier you’ll get during racing.
21. Races aren’t just for those who can run fast.
22. There are no shortcuts to running excellence.
23. The best runs sometimes come on days when you didn’t feel like running.
24. There is nothing boring about running. There are, however, boring people who run.
25. Distance running is like cod liver oil. At first it makes you feel awful, then it makes you feel better.
26. Never throw away the instructions to your running watch.
27. Don’t try to outrun dogs.
28. Don’t wait for perfect weather. If you do, you won’t run very often.
29. When tempted to stop being a runner, make a list of the reasons you started.
30. Without goals, training has no purpose.
31. Go for broke, but be prepared to be broken.
32. Spend more time running on the roads than sitting on the couch.
33. Make progress in your training, but progress at your own rate.
34. “Winning” means different things to different people.
35. Unless you make your living as a runner, don’t take running too seriously.
36. Never tell a runner that he or she doesn’t look good in tights.
37. Never confuse the Ben-Gay tube with the toothpaste tube.
38. Preventing running injuries is easier than curing them.
39. Running is simple. Don’t make it complicated.
40. Running is always enjoyable. Sometimes, though, the joy doesn’t come until the end of the run.
ROTARun 21K @ McKinley Hill/ 5:30 AM 20 September 2009
Last Friday, I found out that the Berlin Marathon will be staged on the day that ROTARun will be held. What is significant about the Berlin Marathon is that this is where Haile Gebrselaisse broke the world’s record finish time in a Marathon Race in 2:03:59 hours last year. It is expected that he is going to improve his record in this race. This is also the first Marathon Race for the World’s Marathon Majors (Berlin, London, Chicago, New York, & Boston) for the year 2009-2010.
For my apparel for this race, I prepared my Red Adidas Running Shorts and my first time to use an Adidas Running Shoes since I started running and combined/matched it with the nice dark-blue ROTARun singlet that goes with the cheap registration fee of P 200.00. I was thinking that I could run well in this race after doing much of my tempo runs at the ULTRA Oval Track and hill training runs in Antipolo for the past days since the Eco Dash 21K Run. I was doing “double” runs (morning & evening runs) in preparation for this race to build-up more endurance and strength to my legs in anticipation to the dreaded uphill climbs at McKinley Hill.
My First Adidas Running Shoes (Ozweego)
One of the Few Singlets I Used in a Road Race
In my meetings prior to the race with my Elite Team Bald Runner, I’ve always emphasized to them to study the route of the race and position our support staff on areas where assistance would be needed by the runners. The race strategy was to attack the hills and run faster on the downhill and plain areas. However, I was already apprehensive on the distance of the said route. I was thinking that the distance might not reach the desired 21K. The other thing that bothered on my mind was the expected traffic of runners for the lesser-distance events, which I call “side-events”, along the route as the 21K runners would run along the Lawton Avenue. I was thinking that Lawton Avenue will be filled again with the 10K & 15K runners as the 21K runners will be running towars the last 1-2 kilometers to the finish line. The last thing that bothered me was the length of the water stations to be fielded along the route.
I was not supposed to be bothered with the exact distance of the race, the length of water stations, and the traffic of runners along the route but being a runner, race organizer and director, I could see that there was something wrong as weeks before the conduct of the said race, the original race/event organizer withdrew (?) from the said event and the takbo.ph people led by Jinoe aka Manokan Express came to the rescue with Ian Alacar, a runner-friend, as the Race Director. With Ian Alacar at the helm of the event and the technical support of the PATAFA people, I was confident that this race will be a success. More updates about the race were posted at takbo.ph in order to guide the runners about parking areas and the final schedule of races and warning for runners to arrive in the assembly area earlier before the race starts.
My team and I arrived at the McKinley Hill area at 4:50 AM but there was a long line of vehicles entering the multi-level parking building as most of the free parking slots had been taken by other vehicles and the other streets were restricted for parking by other vehicles. It appeared that all the vehicles were forced and led to the said building to pay a parking fee! I directed my staff not to proceed to the parking area and instead look for a space for temporary parking near the assembly area and later transfer to the Bayani Road area once the 21K runners had left the Starting Area.
I had to immediately leave my staff after my race bib was pinned on my race singlet and proceeded to the starting area. After a brief warm-up jog and stretching exercises, I immediately positioned myself behind my elite team runners as the Program before the race started was going on. I noticed that I forgot my Oakley glasses in the car but I was glad I was able to instruct my staff/photographer to have it given to me at the Bayani Road. As I was shaking my legs and my arms to prepare for the start of the race, the starting gun went off and I went with the flow of the lead pack, trying to maintain a slower pace before slowly increasing it up to my race pace.
I was smiling while I was running my first kilometer because most of the runners were sprinting and passing on my sides. At the uphill portion going to the British Embassy, these “sprinters” started to slow down and I was still smiling as I passed them one by one. My mind was fixed on “attacking the hills” and trying to get faster on the downhill and plain areas. Most of the runners tried to keep up with my pace on the uphill portion from the McDonalds up to Lawton Avenue but I left them for good and slowly made my pace faster. I was prepared to run an average pace of 4:45 up to 4:55 mins per km, a slightly faster pace than the Eco Dash 21K pace of 5:00 mins per km, for this race as I knew this course as a fast one due to my familiarity of the route.
At Bayani Road With My "Pacers"
While I was running along the Lawton Avenue as I proceeded towards Gate 3 (Philippine Marines Area), all I knew was that I was running with a registered runner in the person of Major Eddie Radaza of the Philippine Army who is also a fast & competitive runner but in the end, he was my Pacer during the run. Aside from a constant sound of coughing on my back from another runner, I thought I was with only two runners—Major Radaza on my side and the “coughing” runner on my back! However, after I saw the pictures of me taken during the run, I was surprised to see that I was surrounded with 4-5 runners with no other runner/s trailing on our backs! I said, this is the same scenario that I saw last Sunday afternoon when I saw the LIVE Internet Telecast of the 2009 Berlin Marathon with Haile being surrounded with his Pacers from Km 1 to Km 30+, I felt like I was really “The Haile” being surrounded by Pacers and trying to break my PR for the 21K race! However, in the end, it turned out the other way around…I was their Pacer!
On My Way Back at Bayani Road With My "Pacers"
As I checked my GF 305 regularly, I would reached an average pace of 4:35 mpk and my slowest would be 5:12 mpk. Along Lawton Avenue, I maintained a pace of 4:38 mpk to 4:45 mpk and I was confident that I could improve my time for the 21K run. Running along Bayani Road and inside the Heritage Park was uneventful as I tried to increase my pace and give cheers to other runner-friends whom I met along the course. I really did not mind if I did not see any kilometer markings along the route as I was focused on maintaining my average pace.
As I was about to reach the crossing of Bayani Road and the new Gate 3 of Ft Bonifacio at the vicinity of St Michael’s Chapel, I glanced at my GF 305 and it registered a time of 1: 14+ minutes and I was surprised to see also that the distance I’ve covered was only 15+ kilometers. At this point, I knew already that the distance was short by so many kilometers and not meters! I really don’t know but I slowed down at this point even if I was already on the level/plain portion of Bayani Road going back to Lawton Avenue. My GF 305 registered my slowest average pace at 5:15 mpk at this point! But with the presence of my Pacers, I tried to increase the pace until we reached Lawton Avenue. As predicted, I had to weave around the slower 10K & 15K runners who filled almost the reserve lane for the runners as I ran along Lawton Avenue towards to the Finish Line. From here, everything was “cruise control” until we reached the entry to McKinley Hill where I dashed downhill and then towards the Finish Line.
