Results: 2009 PSE Bull Run 10K

On January 26, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Race Results, Running4 Comments

The 2009 PSE (Philippine Securities Exchange) Bull Run “Takbo Para Sa Ekonomiya” 10K Road Race was held last January 18, 2009 at the Fort, Taguig City and considered as the first road race for the year after almost a month of absence of road races due to the Holiday Season.

I ran the said race to prove if my training during the Holidays will result to a better performance. I reached a weekly mileage of 127 kilometers in one week, two weeks before this race wherein most of the mileage were done on the oval track. One week before the race, I tapered my mileage by reducing by one-third of my total number of kilometers covered. I did all the things to be done just to ensure to get a positive and faster results.

In my Garmin Forerunner (GF) 305, it registered my finish time in 46:17 minutes. However, in the official results published by the Race Organizer after one week since race day, I got a time of 46:38 minutes. I can not understand the big discrepancy from the time registered in my GF 305 and the Race Organizer’s clock as I pressed my watch simultaneously with the start command of that “loud” Emcee on the stage while “the ringing of the bell” was done and stopped my watch after I passed the Finish Line.

From the official results, I placed #94 out of 762 runners in the 10K race, which is within the upper 12% of the overall finishers. In my age category of 50-59 years old, I placed #4 with a 50-year old runner from Fairview Running Club placing #1 with a time of 38:23 minutes! A difference of almost eight (8) minutes! A tough job is needed to attain that fast finish time. However, the 3rd placer had a time of 42:43 mnutes which I think would be a “doable” goal in the next coming races.

But the 64-year old runner who placed #96, the second runner behind me who finished few seconds after me could be another threat. How I wish I could run that fast if ever I could reach the age of 64.

“Girls, Kids, and Ladies”, can you beat the time of that 64 years old runner?

My 2009 Resolution: Register Early!

On January 25, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Pictures, Races, Running10 Comments

The Simpler, The Better!!!

The Bald Runner is just an ordinary runner and pays attention to announcements that The Happy Run had closed its registration as early as Thursday afternoon. So, there is no point of forcing the issue even if my staff were trying to communicate with the race organizer for the accommodation of my son who is visiting from the United States and myself. But I was surprised to learn that the elite members of Team Bald Runner are running the Resolution Run at MOA. So, I decided to run with the elite team for the Resolution Run this morning together with my son.

My son, John and I arrived at the MOA grounds at least one hour before the start of the race as Maj Espejo handed to me our race packets. The surroundings was still dark but the breeze coming from the sea was so refreshing and cold that I had to wear my sports jacket while having my slow warm-up jog along the wide streets at the back of the MOA. I decided not to bring my water belt this time and planned to slow down at least on two water stations for my “water breaks”.

The race started at 6:04 AM with about 500 runners where all the race distances (10K, 5K & 3K) were mixed together. But I found out that there was no problem with the mixed start at one time as the street was too wide for all the runners. I have to say that the EMCEE and the Public Address System were better than the last two races I’ve joined. The voice of the EMCEE gave some sort of a relaxing mood for the runners and the music (hip-hop) were pleasing to my ears. There were no program and speeches or unnecessary remarks from the EMCEE. He just announced that there are 40 seconds before the start of the race and before we knew it, the EMCEE just said “GO!” and off we went to our 10K run.

I was serous in my run while my son was having fun! — I was serious in my run while my son was having fun!

Finally, We Got Separated From The Main Group

The route is relatively flat and fast as it went along the road parallel to the Promenade area at the back of MOA and the route took us to the PICC area up to the Sofitel (Philippine Plaza) Hotel and made our turn-around infront of the Film Academy Center Building where the marshalls gave us one ribbon colored blue and took my water sip on a water station located near the turn-around point. Going back was easy but we have to pass along the road where the “Globe” is located infront of MOA. The presence of the plying buses and vehicles made most of the runners to slow down as we tried to run directly as much as possible to the next corner or pavement of the streets. This is the only disadvantage I could see in running wide streets, it is hard to visualize which part of the road you have to run in order to mnimize distance up to the next road where you need to turn (to the left or to the right) towards the finish line. When I knew that I had only the last kilometer ahead of me before the finish line, it was the only time that I looked at my watch and I was surprised to see that my GF had registered 40+ minutes. On the last 400 meters, my son passed me and reached the Finish line at 43:18 minutes (in his GF 405) and I finished the race in 43:30 minutes (in my GF 305).

