The long wait is over, TNF100 has arrived…
‘Twas the day before….
The wheels on our car go round and round on that Saturday afternoon as we drive to Clark, Pampanga. Everything has been well planned, our running gears ready; our cooler if fully-packed of hydration drinks, power gels and lots of water; and the bananas already ripe. Our racing spirits in-tuned with the anticipated event.
We arrived at the hotel at 3PM, rested for a while and decided to go to the race area so we could survey the trail. But as soon as we arrive in front of Expo Filipino and parked our car, huge drop of rain started pouring and winds were almost tearing the race area, it was like being in the middle of a storm. We opted to stay inside the car and waited for the rain to be over. And as soon as it was, this is how the race area looked like:
It looks like a storm hit this place
Hubby and I were concerned with the runners in the 100K category. We thought that with a wind that strong and that heavy downpour they would be worried of a very muddy and slippery terrain, add to the rising water level on the river rising. 😦
After that rain, we still went to the trail area and walk/run (lakbo) some kilometers, we didn’t get to see the way leading to trail so we just run on the river. We were on our way back to the area that night when we saw Glenn Mundo running for the finish line, we stop for a while so that we could cheer for him and chat for a while. He was the one who told us that Coach Rio is thinking of postponing the race due to what happened earlier. Coach Rio did what any responsible organizer would do, analyze the situation and act and I admire him for that. We stayed for a while in the race area and talked to runners who finished their first loop in the 100K. We saw Mikey, Glenn, and Bro. Ronnie (RunnerforChrist), finally I get to meet him. We left the area after a couple of minutes for we have to sleep early for the big event.
‘Twas a very special day….
I ‘am used to preparing everything needed during the night before a run, I don’t want to miss and forget anything that is needed. Woke up around 3:10AM, drank some coffee, eat instant noodles, change from pajama to running attire and off we go to the area. There were lots of runner attendees who also stayed at Holiday Inn since they were giving discounts for the accommodation in collaboration with the TNF100. The shuttle bus going to the site was already in front of the hotel lobby and lots of runners were already on board.
It was obvious that we were super-dooper excited for the race (along with many runners), we arrived at the area early, something that we don’t usually do. 😀 Some runners were warming up, chatting with friends, the racing atmosphere is so high that you are immediately drawn to it. Gigi the FitMommy was also there, who was doing her 20K trail run and said that she was nervous but knowing her the run was nothing to her. 🙂
The 20K runners went first and after 10minutes the 10K were off. It was around 1.5K of road before heading to the downhill portion of the Sacobia bridge leading to river. There was a slight traffic at this portion because it was muddy and some runners prefer to go down safely rather than go down fast risking injury. The run was fun, we were made to cross river and run on water, I was running with wet, dirty and muddy shoes. It was a bit irritating running like this for almost 75% of the race, but it was really fun. You can tell that almost all the runners were having a good time and was really happy of joining this race that day. Sure it was a hard course but I’m happy to have done it and will join again next year. Check some pictures I took while I was on the trail.
I finished the race with an official time of 1:30:58. It was slower than my last TNF but this course is way too hard than that. My esposo placed 7th overall in the 20K with official time of 1:55:12. I was just wondering why he didn’t won in his age category “A” (18-30 y.o.), instead the runner with Bib#7074 won (age 21) with a time of 2:03:03, is the AGE the first basis when choosing the winner for the age category or the finish time? I think it’s the finish time so why did #7074 won instead of my hubby. I already sent inquiry to runrion.com but haven’t receive any reply yet.
But still overall the race was well organized, Coach Rio and Vince did a very good job. They are really good with their job, they deserve an applaud. Congratulations to you and your team!
Next post will be photos from the TNF100 race. Keep running everyone and congratulations to all the participants and finishers especially to those who joined the 100K solo/relay race. Finish or DNF, still I salute you. 🙂