My last 2 kilometers of the race was like Haile running his last 5 kilometers in the Berlin Marathon when he was running alone without his Pacers and his feeling that he could not break his world record after he realized that he was running too fast up to Km 30 where he broke the record by 11 seconds. Haile won the 2009 Berlin Marathon in 2:06:08 hours and his fourth straight win in a row. He won 50,000 Euros being the Champion and another 30,000 Euros for the time bonus for breaking the 30K World Record Time. I did not win any prize for the ROTARun but I felt I was “Haile” wearing his brand-sponsor Adidas (shorts & running shoes); aided by Pacers; and was trying to break my record PR for the 21K race…but…
My GF 305 registered a finish time of 1:27:58 hours with a distance of 17.85 kilometers. An average pace of 4:55 mpk, faster than my average pace of 5:00 mpk in the Eco Dash 21K, could have produced a better finish time for me for the distance. The course was short by 3K+ and I consider this as a “Mortal Sin” in road racing. I knew I could improve my average pace down to 4:45 mpk if only the race distance was accurate and I was sure of this because I was still strong after I reached the Finish Line! My speed & tempo runs as my preparations for this race were put to waste as I really prepared for this race.
Well, aside from the short distance of the race as compared to what had been published, I have the following observations:
1) The Water Aid Station tables were still short in length—I was amazed with how long was the length of each of the Water Station seen during the Berlin Marathon last Sunday afternoon.
2) Long Period of Time to Award The Winners—I think it does not take so much time to get the results of the Top 10 runners in each Distance Race. I had to wait until the members of the Elite Team Bald Runner had been awarded and it took us up to almost 10:00 AM to leave the place. This is one of the reasons why I hate “side events” in a Road Race. If a race calls for a Marathon Race (42K), then don’t add a Half-Marathon, 15K, 10K, 5K or 3K in the same Race Event with the same route. Due to traffic of runners and the use of more water consumption, the awarding of winners will be longer also! Personally, I don’t mind if this is the decision of the Sponsors or the Race Event Manager and Race Organizer but as for me, this is a sign of “maximizing” the number of runners which is being translated to being “greedy” for more proceeds from the race and from the running community.
3) Nice Singlet & Cheap Registration Fees—I like the singlet that goes with the cheap registration fee of P 200.00. This is one of the few road races that I chose to wear the singlet that goes free with the registration fee. Surprisingly, the singlet did not give me any “chafing” problems on my upper arms, armpits, and nipples. I know the Race Organizer had to seek for Sponsors and Friends to finance the other needs for the race. As per experience as Race Organizer, the registration fee was enough to pay for the singlet and race bib and other minimal incidental expenses. The payment for the PR group, technical support (timer/clock & operators), marshals, support staff, permits, and medical support were not covered from the registration fees paid by the runners. I believe that the payment of such services had been shouldered by the members of the Rotary and their Sponsor-friends. What is important here was that the Race Organizers tried their best to pursue this event despite their limited time of “fine-tuning” the basics in road racing.
4) Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse—Would you believe that for a small and limited races like the BDM 102 and the 1st MASTERS 15K Run, I have to subject myself to actually measure the route of the race by conducting “test runs” and rehearsals with my staff on the conduct of the race, weeks and days before D-Day? Personal meetings/conferences, exchange of e-mails & SMS, and telephone calls are not enough to produce a perfect race. You need to bring all the people involved in a “walk-through” along the course and rehearsing what they are supposed to do during D-Day. It is easy to say and answer, “Yes” or “I’ll/We’ll Do It” or “I’ll inform him” or “I’ll Take Care Of It” or other words of assurance but what is important is to see how your staff and volunteers do their jobs during rehearsals. Proper rehearsals and repetitive actions of what to do will make an event to “near” Perfection.
5) Awards, Prizes, and “Freebies”—My Elite Team appreciates the prompt awarding of Awards and Cash Prizes during the Awarding Ceremony. At least, the winners were not made to wait for another day or report to the office of the Sponsors to claim their Prizes. I really appreciate the Finisher’s Medal given to all the 21K finishers.
6) Thieves, Again?—I have read a post of one of the runner-bloggers about incidents of theft on vehicles parked as the race was going-on. It really pisses me off to hear such incidents in road races. Despite the presence of security guards and policemen in paid-parking areas, there are still cases of thefts being reported. With this incident, I think the deployment of more security personnel to guard our parked cars will not completely solve this problem because we know and have proven that the thieves are also runners like us! So, let’s go back again why I hate “side-events” in road racing. These thieves pose as runners in the lesser distance events like 3K or 5K and after they finished their event/s they proceed to the parking areas as legit runners and then “target” the cars of the runners still running on the road. So, it is up for the Race Organizer to weigh the consequences of his race— more “side-events” with more “profit” but with bad reputation or no “side-events” with “break-even” or less profit but with good reputation.