John Passing The Finish Line In 43:18 Minutes. He admitted that this is his 1st 10K Race in his running career after finishing the Los Angeles Marathon For Four (4) Times.

The distance registered in my GF 305 was 9.6K (short by 400 meters). Even if I ran an additional 400 meters with my average pace for the last kilometer, I could have finished the race in 45:15 minutes. My average pace for the said race was 4:32 minutes/kilometer (as compared to my last week’s pace of 4:37 minutes/kilometer in the PSE Bull Run). Which means that I was able to improve my time for the 10K distance for almost one minute for this race. Whoaaa! Another PR again!

A Picture After The Race. Finally, This Race Made My Son As An "International Runner"

So, for those “stalkers” to the Bald Runner, if only I could have joined you in the Happy Run 15K, you might not have any chance of passing me along the way. According to my Pace Race Chart, with my 10K Finish Time today, I should have finished the race in 1:07:40 hours. Ha! Ha! Ha! Even with those hills at the Happy Run, I’ve really prepared and practiced on the same route last Friday morning together with my son.

Evaluation on the 2009 Resolution 10K Run

The Good

1) Nice EMCEE and Public Address System with good music. The sounds were pleasing to every runner’s ears!

2) Wide streets with less traffic.

3) Abundant water station & water supply along the route and at the start & finish line.

4) No unnnecessary program before the start of the race.

5) I still consider the start time as punctual.

6) No “traffic” of runners at the Finish Line

7) I got to know more runners from the Manila area. More runners are calling me “Idol”.

8) It was a simple and decent race. No “commercial booths” for runners. I simply call this race as “Run, Finish, & Vanish” Race!

9) Definitely, there were no “walkers”.

The Bad

1) I did not see any digital clock/timer.

2) Lack of Marshalls at the PICC Area as there were so many turns along the streets.

3) As always, no kilometer markings.

4) I did not know if there was a booth where I could claim my certificate of completion.

The Ugly

1) There were so many runners making “shortcuts” on the streets of the PICC area.

2) Some of the lady elites got lost on the 5K turn-around point.

3) The foul odor as one passes the bridge along the Macapagal Avenue. My son’s sense of smell was “jolted” by the stench on the said river. He said that he nearly “threw-up” while running along the bridge.

Overall Rating For The Race: 85%

Lessons Learned:

1) Register early in a race where I plan to run.

2) “Speed” Training is really producing its results on my road races.

3) Recovery & Body Adaptation—After reducing my weekly number of kilometers I’ve finished from 127 kms to 72 kms last week, I further reduced my running totals for this week to 65 kilometers for my body to recover and adapt to the training. However, the “speed” training session last Friday afternoon (even if it was raining hard, remember?) prepared me for a faster pace in today’s race.

4) Supplementary Weight Training—I had two workout sessions at the gym this week where I concentrated my time to my chest, shoulder, and core muscles.

5) Protein Drinks & Vitamins & Good Diet—All those pains and soreness simply vanished by consistently taking my protein drinks, Vitamins, and proper diet with more vegetables, fish, and “tofu”.

6) Massage—I did not have my massage for this week. I could not imagine what could had been my time if I had my regular massage for this week (before the race).

7) Racing Attire—Using a runner’s short with side-slit or running compression shorts during this 10K race did not make any difference at all in terms of comfort and speed.

Jan 2009 Update: Project Donate A Shoe

On January 24, 2009January 24, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Insights, Pictures, Running Shoes, Sports ProgramLeave a comment

In last Sunday’s 2009 PSE Bull Run, the Project Donate A Shoe was able to receive a total of twenty-eight (28) pairs of slightly used running shoes. Mark Robinson of Nottingham, United Kingdom arrived a day before the race and donated sixteen (16) pairs from the Running Clubs of Nottingham & Nottinghamshire, England. Mark is married to a Filipina from Zambales, who is with their three children and temporarily staying for a year in the country for the children to learn to speak the dialect. Thanks, Mark for the shoes and please extend also my thanks to the members of the running clubs that supported this project!

A Balkbayan Box With Running Shoes From Nottingham & Nottinhamshire, UK — A Balikbayan Box With Running Shoes From Nottingham & Nottinghamshire, UK

Formal Turn-Over of Shoes From Mark Robinson With Maj Espejo. I presented to him a "1,000-Km Club" Finisher's T-Shirt

In the same event, Jael and Cookie Wenceslao, both runners and finishers of the 2009 PSE Bull Run also donated eleven (11) pairs of running shoes. Harry Tan aka Mukhang Guilty with Happy donated his slightly used New Balance Shoes.

Jael & Cookie Wenceslao Turning-Over Bags Full of Running Shoes

Jay Lee Cu-Unjieng of Metro HIM, who had been a regular member of our weekly “runabouts” in Metro Manila and member of the Team Bald Runner, donated three (3) pairs of “once-used” trail and road running shoes after one of the “speed” sessions at the ULTRA Oval Track last week.

Jay Lee Donating His "Once-Used" TRail & Road Running Shoes

Enrico Tocol, Gold’s Gym Personal Trainer and Member of Team Bald Runner & “Runabout” Group donated two (2) pairs of running shoes after a “speed” session at the ULTRA Oval Track last week.

Charlie Donating Shoes at the ULTRA Oval Track — Rico Donating Shoes at the ULTRA Oval Track

Charlie Chua, a Dragon Boat athlete and member of Team Bald Runner, donated three (3) pairs of slightly used running shoes on the 1st week of January. Thanks, Charlie.

To everybody who had helped in this project, thank you very much for the support. Your less-fortunate fellow runners will be happy to receive your donated shoes. God Bless to all of you!

1st Corporate Running Clinic (Part 2)

On January 23, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Pictures, Runners' Training, Running, Stretching3 Comments

A week after the Team Bald Runner speakers conducted a lecture on the “Whys” of running among the staff and personnel of Reinier Pacific last January 8, it was time for the practical exercises and demonstrations on the proper way to do warm-up and stretching exercises before the actual run, demonstrate and do running drills, and the actual demonstration of running form where each of the participants were to perform. The demonstration and actual practice were handled by Major Ferdie Espejo Jr, Coach Saturnino Salazar and the rest of the Elite members of the team Bald Runner. The exercises started at 3:30 PM last Thursday, 15 January at the ULTRA Oval Track.

Personnel Formed as a "Platoon" of Trainees (Picture Courtesy of Reinier6666)

Almost 25+ participants went through the warm-up by jogging along the oval track, then stretching on each muscle of the body involved in running, runnng drills were demonstrated and performed in order to show the correct running form and the correct contact of the foot to the ground. These drills made the participants to sweat and catch their breaths but it was shown in their faces that they were enjoying and having fun with the corrections they were getting from their coaches.

Proper Way to Land the Midfoot To The Ground as Demonstrated by Coach Salazar (Picture Courtesy of Reinier6666)

After the drills, the coaches divided the participants into three (3) groups for them to do a “team building” exercise through a relay running where the fastest to finish a certain distance will win. To make the competition more interesting, the President of the company, Mr Amado Castro, Jr offered P 1,000 pesos for the team who will win. In the end, the group with the best renditon of a cheer and the fastest to run a distance in a relay among its members won the said prize.

Stretching of Muscles Were Properly Sone To Avoid Injuries — Stretching of Muscles Were Properly Done To Avoid Injuries

Team Relay Competition Among The Employees

Clinic Ended With A Group Picture With Team Bald Runner

The 1st Corporate Running Clinic was a success and the Team Bald Runner have again contributed in its objective and advocacy to motivate and influence more people to run and engage themselves in an active physical activity to improve their health and well-being. Few days after the practical exercises, four of the employees of Reinier Pacific enrolled in the Team Bald Runner’s “speed training” for formal and progressive training on running.

To, Mr Amado Castro, Jr aka Reinier6666, thank you very much for allowing my team to spread our advocacy of running through your staff and employees.

Once again, for those who are interested to invite us to your offices to lecture to your staff and employees on the proper way to run and train to join road races, the Team Bald Runner is offering its services for free! Please leave a comment to this post or send an e-mail to jovie75@hotmail.com for the details of the running clinic.

“Team Bald Runner” Won @ TNF Trail Run; 2009 PSE Bull Run; & 2009 Sinulog Half-Marathon

On January 22, 2009January 22, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Half-Marathon, Insights, Race Results, Running, Trail Running8 Comments

Team Bald Runner Isidro Vildosola won as the Champion in the The North Face’s 20K Thrill of the Trail last Sunday in Nasugbo, Batangas. Because of the disqualification of the 2nd, 3rd & 4th finishers for not wearing a single TNF item/attire, the number 5th runner and Team Bald Runner member, Mayo Rodriguez, won the 1st Runner-Up. Finishing 3rd Runner-Up was another Team Bald Runner member, Jerry Kurendeng aka High Altitude. Due to the limited number of runners accepted for the trail run, the Team Bald Runner was not able to field its women runners and it made Cecil Morella aka Miracello very happy in telling me the breaking news that his AMCI lady climbers swept the ladies overall top podium finishes. Congratulations to the Team Bald Runner and AMCI Mountaineers! (Note: Jerry Kurendeng and Mayo Rodriguez are presently attending the “speed training” sessions with the Team Bald Runner who both improved their respective PR best times in the said trail run)

On the 2009 PSE Bull Run, the following members of Team Bald Runner won in their respective categories:

10K Men

Alley Quisay—1st Runner-Up (Overall)

Elmer Sabal—-2nd Runner-Up (Overall)

Reynaldo De Los Reyes—7th Place, Overall

Cris Sabal—11th Place, Overall

10K Women

Ailene Tolentino—Champion

Marecil Maquilan—1st Runner-Up

Anna Vargas—2nd Runner-Up

5K Men

Gerald Sabal—1st Runner-Up (Overall)

Bernardo Desamito—3rd Runner-Up (Overall)

Jujet De Asis—5th Place, Overall

Rey Antoque—16th Place, Overall

Last Saturday, 17 January, Rene Desoyo of Team Bald Runner won 1st Runner-Up in the Mizuno-Asia Miles Sinulog Festival Half-Marathon held in Mactan City, Cebu

(Note: For more pictures at the TNF Thrill of the Trail, please visit www.highaltitude.wordpress.com) and for pictures at the 2009 Sinulog Half-Marathon, please visit Cebu Sports Blog.

Project Donate A Shirt @ GK Bacsil

On January 21, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Pictures, Running6 Comments

A few weeks after I launched the Project Donate A Shoe last year, I started another project where I encouraged runners to donate their Race Finisher’s T-Shirts which I know are just washed and folded in their closets after being used only once. So, I started donating my collection of Race Finisher’s T-Shirts which I dubbed as Project Donate A Shirt. Such shirts had been donated to families residing in Gawad Kalinga Communities in Laoag City—GK Bacsil and GK Talinga-an.

After collecting 50+ pieces of assorted Finisher’s T-Shirts from DelQ in California and from runner-bloggers & members of Team Bald Runner for the past months, I visited GK Bacsil in Laoag City this mornng after a short notice and coordination with Mr Robert De Los Santos, the Project Director. I donated these donated shirts to the wives of the different families residing in the said GK as their husbands were already tending their respective crops and some were already working outside their respective houses.

Collection of Finisher's Shirts To Be Donated

A "Pray-Over" Concluded the Donation by the GK Project Director

Race Report: 2009 PSE Bull Run 10K

On January 20, 2009January 20, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Pictures, Running12 Comments

Being the first road race of the new year, 2009, I really intended to join this road race irrespective who the race organizer was. After almost one month of no road race, I was excited to find out if my preparations during the Holidays in terms of my mileage and speed workouts will produce positive results in my finish time. Those past three weeks of training were full of mileages and kilometers covered that I reached my record of 127 kilometers per week run a week before the road race. The six days before the race were made as recovery days as I reduced my mileage by one-third and saw to it that I did a speed run covering 75% of the distance for race day with my race effort last Friday evening (two days before the race). I was able to run 7.74 kilometers in 35:58 minutes with an average pace of 4:38 minutes/km. On the following morning, I did a 30-minute run with 70% race effort but I need one more thing to do before the race. I got my massage after lunch on that day and completely rested the whole night.

