ADIDAS KOTR 2011 - SouthEast Asian Championship

One of the longest and prestigeous running event in the most recent resurging era of running during the late 2000 has been the ADIDAS KING OF THE ROAD (KOTR) which started on 2008 as a modest running event. This year 2011 the KOTR is cumminating in the Philippinea where the finals for the regional champions of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia will fight it out with the Philippines and elite runners of Kenya stationed in the Philippines for the KING OF THE ROAD title.

With the ADIDAS KOTR scheduled on 23Oct11, I was able to avail of the promotional free registration for the 21k category sometime in August. However as the event came closer I was in doubt if I was physically fit to run the 21k so I have to select to the remaining category which is either the 16k or the 5k. Not wanting to exert much effort I had no alternative but select the 5k category. I then gave my 21k kit to my wife who gave the same to her friend CARLO BELTRAN.

Prior to the gun start for the 21km category, the UAAP Champion for the Cheering Squad competion, the University of The Philippines Pep Squad gave a trilling performance on the starting line. Video of the performance can be seen below;

At 5:00am the 21km runners numbering over 4000 participants was started. To attest to the great number of participants for the 21km the video below took more than 3 minutes for those in the back to cross the starting line.

The 16km event is the category for the KING OF THE ROAD for SOUTHEAST ASIA. This is the distance event to determine the title of KOTR. Champions from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia with the elite runners from the Philippines and those from Kenya are entered in this even. Again for these category the MC mentioned that there are over 4000 runners. The video below will show you the different champions from the region.

Last but not the least it was our event the 5km. In view of the great number of participants the start for 5km was divided into two waves to avoid congestion. I stationed myself on the first wave and at 5:50am I was off and running. The following pictiures I have taken duting the run.

I compeleted the 5km in 33m03sec (unofficial) the distance was short and wanting but was a great event and race.

It event being held in Manila was but a affirmation from ADIDAS to hold the championship event for the KOTR in the Philippines as the country has never experienced the boom and popularity of running as what it is now today.

As of this writing I do not know yet the result of the KOTR but will update this blog when I do have the details.

 

Official Race Result

Congratulations to ADIDAS and to all those who participated.

Fort Striders Run 2011 - Another Race By Runners For Runners

Three weeks has passed since my last road race not that there has not been any road races since then but rather that the past three weeks has been raining and the weather has not been endusive to running.

This Sunday with good weather forecasted I made sure that I had myself registered in the Fort Striders Run 2011 which is a local running club who are based at Fort Bonifacio Global City. You may check their website here  The race event consisted of 16K/10K/5K/3K and was flagged off with the16K runners first at 5:30am followed by the other categories every 5 minutes interval. As what was expected the number of participants were not that spectacular but would be on the modest scale.

I was enetered at the 10K event and at 5:35am we were gunned off with basically the normal route in Bonifacio Global City however extending a third of the Katipunan flyover span as an added attraction. Hydration support are more than enough with well maintained security and marshals on stratigic points. I have all praises for The Fort Striders Running Club in sponsoring a well organized road race. Fort Striders used as their race organizer MIB Road Race Specialist. I have one minor comment which I hiope the sponsor and organizers could improve, the distance for the 10k was short of 0.25km maybe a more diligent distance measurement in the future. However, the distance markers were positioned along the route. The main attraction of this race was that the registrration fee for 10K was only P400.00 somethoing that you find very unusual now a days particularly on commercialized races. FS Run 2011 is another race event by runners for runners.

I completed my 10K in 01h16m38sec (unofficial) nothing spectacular but a well spent morning with fellow runners.

To Fort Striders Club Congratulations for a good race.

Global City Fort Bonifacio - Measured Running Routes

In Metro Manila finding ones self an ideal venue for a daily running workout is becoming difficult should conditions for personal safety, pollution free, traffic, road condition, and environmental conduciveness be taken into account.

Global City or Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City is one of the ideal if not the most ideal place in Metro Manila to do your daily running workouts. The locality has been the haven of local runners in as much that the Fort Bonifacio Administration has been very supportive to running and has open its doors to local weekend road races. The best the place could offer is the security of a runner as practically there is a security and/or traffic officer in every major intersection of the compound. Further, in view that the traffic regulation within the compound is strictly enforced, drivers have been observed to be more road safety concern… following the traffic lights, not a usual thing in the Metro Manila.

In this light and to share with other runners my usual route within Fort Bonifacio, I made distance measurement on three LOOPS that can be used. Knowing the actual distance will provide any runner without the usual GPS and/or running aids possible for them to evaluate their run.

The following conditions were noted in the measurement of distances;

• -       Garmin 310xt was the tool used.
• -       Running was done always opposite the traffic flow at the curve side along the road within a meter or two in and out of road but never on the pedestrian alley.
• -       There is no back tracking anywhere in the loop.
• -       You can start anywhere within the loop provided you finish at the same place as where you started to complete the measured distance.

