Originally, the 16k runners should've started earlier at 5.30am but due to certain reasons I wasn't aware of, all 3k/5k/16k runners started at the same time which was 6am. I positioned myself towards the middle of the pack so as not to get tumbled on by the faster runners. After all, I wasn't there to be the fastest. I was there to beat my own personal record of 33:50 set in the Condura Run.
The host was doing his job well, greeting everyone and plugging products here and there until he suddenly started counting down.
10, 9, 8, 7.....
Syete! I looked at my watch and it was 6am but I still saw a lot of runners at the sidelines stretching, warming-up, chatting.
Imagine the queue on the portalets running towards the starting gate.
...6, 5, 4, 3....
Imagine the poor guy/gal INSIDE the portalets.
...2, 1...BANG!
And we were off! I promised myself na hindi ako padadala sa mga mabibilis tumakbo at the start so that I can pace myself up to the finish line but, as what had happened, my pace was fast going into the 1st 1.5kms. I slowed down my pace after that since I knew that from the end of Rizal Avenue up to the U-turn near Fifth Avenue Place, the elevation would be upwards. The water station after 2kms was set up poorly, i.e. it was on the other side of the road so we all had to cross to get water.
The next water station was before and after the U-turn. So the 5km leg had 3 water stations versus Condura which only had one. The thing that I didn't like was that the race officials didn't manage the traffic well since I found myself signaling to oncoming/intersecting cars whenever we crossed roads. The race officials should've taken care of this like how it was well-organized in the Condura Run.
I found myself walking for about 100 or so meters but that was all the walking I did. At the last turn seeing the finish line, I was proud of myself as I crossed the line with my new personal record (unofficial): 30mins, 53secs. I was about 3mins faster than my previous 5k. WOW!
Bumawi din naman in the end yung Slimmerun due to lots of giveaways. There was actually a total of 3 Vitwater bottles since the 1st one was handed to the runners immediately after the finish line before receiving the loot bag and t-shirt. The shirt would've been nicer if they've put in "FINISHER" on it, panindak when I take my UP-ikot practice runs. Hehehe.
Of course, the SlimmersWorld Miss Bikini 2009 models were there to cheer on. Magaganda? Well, let me just safely say: it's a bikini contest. ;-)
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