Brooks Run Happy and Why Not Everybody Was a Happy Camper err, Runner

Was it a happy run for you?

It almost turned into an upheaval.

No, the runners--particularly the men--were not revolting against being forced to wear neon yellow singlets that would make them glow in the dark. It was about starting late. Yes, you read it right. Filipinos hate being late. At least in this facet of Pinoy lives, being late is a bane. The gun was supposed to be fired for the 15k runners at 5:30 am. The giddy runners were all in front of the start/finish arc minutes before that. But more than a quarter of an hour after, no signal to start has yet been commenced. A couple of runners booed. Others joined the banter by doing their own countdowns. Some perhaps grunted an expletive. While, I, being alone in this yellow crowd, waited patiently and quietly. I didn't bother complaining to the runner beside me. I don't want to get stressed out with something I can't control. 

I almost came late or even missed the entire race. I set my alarm at 3 am hoping to be at the Fort where the race is to take place at around 4:30 am. I heard the alarm and stopped it but I went to snooze mode right after and woke up an hour later. Not bad though, because I was out of our apartment and walked as fast as I can and got to there before 5:30 am. 

Anyway, my fellow 15k runners were already restless and the hosts were catching the brunt of the organizers' inefficiencies. It was almost 6 am when the hosts signaled the start of the race with a party popper which caused a runner beside me to exclaim 'Yan lang pala ang hinihintay!'.

And off we went. Some, mostly the elite runners started off fast. The others a lot faster than me. I was pacing myself to begin at a 6:30 pace until the 2nd km. I was aiming to finish at 1:30 maintaining a 6 min/km pace all through out the race.

Buendia flyover

The Fort is my running playground. Though running here is not a novelty, to be able to run in the middle of the roads of Fort Bonifacio gives me that nostalgic feeling as my running history started out here. Going back, it was almost always the same route, we started near Bonifacio High Street, going to St. Luke's, turn left to Buendia flyover, straight to some part of Buendia, make a u turn back to the flyover, towards McDonald's, then Serendra, then to the British School, then to the building where Sutherland rents, make a u turn, then head to Mercato Centrale, turn right to some dusty road make a u-turn again, then to Serendra and back to BHS to make that finish. Now, if you were able to get a picture of the route in your head, then give yourself a pat in the back or better yet a scratch :). I would get lost with that kind of description but that's the best that I can do. 

hydro station

The only thing that almost defied me was the unforgiving heat of the sun. Talk about being baked alive. Other than that, everything is close to perfect. I was able to maintain a 5:30-5:50 pace/km all through out. I stopped in hydration stations either to drink--which I did twice--or douse myself with water--which I did in the latter part of the race. A few meters from the line I saw Sir Raul of A Runner's Circle who was shooting runners, posed for the camera and gave him a low five. My results show I crossed the finish line with a gunstart time of 1:20:14 and RFID time of 1:19:44. My Garmin showed I only ran 14.5 kms at the finish line so I ran another 500 meters to make it 15kms and finished at 1:22--with my finishers' medal dangling around my neck. 

I lingered for awhile after the event and after getting my loot bag. As always, sponsoring companies like Men's Health, Alaska, etc., would pitch their own booths and would give away freebies. I had a free cup of milk from Alaska which didn't go well with my stomach. Other than that, I didn't bother joining the long queues in the freebie-giving booths. 

In front of a plaster of smileys galore

I left after awhile and while this maybe just another run, this is not. This was my first 15km run and  went below my target time. Also, I ran it for my Lola who is now happy in heaven in time for her 84th birth anniversary.

Race Recap

The Good:

1. Singlet - A Brooks Singlet that came free with a P600 registration fee? Yes, it's true. We can forgive them for the color but not every race organizer would think of giving away branded singlets free with the race kits. And another yes, I registered because of the singlet.

"Miss Ganda, Ano Number Mo?  Eto Sakin 0916XXXXXXX"

"Are we there yet?"

2. Shout-out Bibs - Too bad not all runners were up to it. The funny signs I remember were "Are We There Yet?", "Pangit Ang Nasa Likod Ko", "Miss Ganda, Ano Number Mo, Eto Sakin 0916XXXXXXX", and "Like a Bowsz", not sure if it's a shout-out (pardon the pun) to the SNL skit.

3. Finishers' Medal - It's made of wood and it's a neat addition to my collection.

The Bad:

1. Race kit distribution - It's easy to collect money but when it's time to deliver, someone will mess it up. I was able to register at Runnr in BHS smoothly and was told to come back on the 16th of this month to claim my race kit. I went back to the store on that day and was told to go back on Friday and they will text us when the race kits are ready. On Thursday of that week, I saw another registration site who was already distributing race kits on that day. I went to Runnr that night and the guy handling the registration  told me they are already closed and complained to him that he did not even notify us. I went back the next day and I know I screwed up big time when I told them that I lost my claim stub. I was asking if I can just show them my ID. Another guy, I presume is the boss of the guy manning the registration asked me to photocopy my ID. I got frustrated as I had to walk back to our office building to have it photocopied. How I wish they had a control so that if anything happens they have something to back up on to if anything happens. Lesson learned: Never lose a claim stub especially if the organizer has poor internal control.

hydrostation

2. Hydration - Hydration stations were enough but they were only serving lukewarm distilled water. I am curious how a major event was not able to get sponsorship from any of the sports drinks company in the country. Pocari was one of the sponsors but the drinks were not served on the hydrostations and were quite few in comparison to the number of runners.

Lots of paper

3. Goodie bag - How I wish it had more goodies aside from the small bottle of Hygienix alcohol, a magazine and a pack of cookies and not much of pamphlets from some companies.

The Ugly:

1. Delayed race start - The runners can be late but never the organizer. How I wish the organizers were able to explain why the race didn't start on time. The race was organized by Adrenaline Multisport Group and some runners were chanting "We want Rio!" over their disgust with this flop. 

2. Route and marshaling - The 15km route was short of almost 500 meters. Another fumble though unverified was the route for the 3k runners where a marshal asked some runners to make a u-turn already when  they're not yet supposed to. 

Too many improvements to make. It was entitled Brooks Run Happy. Despite the pre-race hangups, I was happy running it. I wish I could say it's the same for the other runners. Oh well, till the next race! xx

Here are some more pics:

The hosts

Brooks booth

Pampanga's pride: Mekeni

Race of the future: Stilt running

Marching band

Like a Bowsz

Here's the SNL skit I mentioned above: