Race organizers’ response to Bald Runner’s comments on the Bull Run 2009
First of all, we appreciate all the comments made regarding the conduct of the PSE Bull Run 2009. Below are our answers to the said critique:
- Water stations were positioned in several spots along the route as well as at the Start/Finish Line. The water station at the Start/Finish Line is located at the far end of the finish line, left side facing the finish line arch.
- Road marshals were stationed at every turning point and street intersections. They were riders and personnel from Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. But we will still assess the performance of our road marshals in order to improve the management of vehicle traffic while the run is ongoing.
- PSE owns the area where the start/finish line and program was situated. That is the reason for the selection of the said area. Given the significant increase in the participants for this year, it is best that the PSE considers other area/s for their race.
- The digital clock is mounted just below the trusses of the starting/finish line arch. Some runners may not have seen the clock mainly because of its height. Positioning of the clock will be further reviewed so as to ensure its visibility to all runners.
- We, Argent Network International Corp./Full Shot Advertising, are the organizers of the Bull Run this year. Our company name is visible in all our promotional materials such as flyers and tarpaulin banners and in promotional activities such as TV guestings. Furthermore, during the race day event itself, the main persons behind our company (Pablo Cay and Gay Maddela) are repeatedly acknowledged by the emcee. We would want to know the specific circumstance/s that we have been “notorious for not being able to look for the safety and welfare of the paying runners and walkers.” PATAFA officials are present because they are in-charge of the technical aspect of the run. That is, the measurement of the course distance and result officials.
- The content of program after the race was a decision made by the race owner – which is the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). We have already communicated this with PSE.
- The announced registration period will end a 2 days before the actual race event which is January 16, 2009. But due to the influx of runners wanting to register, the runners reached beyond the projected numbers thus, the race bibs ran out. With this situation, we have to declare an early closure of the registration. But we officially closed the registration on January 15, 2009, Thursday and not a week before the race day.
- There had been a remiss in the releasing of the race packets, which include the race bib and singlet. Production of the singlet was delayed thus, the race bibs were released even without the singlets. There had been cases of missing race packets. This we have to improve on. Reasons for the delay are internal between our company and PSE. Rest assured that we would review our registration and releasing procedures and implement a more efficient process in our next races.
- There are assigned color codes for each race event – 10k (blue ), 5k (green), 3k Open ( violet )and 3K PSE (red0. But due to the increase in the number of registrants, we were forced to transfer race bibs of one event to another event. In order to ensure that the runners run the event where they registered in, we have added measures to identify such runners. These added measures were communicated to the technical group.
- Certificates of Completion were distributed at the Secretariat Booth situated beside the Technical Booth. Distribution was announced by the emcee. Most runners were able to get their certificates.
- The VIP tables were set-up for the VIP guests of the PSE. These were not intended to discriminate anyone but to accommodate the event sponsors, PSE officials, among others. In most races, race owners do not give runners food. Discretion on such matter rests on the race owners.
- We agree that walkers should not be mixed with runners in one route. The race owner and the race organizers did not anticipate the huge turnout of fun runners because previous years records show a low trend for such type of race participants. PSE and the next race organizer of the event will consider this in their future race events.





