7) Contingency Plan—Just like us as runners who have race strategy and contingency plans to survive up to the finish line and meet our objective for the road race, the Race Organizer/Race Director must have also a contingency plan in order to adjust to any problem or eventuality that arises on race day. Ian Alacar and Doc Lyndon of takbo.ph approached me during the time when the Awards were given to the Winners and they explained to me what went wrong few hours before the race started. They found out that the Heritage Park authorities did not allow them to use some of the roads which were intended for the race course, thereby resulting in the lack of distance of more than 3 kilometers. I did not understand the reason why the Heritage people would not allow the race to extend further to their farthest roads since in the past road races held inside the Park, runners would be allowed to run in these areas. The contingency plan should had been to extend the road race up to NAIA 3 Airport/ Camp Villamor even if the runners would fight it out with the traffic of vehicles outside the Camp. I think the road from Lawton Avenue to NAIA 3 Airport does not need any permit for the Race Organizer to extend the race along this road. Or maybe, let the runners run two loops along Bayani Road before proceeding to the Finish Line.
Lastly, I still salute and commend Jinoe; Doc Lyndon & takpo.ph members and Ian Alacar for having the courage to accept the responsibility of conducting this race despite their limited time to adjust to some problems & concerns on the conduct of the race after the original Race Organizer left the said Project. I suggest that in your next project(s), feel free to send SMS, call, e-mail or invite me in your planning/”brainstorming” sessions and “test runs”/rehearsals so that I can input some of my suggestions. Don’t worry, my services is FREE!
To The Race Organizers, Good luck and Best Wishes on your future races!
P.S. Don’t forget to get your license and register your group with the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) as Race/Event Organizer.
Do you still remember Duncan, the 12-year old kid/runner who won in the BOTAK’s Paa-bilisan 1-Street Mile Race held at the UP Diliman Campus last month with a time of 4:36 minutes?
I was able to meet him again after I finished the ROTARun 21K race yesterday morning. He just finished his long run workout using the same “old and taped” shoes he used when I first featured him in this blog. His father was with him and I asked his permission for Duncan to join the members of the Elite Team Bald Runner for a “brunch” and meeting in our “training camp”/office after the Awarding Ceremony of the race event.
Finally, I handed Duncan a slightly “used” pair of Newton Racing Shoes which is one of the shoes donated by Mr. Jim Lafferty. The following pictures will show how happy this talented kid was after receiving the said shoes:
Duncan Wearing The Team Bald Runner ShirtThe Happy Duncan While Wearing His Newton Shoes
The following article was copied from www.marathonguide.com. The famous Berlin Marathon is being held today, 20 September 2009. This Marathon Race is considered as one of Marathon Races included in the World’s 4 Grand Slam Marathon Races.
This is where Haile Gebrselaissie got the world’s record finish time for the Marathon Race in 2:03:59 hours.
Check on the website of the Berlin Marathon for the LIVE Update at www.scc-events.com
Gebrselassie Versus Kibet – The Fastest Marathon Duel Ever?
No one could have imagined that the BERLIN-MARATHON would become one of the
most spectacular sports events in Germany when the race was started for the
first time 35 years ago. That happened next to the Grunewald, a forest in
West Berlin, and there were only few spectators. Today the real,-
BERLIN-MARATHON attracts around one million people who celebrate one of the
greatest running events on the globe. It was almost 20 years ago – after
the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 – when the race got a huge
boost. Leading through both parts of the German capital from 1990 onwards
the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON became famous for superfast winning times, great
crowd support and growing fields. This Sunday we could well see another
thrilling race: defending champion and world record holder Haile
Gebrselassie (Ehtiopia) will be up against Kenya’s Duncan Kibet, who leads
the current world season’s list.
