ABS-CBN Foundation’s PIM Pasig River Marathon

I’ve been calling Mr Rudy Biscocho through his cellphone and sending him txt messages since last week but I did not receive any return call or replies from my txt messages. Well, the No. 1 Race Director is always busy planning and preparing for his incoming race. Anyway, I was able to register to run in this race last Monday with the promise that I will get my Race Packet on Friday.

If you are interested to read about my experience and assessment of this race when I finished it last year, please browse to my posts for the month of February 2008 in my Archive. If you are joining and planning to finish this race, please read also my post about “Lessons Learned” on the said Marathon event.

This Marathon Race was part of the programs/projects under the Clean and Green Foundation which was a creation of the National Government to clean and restore the beauty of the Pasig River. This Foundation consisted of different institutions of the government as well as Private Corporate Entities and Non-Government Organizations. However, despite its presence and mandate, it was only the Marathon Race that created awareness and much hype to the public on efforts to clean the Pasig Rive. Unfortunately, the Foundation was abolished last year without informing the public the reason behind it and later the task/mandate to clean the river was accepted by Ms Gina Lopez of the ABS-CBN Foundation with the Project called “Kapit Bisig Para Sa Ilog Pasig” for the next 7 years. I am just wondering if the money and resources that the Clean and Green Foundation had collected from the public for the past 8 years had been properly transfered to the new Project Administrator. ( Do you remember that One Peso Campaign for the Pasig River? If you watch a movie in Movie Theaters, One Peso of your Admission Fee goes to the said Foundation!!! And that was one of the “ways & means” where the public could contribute to such Project).

For the eight years that the Marathon Race was conducted, the name had been changed occassionally, but it was only last year that the race course was changed. For the 1st seven editions of the race, they started at Intramuros and ended up at The Fort. I was able to join and finished two editions of this Marathon Race on its original route. For last year’s edition, it was changed where the Starting Line was located at the Marikina Riverbanks and ended up at the Luneta Park. I can surmise that MMDA was able to influence the planning of the said race being one of the government institutions behind the Clean & Green Foundation.

 (Note: Whoever was the person who designed this Poster/Symbol/Logo for the said event, please take note that you copied the “running figures” on the emblem/symbol/logo or poster of the City of Angels Half-Marathon. Look for the similiarities at www.cityofangelshalf.com or below)

Now, the ABS-CBN Foundation changed the Marathon Race name, route, scheduled date and the Race Organizer! As early as January of this year, ABS-CBN Foundation finally considered the conduct of this Marathon Race as part of the Pasig River Project and I was able to talk to Mr Rudy Biscocho about his consultations with the ABS-CBN peole. However, it was too late already to push through with the said marathon with a limited time to prepare. It would be noted that the Pasig River Heritage Marathon was covered with an Executive Order signed then by former President Fidel Ramos for the Marathon Race to be conducted on the last Sunday of every February. And the Clean & Green Foundation did not deviate from that promulgated scheduled day! It was only in the later part of the 3rd Quarter of this year that the Marathon Race was announced to the public that it will push through on November 8, despite the presence of 3 scheduled Marathon Races for the month of October. 

I made a high overall rating on this race last year as the Race was organized/directed by the group of Gay Maddela. They did a good job with the basic requirements for the runners even if runners would compete with the vehicles along the streets.Runners would run along the streets with the flow of the traffic, either running on the outer edge of the street or along the elevated sidewalk. Almost all the barangays along the route volunteered to assist the runners and race marshals were located at busy street intersections making the runners as priority in giving the “right of way”.

For those who will be participating in this race, the Race Director for this event is Rudy Biscocho of RACE and the Event Management Team is Gran Obra, Inc. After a thorough explanation about the responsibilities of these two different entities in my previous post, I hope complaints about the conduct of the said race will reach the proper person/s. The Major Sponsor in this race is the ABS-CBN Foundation under Ms Gina Lopez.

