Month: December 2010

Condura Skyway Marathon

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A blogger’s night was held last Wednesday in connection with the most anticipated race of 2011, the Condura Skyway Marathon. I, personally have always been looking forward to this race, who wouldn’t want to run on the Skyways? For two years now, Condura race had always been on top of my running list. I find it nice that while I’m running I’m making a sea creature smile, main beneficiaries for every run is the marine life. For next year, all participants would be running for the dolphins.

Race fees are as follows:

42K        –    P1,250.00
21K        –    P1,150.00
16K        –    P1,050.00
10K        –    P950.00
5K        –      P750.00
3K        –      P550.00

Try the country’s first electronic registration system for data accuracy and convenience.

Payment may be made

  • thru cash at the Condura Skyway Marathon Registration Center at Greenbelt 3, in front of Asics Store, upon payment you will have your racekit with D-Tag technology, dri-fit shirt, discount coupon for Asics and Hershey’s chocolate. or by;
  • thru credit card when you register and pay at the online payment gateway; racekit will be delivered by Air 21, furnish the E-reg form properly to ensure proper delivery. For international registrants pick-up of racekits will be at the Asics Store at Greenbelt 3 up to February 5, 2010.

If you are thinking that the race fee is higher than expected, you better think twice for the race organizers had many things in store for us.  So why run? Below are some reasons why. 🙂

 

12 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD RUN IN THE CONDURA SKYWAY MARATHON

1.   Run for the Dolphins.
2.   Every runner gets a medal.
3.   Special edition Dolphin shirt.
4.   D-Tag technology.
5.   Breakthrough e-Reg system.
6.   16K new race category.
7.   First 10K on the skyway
8.   New 21K route.
9.   Run the new extended Skyway!
10. Fun route for the 3K and 5K runners around BGC
11.  2 Starts, 1 Finish
12.  Lots of freebies and giveaways!

Runner-bloggers who are present at the event

 

Done with my nth 21K registration! 🙂

A message from Fred Uytengsu

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Regarding the Ironman 70.3 Philippines on August 2011

Hello fellow triathletes— This message below is from Fred Uytengsu, organizer of Ironman 70.3 Philippines 2011. Please feel free to pass on and share with the other tri teams:

 

“It has been brought to my attention about certain concerns and grumblings about the cost of Ironman 70.3 Philippines and the quick sell out of rooms at Camsur.  I am not on Facebook but some friends alerted me about the situation.

 

Allow me to clarify some misconceptions.  First of all, bringing Ironman to the Philippines has been a long time goal of mine and it took several years of negotiations.  It also takes a quarter of a million dollars!  We work with sponsors to defray as much of the costs as possible and registration fees are in line with other 70.3 events around the world.  Some ask “why do we have to pay more in the Philippines than other local triathlons”?  The simple answer is because it is a better event and it is an official Ironman race! Why do you pay more for a Rolex versus a Swatch? They both tell time.  We are cognizant of the financial burden on triathletes and also try to keep costs down for transport and food.  (Most races don’t even arrange these details). Hopefully you will agree that the service and quality are better than most other events.  WTC thinks so.  Furthermore competing locally defray the cost of airfare.

 

With respect to hotels, there is a shortage in CWC simply because so many people want to stay there.  So as soon as registration opened, CWC rooms were filled up in 72 hours.  There are some rooms reserved for sponsors but these are less than 20.  At the Awards Banquet this year, Gov. Lray promised to build an additional 100 rooms.  He is working on this but we are not in a position to offer these until they are confirmed.  So for those who were not able to get in to CWC, I would suggest that you book another hotel and once the CWC rooms open up, it will be posted on the event website. I can tell you that in Kona, ALL hotels jack up their rates and require a minimum of a one week stay.

 

Registrations are far ahead of where they were last year.  I expect we will sell out well ahead of schedule.  We are seeing great interest from abroad because of the word of mouth support from those who attended last year.  One group from Hawaii is bringing 15 triathletes and is also doing a charitable mission.  So aside from promoting sports tourism, they are giving back to a community they have never visited before.  This is something we can be proud of and encourage others to do.  Additionally the sport is growing and we will have a lot of first timers in 2011.