A record number of 40,923 runners from 122 nations have entered the 36th
edition of the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON. Since the race belongs to the World
Marathons Majors (WMM) even more people want to take part. A year ago
35,783 runners finished the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON. That was the highest
number ever in the history of the event and the 2008 event became the
seventh biggest marathon ever seen. In 2006 Race Directors of the
prestigious marathons in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York had
formed the WMM.
Gebrselassie targets his own record once again
So far five runners have established personal bests of sub 2:05 at the
classical distance. Two of them will run in Sunday’s real,-
BERLIN-MARATHON. While Haile Gebrselassie had improved his global record in
Berlin in 2008 to 2:03:59 Kenya’s Duncan Kibet had run 2:04:27 earlier this
year and has moved up to number two on the alltime list.
Haile Gebrselassie’s goal is obvious: He intends to break his world record
again. If he succeeds it will be the third time in a row that he would
establish a new world best at the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON. So far the 36
year-old has broken an amazing 26 world records during his career.
Gebrselassie thinks that he can at least slice off another 30 seconds from
his present marathon record. “If everything fits together perfectly then
may be even 2:02:59 would be possible,” says the Ethiopian, who is going
for a record fourth consecutive victory at the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON.
But Sunday’s marathon could well be the toughest for Haile Gebrselassie in
Berlin. In a recent interview Kenya’s star runner Paul Tergat named four
fellow countrymen who he thinks may be able to break Gebrselassie’s world
record: Olympic Champion Sammy Wanjiru, Martin Lel, James Kwambai and –
Duncan Kibet.
For more than two years Haile Gebrselassie has not competed against an
athlete as strong as Duncan Kibet in the marathon. This could well become a
fascinating duel. “I feel honoured to be able to run against Haile
Gebrselassie,” said Duncan Kibet during Thursday’s press conference in
Berlin. My training went very well and I think it is a very good sign that
my training partner James Kwambai ran 59:09 minutes last Sunday at the
Rotterdam Half Marathon.” Duncan Kibet did not want to comment on a
possible world record attack, but said that he intends to break his
personal best. For this he must of course run in the region of the world
record. “After Rotterdam I though that I might be able to run even faster
in Berlin. So this is why I decided to go for this race.”
Looking ahead to a duel with Haile Gebrselassie the Kenyan record holder
said: “I don’t know about Haile’s training. And he does not know about my
training. So we will have to wait and see how it develops. But I will try
to run his pace.”
There will be two more Kenyans and one Ethiopian with high-class personal
bests in the race. Francis Kiprop came fourth at the Seoul Marathon in 2008
with 2:08:30 and Mariko Kiplagat (all Kenya) placed fourth at last year’s
real,- BERLIN-MARATHON in 2:09:04. Ethiopia’s Eshetu Wondimu was able to
improve to 2:08:41 despite bad weather conditions in this year’s Dubai
Marathon. The strongest non-African runner could be Atsushi Fujita (Japan)
who has a personal best of 2:06:51. This however is already nine years old.
Ethiopian favourites in the women’s race
Askale Tafa Magarsa will be the favourite in the women’s race on Sunday. A
year ago the 24 year-old Ethiopian finished second behind Irina Mikitenko
(Germany), clocking a great personal best of 2:21:31. With that she
remained the second fastest woman worldwide in 2008. Now Askale Tafa
Magarsa returns to the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON and will be eager to further
improve. She may well be able to establish a world season’s best, which
currently stands at 2:22:11. Irina Mikitenko clocked this time when winning
in London in April. Askale Tafa Magarsa’s strongest rival probably will be
a fellow Ethiopian: Atsede Habtamu clocked 2:25:17 in torrential rain in
January’s Dubai Marathon, where she took second place.
Genet Getaneh will also be in with a chance on Sunday. The 23-year-old
Ethiopian finished fifth in 2:26:37 at the Dubai Marathon this year. The
strongest Kenyan should be Leah Malot. She has a very good long distance
track record and improved to 2:30:29 at the Paris Marathon this April.
Bald Runner 
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