1) Where is the Best Position of a Race Stage?—In the past races where I participated, I always make a point to observe the position of the Race Stage. The Race Stage is the place where the Emcee for the race is located, where an invocation by a prayer leader would be visible, or the lead singer for the National Anthem is positioned, or where the guest speaker would speak and where the starting gun would be fired. During the OYM Race, the stage was located at the back of the runners or the far rear portion of the starting area. I had observed that most of the runners were facing the road after/beyond the starting line while the invocation and singing of the National Anthem were done and not towards the stage. There were no gun burst being fired at the start of the race but a simple voice command of “GO” from the EMCEE and later the blowing of a horn when the lead runners were at least 50 meters away from the starting line. I suggest that the best position for the race stage should be at the right or left side of the road immediately before the starting line so that the runners at the starting/assembly area would be slightly turning his body, right or left, to face the race stage.

2) Race Distance—It becomes suspicious or doubtful when a runner improves his/her PR time shaving off more minutes from his/her expected target time, most especially in 5K & 10 K road races. When I crossed the finish line, I was surprised to see my time of 45:33 minutes and I could not believed it because I was expecting a time of about 48:00 minutes. Later, when I was uploading my data from my GF 305 to my laptop, I was surprised to see that the distance registered in my watch was 9.45 kilometers. I conclude that the actual distance of the 10K race must had been shorter because I had been experiencing +12 to +20 meters additional variance reading with my GF 305. I measured a distance of 400 meters inside the camp with a meter tape but when using my GF 305 on the said distance, my watch registers 410-418 meters. Race organizers must be thorough on this aspect because almost all the runners are expecting to have a better time in their road races. Each runner’s finish time is the best “feedback”  to validate if his/her past training & preparations are really working, thus giving him/her the drive and motivation to excel some more. A PR time in a questionable distance is not a “good news” to be proud of.

3) Starting Time—The race started at least 2 minutes before the scheduled start time which was 6:00 AM. But it became confusing when the organizers released the 10K and the 5K runners at the same time. The organizers should had released the 10K runners first of at least 10 minutes lead time from the 5K runners. Miraclecello is suggesting to “compartmentalize” the runners depending on their respective pace or race time finish at the starting area—the elite runners at the front; 4-5 min-pace runners next to the elite and so forth; and the slower runners at the back. The 5K runners should be positioned at the far rear of the assembly/starting area. I can still recall that there were marathon races in the 1980s in Manila where the race organizers did this “segregation” thing and we had then a very orderly start.

4) Race Timer/Clock—The race timer/digital clock at the Finish Line was very small whose readings could not be recognizable at a distance. I could sense that the digital clock was not working properly as it registered “20:00 minutes” reading when I was approaching the finish line. To the race organizers, I am giving a “tip” where you can rent or borrow a bigger digital clock—our DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Running Club, Inc has one (1) which I bought when I was the Camp Commander of Camp Aguinaldo and Major Rod Turno is the contact person if you want to use this digital clock. There is also one (1) digital clock from the Philippine Army which can be rented/borrowed with Captain Ferdie Espejo as the contact person. Additionally, I am still wondering when will the race organizers introduce the “runner’s chip” to every runner.

5) Road Marshalls—it was obvious that there was a lack of road marshalls and traffic enforcers during the run as many of the 5K runners were lost along the way and to their turn-around point. The road marshalls and the “givers” of strings were not in their proper location of the 10K turn-around point. They were at least 300 meters short from the exact turn-around point. I guess, there is a need for a “dry-run or rehearsals” to these road marshalls & traffic enforcers a day before the race day to establish locations of kilometer markers, turn-around points, position of string “givers”, and water stations.

5) Where Were The “Stars” & “Mga Kapuso”?—“The Loony Runner” and the other runners were complaining where in the hell were the “stars” of GMA TV and Q TV. Almost all the runners and runners blogs were expecting the participation of the popular TV Stars of the said network. Personally, I become corny and “bakya” sometimes and the reason I joined this particular race was that I was expecting to have a pose or have a glance at “Marimar” or have a brief conversation with my friend, Susan Enriquez of GMA News.

6) Race Giveaways and Water Stations—On the positive side, I like their “giveaways”, most especially the “bag” which could be used as my running/golf shoe bag. The finisher’s T-shirt is nice also. The water stations were well-positioned and with enough supply of “bottled” water. This race is one of the few races where the organizers used bottled water in their water stations.

7) Kilometer Markings—There were kilometer markings along the route but it could had been better if the organizers had placed at least a kilometer marking in every kilometer.

8) Running For A Cause—It is really very fulfilling to run and at the same time help somebody who is in need. I hope the Women’s Crisis Center was able to attain their goal/objective in conducting this road race. This is my first time to hear or know the existence of such Center and the Bald Runner is here to support its cause.

Overall Rating—I am giving a rating of 85% on this race. If not for the short distance of the 10K and the absence of the “Stars” of GMA & Q TV, I could have given this race a perfect grade of 100%.