Few weeks before the race day, I had the dilemma on what to choose to do—to personally meet my arriving son, John Paul, from Los Angeles at the Centennial airport or choose to run the first road race of the year in order to test the results of my training preparations. Choosing what to do last Sunday needed a lot of brainstorming on my part. In the end, I chose to join the road race and instructed my staff to meet my son at the airport and bring him to the Finish Area. My son’s plane arrived on the same time that the road race started! The moment I saw my son after I finished the race at the vicinity of the Project Donate A Shoe booth, he said, “The Bald Runner must run the 1st road race of the year and he must not miss it”. Thanks, John!

I woke up at 4:30 AM last Sunday and prepared for the run—shaved, took a bath, relieved myself from any toxic/waste matters in my big intestines, finished my coffee, ate cereals, and toasted bread with sandwich spread. I was brought to The Fort with the same vehicle that will meet my son and I was already at the Starting Area at 5:20 AM. At the starting area, I was surprised to be greeted by the Officers and Enlisted Personnel of the Philippine Army who were assembled doing their warm-up exercises. Even the Generals around were there to greet me. I was happy to see these guys whom I’ve been with during my military career. After locating the elite members of Team Bald Runner and Maj Espejo, I immediately had my warm-up jog on those vacant streets of The Fort where I saw Mari Javier, a student of the “speed” training, also doing his warm-up jog. We greeted each other and prepped him that he should break his best time in 10K in this race. Mari was my running buddy last Friday’s speed run and on the previous day for the “active recovery” run of 30 minutes with 70% effort at the ULTRA Oval Track. After 20 minutes of warm-up and stretching, I knew I was ready for the race and proceeded to the corral area.

The lady Senator Pia Cayetano in pink infront of all the runners at the 10K race starting line.

I was talking with the foreigner-runner with a stroller and his handicapped kid before the start of the 10K race.

In the corral area, I saw Amado aka Reinier6666 and his family, Jay aka Prometheus and saw and greeted other runner-bloggers, I was greeted by Mark from Nottingham, England who later donated 16 pairs of “used” running shoes from his running club in England, but I had a nice time talking to a foreigner-runner whom I saw in last year’s Subic Marathon pushing his “special/handicapped” kid in a special stroller while running the race. The foreigner lives in Baguio City and the kid had grown bigger, making the runner push a heavier kid this time! I was too near the stage and to those powerful big sound speakers that I could hardly understand what the other runners were saying to me. I just prayed that the program would end immediately and have the emcee shout the word, “GO”. This emcee even made a mistake of mentioning the race as the “2008 PSE Bull Run”. Well, as soon as I heard the word, GO, I started my GF 305 and took my short stride making sure not to step on others shoes and legs.

I was approaching the Bayani Road intersection towards the Gate of the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

I hope the Race Organizer would be able to see this picture where runners were “sandwiched” with all types of vehicle along the Bayani Road. Where are the Road Marshalls?