By the way, there is a Relay Race Competition introduced in this race. A group of 20 runners for the Marathon Distance? And another group of 40 runners for the Marathon Distance? If this relay race will be done along the route, it will create a lot of “chaos, problems, and nightmares” for the Race Organizer. I never heard or read about its “mechanics” or procedures for this race. If the prize is right, I might as well allow my Elite Team to compete in this relay event.

With regards to my question for the past days as to the Cash Prizes expected to be awarded to the Winners, the Major Sponsor, Race Organizer/Race Director, and Event Management are silent about this matter. Can anybody answer me about this?

What to expect during the race and along the route? And my personal suggestions (If you are running SOLO for the Marathon Distance)

1) Most of the streets are not well-lighted as the race starts at 4:30 AM

2) Prepare to inhale different types of odor along the route aside from the “smog” brought about the vehicles & factory emissions. The smell of Pasig River is always there!

3) Beware of those “bombs” scattered along the Lambingan Bridge. Don’t litter your empty packs of Sports Gels, Sports Bars, and empty bottles of water & sports drinks. Don’t expect for Portalets along the way and don’t add to those “bombs” along Lambingan Bridge!!!

4) Be vigilant always on vehicles running on your sides and when crossing intersections especially when there are no marshals.

5) On the original route (Intramuros to The Fort), runners would be lost for the first 2-3 kilometers! I hope the Marshals will be deployed earlier this time.

6) If you want to finish with a decent time, provide your own support team and preposition them on the different bridges (Note: I copied the list of places/bridges from the blog of roselle aka running diva)

7) Don’t look or expect for Kilometer Markings along the way, select points stated below as your Benchmarks/Checkpoints. Just hope that the distance was measured accurately.

8) Don’t think that you will have Water Stations every 2.5-3 kilometers. I am sure that there will be places where there are no water stations.

9) If your stomach is sensitive, do not get any water or food from anybody, except on designated Aid Stations provided by the Race Organizer.

10) This is a “very hard” course, considering the terrain of the route.

11) Bring some Cash for your pocket or belt just in case you need to buy water or food along the way. Please, Do Not Use It for your Taxi Fare so that you can make a “shortcut” to the Finish Line or “cheat” on the course.

12) Lastly, do not expect an “International” or “World-Class”-standard Marathon Race in this event. (ABS-CBN Foundation is new in running!) What do you expect from a Registration Fee of P 250.00? Do not whine on this race! Just enjoy your run, make this as your long run workout and have fun. This is a nice way to remind yourself that you are a part of this event/advocacy and have contributed in a noble project to clean the Pasig River. Consider yourself as a “warrior” and a “hero” after finishing the race.

 

Race Route (Copied from Roselle’s Blog aka Running Diva)

Point 01: Starting Line to Pasay, turn around in Pedro Gil
Point 02: Delpan Bridge, km 4
Point 03: Planetarium, km 6
Point 04: McArthur Bridge (Post Office area), km 8
Point 05: Ayala Bridge (before going down), km 10
Point 06: Nagtahan (between KFC & Wendy’s), km 12
Point 07: Zamora, Pandacan (in front of Benny Abante tent), km 14
Point 08: Icasiano Health Center (Pedro Gil), km 16
Point 09: Lambingan Bridge, km 18
Point 10: Barangay Hall (Hulo), km 20
Point 11: JP Rizal (entrance of Rockwell), km 22
Point 12: Robinson’s Pioneer (parking of tricycles), km 24
Point 13: KFC, Oranbo, km 26
Point 14: C5 Bridge (after the bridge), km 28
Point 15: Market! Market!, km 30
Point 16: Jaguar Buendia, km 32
Point 17: Petron (Buendia corner Makati Avenue), km 34
Point 18: Grepalife Buendia, km 36
Point 19: Buendia U-turn slot, km 38
Point 20: Quirino Intersection, km 40
Km 42: Quirino Grandstand (Finish Line)

See you at the Starting Line!