THE SMALL LOOP or HIGH STREET LOOP – 1.3 kilometers

Start at 11^th Avenue heading toward 28^th Street

Left at 28^th Street head towards 7^th Avenue

Left at 7^th Avenue head towards 28^th Street

Left at 28^th Street head towards 11^th Avenue

Left at 11^th Avenue and end where you started ……….. 1.3 Km Distance

THE MEDIUM LOOP – 3.2 kilometers

Start at 11^th Avenue head towards 32^nd Street

Left at 32^nd Street head towards 5^th Avenue

Left at 5^th Avenue and head towards McKinley Parkway

Left at McKinley Parkway and head towards 11^th Avenue

Left at 11^th Avenue and end where you started ………. 3.2 Km Distance

THE GREAT LOOP – 7.4 kilometers

Start at 11^th Avenue head towards 32 Street

Right at 32^nd Street and head towards C5

Left at 38^th Street (University Drive) and head towards 8^th Avenue

Left at 8^th Avenue (new road) and head towards 34^th Street

Right at 34^th Street and head towards St. Lukes at 32^nd Street

Cross 32^nd Street and proceed straight to 3^rd Avenue towards Rizal Drive

Upon reaching Rizal Drive turn right and head towards 32^nd Street

Right at 32^nd Street and head towards 5^th Avenue

Right at 5^th Avenue and head towards Old Lawton Avenue

Left at Old Lawton Avenue and head toward McKinley Parkway

Right at McKinley Parkway and head towards 11^th Avenue

End at 11^th Avenue at the point where you started your run …. 7.4 Km Distance

Run safe and see you on the road.

RUNNING SAFE

Running/racewalking early in the morning has been my habit since 2007 and it has been part of my daily life. I have chosen the specific time between 4:30-6:30am as it provides a kickoff for my daily chores putting my mind and body ready for the day. Further, doing your run at this time of the day has a lot of advantages as the weather is cooler and the streets are still not as carbon polluted as when there are already many vehicles on the road.

However, the biggest risk is SAFETY. When I say “safety” I am not referring to safety in running that you have control of such as, running opposite the traffic, wearing luminous gears, running with hydration, or others of the likes. Instead, what I am concern is safety of the road from “trill seekers”, “drunks”, “thieves”, “muggers”, “high on drugs”, or simply “those that have no better things to do in life”.

I was shocked and angered to read from JONEL MENDOZA aka Bugobugo’s blog titled CHEAP SHOT  (read as well the comments of readers which is very interesting) that he had a very untoward incident last 11Sep10 wherein some stupid bugger threw a raw egg on him while he was running hitting him directly, a “cheap shot” indeed. What on earth was the purpose or satisfaction did the guy have? What is his mentality or state of mind that drove him to do such thing? Your guess is as good as mine. Such an incident like this is what I am more concern on safety in running.

I had my own share of untoward experience in the past. Sometime last December 2009 I wanted to try different areas in Metro Manila for my daily run and it was then that I decided to try Quezon City Memorial Circle. I arrived the area at about 4:15am and parked my car at the Quezon City Hall proceeding to run along the inner perimeter of QCMC, which is sparingly lighted, but in as much that it is a very busy street even on early mornings, I thought I was safe from hooligans, I was wrong. I have not even completed one lap while within the vicinity between North Avenue and Quezon Avenue Extension that I was surprised by a “flying paper bag” of “what have you” inside which almost hit me and landing just inches from my side. Shocked, I looked around and saw a speeding FX with noisy men inside. I was about to shout back when the FX stopped about 100 meters from me. I thought these guys really want to have “fun”. My anger immediately turned to fright. I stopped and positioned myself in the middle of the road so that all the vehicles passing by have a clear view of me. It was then that the FX knew that I did a safe and preventive move, rather than being exposed, the FX moved on. I must admit, it still took me a good 10 minutes to recover from my shocked. I had my doubts to continue my run, but told myself that doing so will just make those guys successful in their intention. I continued my run, until I finished 5 loops for a 10km distance. However, it was a lesson learned by me from then on.

For the above reasons, I stopped my street running in the early mornings and returned to ULTRA for my daily morning run. However, with the closure of ULTRA since early August for early morning users to give way to ASIAN GAMES athletes, I have no other recourse but go back to the street. The safest area is Fort Bonifacio.

To Run Safe, I now keep on the well-lighted area of the Fort from 4:30 to 5:15 am before venturing the outskirts of the Fort from 5:15am onwards. It is also quite reassuring to see ample security along the intersections. I must admit that the drivers within the Fort are more disciplined (maybe because of the securities posted). However, if I am not time pressed, I now start my run at 5am.

Nothing much we can do from these kind of people, but just exercise due diligence and AVOID them as possible. If confronted, move on and do not even bother to react. Turning your back is not an act of cowardice. We runners have better things in life to deal with and a fruitful life to spend.

Be safe in your runs.