Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The dawn broke gray and murky. As usual I was way wide awake before my alarm rang. Time: 3:50 A.M.I stretched and yawned and tried to figure out why I am awake at this ungodly hour. Right! Today, July 13, is my 5 K run! I got up and checked on dentist. She was to run too. By 4:50 A.M. the dentist and I were traveling along Coastal Road. At 5:15 A.M. we were at The Fort. The race was due to start at 6:00 A.M. I was surprised by the number of people who were to run. There were thousands! – young, old, fit, fat, tall, short. The run was sponsored by De La Salle and you can just imagine the number of student runners (not real runners) all gearing up for the race. There were three categories: 3K, 5K and 16 K. Dentist and I chose the 5K race.



Jerome, Dentist, Jay, Moi, JP

By the time my race kicked off, it was drizzling. At the 2K mark, I was dripping wet with three kinds of liquid – sweat, rain and tears. The rain was no longer a drizzle, it was a soaker! Tears –metaphorically- more of tears of frustration-were onthe verge of falling. I was irritated by the seemingly grating demeanor of some runners. Others were hugging the left side of the street while they talk, walk and giggle their way to the finish line. Some were throwing empty mineral bottles on sidewalks. Still there were those who cut across corners in the hope of shortening their distance.


After crossing the finish line

I trudged on, scanning the sea of faces for the dentist. I can’t find her. At the 3 K mark (or so I thought) the 5 k runners pushed on straight ahead only to be told that we made a wrong turn. Great! The organizers were morons who forgot to mark the race’s route! The morons did not even have the basic knowledge to post their people at crucial turns. Later, I found out that the organizers were actually experienced runners who didn't have the brains to organize such events.

The last 2Kof the 5K run was uphill. My stride was nil until a certified grandma of about 65+ jogged passed me! Whadda!! The lola was overtaking me! Ego pricked, I was pushed jogging to prevent granny from overtaking me. My bad! The uphill jog was compensated by the downhill run. I reached the finish line and was surprised that there were no official timers at the finish line. Some guy just took a stub out of my number and that was it. I then saw the dentist, two nephews and a grand nephew waiting for me a few meters from the line. They finished way ahead of me. As we were talking they just realized that they actually did not run the whole race because they took the wrong route. Kudos to the organizers! Half of the 5 K runners made the wrong run and the organizers never found that out. The three top finishers were all from the wrong-short-route pack.


Jay and I discussing the mis-organized event


Dentist, Jay, Me and JP

Dentist was pissed that she did not actually run 5K. My two nephews – avid, experienced runners- were just laughing it off. I was elated. Unprepared that I was, I still finished the race. Now, I am priming for my next race in October. Ummmm…. 10K perhaps?

Posted by desperateblogger On 7/15/2008 07:14:00 AM 15 comments

15 comments:

  1. wow, ta len. Congrats to you and dentist :) Hope to see dra., teacher, genius student, dormer and little big guy joining you din. hehehe.

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  3. A race with shortcuts? Now that's something new.

    May naalala akong joke tungkol sa karera na kumalat dati.

    Boy 1: Yung lolo ko ang tibay tumakbo. Biruin mo, sa edad na 60 sumali sa 10k marathon!

    Boy 2: Wala yan sa lolo ko. Yung lolo ko 70 na pero sumali pa rin sa 20k marathon!

    Boy 3: Eh bulok pala yang mga lolo niyo sa lolo ko. Yung lolo ko 100 na ang edad pero sumabak pa rin sa 5K race.

    Boy 1 at 2: Ha? Eh wala namang binatbat yang lolo mo sa lolo namin eh.

    Boy 3: Anong wala? Eh hanggang ngayon nga hindi pa rin siya nakakauwi. Hindi namin alam kung saan nagpunta. Ulianin na eh.

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  4. ivy anne: the rest, except for dra, are planning to join the oct. race.


    herson: you're crazy talaga.lol!

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  5. LOL! Didn't mean to laugh...but your 'ego being pricked' by the grammmmaa made me laugh. So, did she make it to the finish line? Yes, the granny!

    At baket ayaw sumali ng dra sa run? Pero ayos yung shortcuts...hehe. Teka di ba the run was initiated/sponsored by the school teacher works for? Eh di dapat si titser eh andun.

    O siya...almusal muna. Do you still run kahit tapos na yung run?

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  6. huling: yong ex student mo na dra.ayu walang kasing tamad sa jogging. teacher works in an international school teaching, not dlsu. she just studied there.

    si lola? hindi ko na nakita eh. palagay ko bugso lang din ng pride kaya pinipilit pang tumakbo uphill.

    she must have finished behind me. wala naman na tsismis na hinimatay eh! lol!

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  7. ay si storm lang kilala ko sa top 5 mong ito...hehe, nung kapanahunan ko...smurf at care bears ang mga sikat eh. heheheh. its nice to be back here! long time!

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  8. sounds fun :)
    anyway, everytime I visit your blog to drop an EC.. I can't find your EC

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  9. Hello,

    Why October pa? Heres the sched for upcoming events. I took out the less significant events for us.

    jerome

    ps: At last nalagay na ako sa blog mo. he he he.

    AUGUST

    3: Milo Manila Eliminations, Luneta Grandstand, 3k/ 5k/ 10k/ 42k. Reg fee: P100 (

    3: The Davies Paint 5K Unity Run, Bonifacio High Street. Organized by CKSC H.S. Batch 88 Alumni Ass’n. Reg fee: P250.00 per person. Call Franklin Go (0926.6869592)

    17: Men’s Health 10,000km Miracle Run, Fort Bonifacio Global City, 5k team/10k individual. Reg fee: P350. Register at Summit Media at 6/F Robinsons Cybergate 3, Pioneer St., Mandaluyong City, All Powerbooks outlets, R.O.X. at Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, All-Terra Bike Shop at Club 650, Libis, Quezon City. Visit site to download reg form.

    SEPTEMBER
    7: Adidas Run for Love, 3k/ 5k/ 10k. Details to follow.

    28: Adidas King of the Road, 5k/ 10k/ 21k. Details to follow.

    OCTOBER

    18: Paa-Bilisan Road Races, Global City, Taguig, 10k. Botak Project. Call 925.1743/ 415. 5548 or email botaknet_01@botak.com.ph

    26: The 4th Octoberun Festival @ The Fort, 3k/ 5k/ 10k. Free DVD featuring a 6 week training program for beginners and advanced runners.

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  10. jerome:

    oh! akala ko sa oct pa yong next run. sige. we'll join milo. how? where?

    i'll post this sched. baka may mahatak pa tayo.

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  11. You are a beautiful writer. I love how you describe each detail, it makes me feel like I'm there. I hope you had a lot of fun!

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  12. wow, good on you ate lena, for participating on that run! it sure looks fun, though it's obvious how frustrated you are for the unorganized event. but, hey you did had fun, right?

    funny about that lola! hahaha!

    take care!

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  13. melanie: thanks for the very generous compliments!

    sheng: yup!had fun busting my butt running! =)

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  14. dear desperateblogger,
    nag e-enjoy akong basahin ang mga blogs mo. I was checking my messages on my friendster and out of no where I was searching for my relatives the santoses at nakita ko si Icka Santos and she looks like you. So i check her friends and I saw your profile and you amaze me of how you raised your kids, I salute you and proud to know you. All i could say is he is lucky to have you.

    ReplyDelete

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