 

WTC Managing Director, Murphy Reinshreiber told me that Ironman 70.3 Philippines is one of the better races around and was the best inaugural race he had ever attended.  Sure there are many areas for improvement but we are off to a good start.  We are not tooting our own horn but simply trying to reinforce that we can hold world-class events in the Philippines.  By doing so we not only grow the sport but help with sports tourism.  This is a free country and with Facebook and the internet we have seen a growing democratization of free speech.

 

I would have hoped to hear how many Filipino triathletes are proud of our very own 70.3.  Instead,  it is disappointing to see some of these complaints  are typical of the crab mentality which negatively impacts our country.  It is quite easy to try to drag someone down when they are trying to do well.  I’d hope that more people would focus on trying to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.  It is even more disappointing to read words like “boycott” coming from Filipino triathletes.  You do have a choice and hopefully it is an informed choice.  I trust the aforementioned has clarified any misconceptions and if you see fit, we’d like to see you at the finish line.”

 

Merry Christmas.

Fred Uytengsu

 

Note: The blogger is in no way connected to Mr. Fred Uytengsu, I shared this post just to spread the word and since I also know some people who will be joining this event. 🙂

Quezon City International Marathon 2

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It was my most painful race yet, but sweet at the same time. I had to be content with the thought that I have to wake up early for a race that I didn’t train enough for. I have been busy lately with website project from my previous employer, and is almost close with a new project from the same client. The thought of DNFing crossed my mind, but having one DNFed in my race history (I think) is enough. So, I had to sucked it up, I have to set aside my pride, and has to face the truth that I might not be able to finish the race with a new PR.

 

Erick woke me up 45minutes past 3AM, and both of us were on the rush, thinking that we have to face traffic going to Quezon City Hall, but praise God because there was none. The parking lot was full of cars that we immediately went to the starting line after getting our things. I wanted to watch the gun start of the 42K runners, since our good friend and teamate Marga Baula is there. But because we woke up late, the 42K runners were already gone, we just made our way to the pack of excited 21K runners. I even saw my childhood (super)crush Jeffrey Hidalgo, I have a notebook way back in highschool with his pictures, new clippings and everything that has his face. 😀

I actually don’t know if we started on time since I  don’t have a watch with me. I think there were more than a thousand of  runners and as soon as the gun was fired signaling the start of the race I was fighting my way to reach the timing chip mat. After one kilometer I was able to get my groove, I get to run consistently without stopping, but not for long.

 

My right leg started cramping as early as kilometer 7, I opted to walk and stretch a bit so that the pain would go away. Yet as soon as I started running again, it was a cramp attack from my left leg, so walked I did. I think it was a kilometer 8 when I saw and met (personally) Carrey Reyno which I ‘am thankful for. I get to have a running and walking buddy which made the whole race easier.  I was not really aiming for any PR so I just cherished the thought that I get to run once again in Commonwealth Avenue formerly known as Don Mariano Marcos Avenue which was once knew as one of the deadliest road in the Philippines.

 

What do you do when hunger strikes you while on a race? I begged a marshall to share his Piatos with me, I asked for a free sample of nachos with Nestle Carbonara cream as a dipping inside UP campus which by the way taste very good. And so I thank you all, the Lord will repay you for your goodness. 🙂

These food along with my GU power gel, Viva mineral water and Powerade from the water station fueled me in this race. And kudos to the organizer, I was well hydrated, almost all station had cold Viva mineral water and Powerade for me and all the runners. And most of all, thank you Lord for once again protecting me and giving me the strength physically and mentally to finish this race, all glory is Yours alone!

 

I finish my most painful race (yet) and it was memorable! 😀

Would do my best in my next race and I ‘am psyched for it, training starts next week. 😀

Returning to my old home

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Since my blog (therunningmom.net) had been hacked, I’ve been on hiatus in blogging.

 

But don’t get me wrong, it’s just taking a long time to transfer my site to a new server. So for now, while my site is still under construction, let me share my stories here. 🙂