I immediately placed myself within my running-comfort space after almost 100 meters from the starting area and I felt relaxed with my pace. Little did I know that I was running a 4:33 minute/km pace on the 1st kilometer which was much faster than the average pace I had during my last Friday’s pace and the terrain was uphill! Once I hit Lawton Avenue, I was running an average pace of 4:24 minute/km pace for the 2nd kilometer! However, I became faster on the 3rd kilometer where I timed in 4:13 minutes! I knew at this point that I was committing a grave mistake of not being conservative on my average pace for the 1st two kilometers. I planned to be faster in my pace after hitting the halfway mark as I wanted have a “negative split” on this race. On the 4th kilometer, I slowed down to 4:40 minute/km pace but on the way down towards the Heritage Park, I got a time of 4:38 minutes. On my way back to the Finish Line, I got the following time in every kilometer. My sixth kilometer was timed at 4:40 minutes but I slowed down when I was running that last uphill portion before reaching Gate 3 of Fort Bonifacio which is near the St Michael Chapel. My 7th klometer was timed at 4:57 minutes. However, a runner from the Fairview Running Club ran with me along the Bayani Road and I was able to increase my pace, finishing my 8th kilometer in 4:48 minutes. On the 9th kilometer, the runner from Fairview slowly went ahead of me while Coach Salazar, my official photographer on this race, was constantly shouting at me “to lift my knees some more and be light on my footstrike”. Those reminders made me finish the 9th kilometer in 4:44 minutes. Although I was overtaken by a young triathlete on the last 500 meters, I still managed to finish the last/10th kilometer in 4:31 minutes.

Towards my last kilometer of the race. The runner in gray on my right finally passed me on the last 500 meters from the Finish Line.

I finished my 1st road race (10K) in a PR best time of 46:17 minutes with an average pace of 4:37 minutes/kilometer. My race effort was best described on how my heart functioned where I had an average HR of 163 bpm and a maximum HR at 168. I could have exerted more effort as I was not able to reach my fastest speed training workout with a Max HR of 172 bpm. Neither did I reach the supposed target goal of 110% of my race effort which translates to a 4:21 minute/kilometer pace. On hindsight, I could have targetted finishing the race in 45+ minutes had I exerted an extra effort. Well, I think the presence of “walkers” from the end of Bayani Road towards Lawton Avenue all the way to the Finish Line had contributed for my being slow for the last 2 kilometers.

My son came directly from the Airport to see the Bald Runner.

BR, my son John Paul, my brother General Samuel Narcise and Pam Castro (back shown)

Lessons Learned:

1) It’s “harvest time”—The “speed training” at the ULTRA Oval Track and my shift to “speed-endurance” training on the oval track are starting to show its results.

2) Familiarity of the Route—Generally, I am familiar with the route but with my almost daily workouts at the ULTRA Oval Track, I lacked some actual practice sessions on the actual route.

3) More hills, hills, hills training—My trainng this week is geared towards more hill training as my body tend to slow down on the uphill portions of the route. The same route will be expected on this Sunday’s Happy Run 15K Race.

4) Sticking to a Planned Race Strategy—My excitement to produce a PR time on this 1st road race of the year (plus the hatred to the Emcee since I heard him in last month’s Patakbo Sa Kabundukan! yes, he was the same guy!) had made me out of focus to my pre-planned strategy.

5) (New) Newton Racing Shoes—For the first time, I used my Newton Racing Shoe in a road race which I bought when I visited USA last August 2008. Not only did it make me almost fall (forward) on my face to the ground but it gave me that consistent midfoot and light footstrike throughout the race. Somebody asked me if it could be used for running a marathon distance. My answer was “yes’ as it was used by the 2008 Champion of the Kona IRONMAN World Championship Triathlon, Australia’s Craig Alexander.

My running legs and Newton Racer Shoes

6) Less Weight, Faster Time—Many of my friends who have never seen me for months were surprised of my thinner and leaner body. Well, I just told them that I am now a “professional masters runner” who keeps on improving my finish time in every road race where I compete. Yes, it’s a proven fact, the lesser your weight is, the faster your finish time in a road race. I guess, I don’t need to explain further.

7) More exercises to my Core Muscles—The high mileage I did for the past weeks made me forget to strengthen my core muscles as I experienced “side stitches” during my last speed run last Friday.

8) Massage—The one and half hour massage with a professional masseur last Saturday made my muscles relaxed and pliable during the race. I did not feel any soreness or any pain in any muscle of my legs after the race.

9) Fashion Statement—I always prepare well with my running attire for road races because it is through my “looks” where I could send the message that I always mean business, to compete with myself and with the digital clock. So, for those younger runners who would like to beat me during road races, please remember that I am about 57 years old and I just run to bring back my glory days in the early 80’s and find out if I can still run a 42-minute 10K race. So, if you are in your 30s or 40s, you should be there running kilometers ahead of me and not trying to stalk or follow right behind me and try to wait for the chance or opportunity to overtake me. Ha! Ha! Ha!

“Ladies, Kids, & Children”, see you on this Sunday’s 15K run!!!

Lastly, congratulations to the members of Team Bald Runner and to the students of the “speed” training” (which means, you have not paid yet your membership fees! he! he! he!) for their “smiles” on their faces. Be proud of your accomplishments because you worked hard to follow your respective program. Wishing you for more PR best times in the road races to come.

P.S. Critique For 2009 PSE Bull Run

On January 19, 2009January 19, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Insights, Running2 Comments

Additional observations on the 2009 PSE Bull Run:

The Bad

6) No Kilometer Markings—-Sometimes when you observe that there are no kilometer markings along the route of the race, you immediately conclude that the race organizers are not competitive runners.They could be recreational runners or social runners or let me say, business-minded runners!

7) Too many turn-around points—I think, this is the only 10K race where I joined with three (3) turn-around points. No strings were given at the first turn-around point at Lawton Avenue where a “cheater” would be tempted to turn left directly to Bayani Road. The second turn-around at the Gate of the Libingan ng mga Bayani is another point where a “cheater” would simply turn left towards the Heritage Park area. On these intersections, I did not see any road marshalls manning these points to prevent “cheaters”.

Final Overall Rating For This Race—-69%

2009 PSE Bull Run “Takbo Para Sa Ekonomiya”

On January 18, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Insights, Running8 Comments

Critique—The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: 2009 PSE Bull Run Road Race

The Good

1) This is the first road race for the year 2009 and it took at least a month of rest for the runners (not for me!) to enjoy the Holidays and long vacation. Being the first road race for the year, it brought excitement to the regular and competitive runners to be back on the road again and try to assess their level of competency in running. For most of the runners, they want to shed off some calories and fats which they accumulated during the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.

2) The best thing that happened in this road race was a 100% “customer satisfaction” among the participants of the “speed training” at the ULTRA Oval Track who became automatically as members of the Team Bald Runner. Each of the runner/member attained their respective PR best times! Even runners who were exposed to only one to weeks of training had improved their finish times.

3) I am glad to find out, according to the data from my GF 305, that the distance of the 10K road race registered a very accurate reading of 10.0K. I think, this is the second best thing that happened in this race as it is the first 10K race that I have joined for the past one year to be the most accurate.

4) There were Lots of Water Stations along the route but I did not see a Water Station at the Start/Finish Line.

5) At last, it was nice to see the Generals of the Armed Forces of the Philippines with their Officers and Men led by no less than the Chief of Staff AFP, General Alexander Yano, who is also a runner and athlete, joined the said road race. It was nice also to see the Philippine Army’s Biking Club composed of the Officers and Enlisted Personnel which was revived by its Commanding General, Lt General Victor “Bong” Ibrado. This is the same Biking Club that I organized when I was the Commanding Officer of the Counter-Intelligence Unit of the Philippine Army during the early 90’s. Did anybody see any contingent from the Philippine National Police?

6) The taste of “hot pandesal” being distributed by Melvyn of the Fort Striders Club from one runner to another was really a “new thing” to me in a road race at the finish area.

7) The Project Donate A Shoe received a total of 28 pairs of slightly “used” shoes after the race. A separate post will be published on the details and pictures with the donors.

The Bad

1) Lack of Road Marshalls—or the Absence of Road Marshalls. After running 50 meters from the Starting Line, I knew that there was something wrong! There were no road marshalls on the street intersections and vehicles would freely and abruptly cut into the runner’s way. It became worst when the runners were along Lawton Avenue and Bayani Road. Runners were seen running side by side with vehicles on these streets/roads.

2) Narrow Street For Starting/Finish Line—The race oganizer selected a street at The Fort which is very narrow for a lot of runners and walkers. The road where road races at The Fort usually starts and finish (last year) should had been an appropriate choice for a bigger crowd. The 3K Walkers almost filled the entire width of the Finish Line and that I had to shout at the walkers who suddenly crossed my path as I was sprinting towards the Finish Line.

3) No Digital Clock—I did not see any digital clock at the Starting/Finish Line. I have to rely on my GF 305 for my finish time.

4) Race Organizer/s Not Identified—It would be nice if the runners know the “faces” of the road organizers or at least, know the name of the outfit that organized this road race. It seems that this road organizer is already notorious for not being able to look for the safety and welfare of the “paying” runners and walkers. I have a suspicion that I know these people. I’ve seen the Director-General of PATAFA on the side of the starting line before the start of the 10K race but I just saw him there standing with his arms crossed on his chest. I just surmised that the race was sanctioned by PATAFA or the course distance was measured by PATAFA.

5) No Need For Entertainers—In road races, there is no need for singers and other entertainers after the race while waiting for the winners to be announced and awarded. The race organizers should have positioned these entertainers along the route of the race. Guys, this is not a concert, this is a road race!

The Ugly

1) Lack of Registration Efficiency—I’ve heard complaints of registered runners being promised of their race bibs to be picked up only to find out that their race bibs were not yet ready. These runners sent their respective drivers and staffs to get their race bibs for almost four times without getting positive results. The announced outlets for registration had been closed a week before the day of the race. The race numbers for the 10K race have so many color codings which may confuse the other runners if they are really in the right road race. In short, from the the race bib alone, it already showed how confused and inefficient the race organizers were in doing their jobs.

2) Prints of the Finisher’s Shirt—I dont’l like the quality of the print “PSE BULL RUN 2009” infront of the shirt. Anyway, I’ll donate this shirt.

3) No Philippine Flag, No Singing of the National Anthem—I suggest that if there is no Philippine Flag on the stage, we should not be singing the National Anthem.

4) EMCEE and Public Address System— I hate the EMCEE! There is no need for a loud Public Address System with all those powerful speakers directed towards the runners at the “corral” area. A “bullhorn” should have served its purpose. The PSE authorities should had simply “ring the bell” continouosly instead of the Emcee shouting “Ready, Set, Go” at the same time with the ringing of the bell. Seriously speaking, I did not hear the ringing of the bell!

5) No Certificate of Completion—I did not receive any. Did you receive one?

6) Nice Dining Tables inside Tents—Have you observed/seen those dining tables with white cloth covers inside those tents lined up at the sides of the Stage? I wonder who were invited to dine on those nicely prepared tables. In a road race, everybody is treated equally whether you are rich, VIP, or not. The race organizers should have simply spent for the road marshalls but not for those dining tables and foods to be served. Runners, after finishing a 10K race, would simply need a bottle of water and a Gatorade and their day is done. Guys, this is not a marathon (42K/26M) where you need to eat after the race! How I wished PSE should have served boiled bananas, boiled eggs, and “hot pandesal” for the runners and guests.

7) Presence of Walkers—There is always a problem on the race route when the race organizers allow walkers to be mixed with the runners on the same route. As soon as I reached Lawton Avenue after coming from Bayani Road, the route became clogged with a lot of walkers who almost occupied the lane for the race. I had to run in between these walkers and sometimes stayed at the edge of the lane while making sure that I am not being sideswept by a vehicle on the other lane. As I mentioned earlier, these walkers also clogged the finishing chutes/finishing line.

Overall Rating for this Race—-70%

“Speed Training” & 2009 PSE Bull Run

On January 18, 2009January 18, 2009 By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Running18 Comments

This is just “teaser” of the race report I will be posting soon about the conduct of the 1st road race for the year 2009.

As usual, the Project Donate A Shoe Booth (luckily, I was not “bumped-off” this time!) became the “meeting place” of the Hardcore & Concerned Runners and members of Team Bald Runner. There is only one thing I could say about these runners, who had been religiously training in our “speed training” for the past weeks at the ULTRA Oval Track—they were showing their happy faces as all of them have broken their best PR times for the 10K & 5K Runs. Congratulations to the members of Team Bald Runner! The “speed program” really works! Our thanks to Major Ferdie Espejo, Jr. and Coach Satur Salazar for their efforts in seeing to it that we always follow our respective “target goal” program.

I finished the 10K race in 46:17 minutes. Another PR to start the year.

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