Natural Run Top 20

Drew Arellano, the actor, finished at 20th place out of 850+ half marathon finishers.

Coach Rio, the runner and race director, paced with Drew and finished slightly ahead at 19th place.

Yours truly, the unknown, finished just 4 seconds ahead of Coach Rio to bag the 17th position.

I started trapped in about the 6th row from the starting line and had to maneuver my way slowly just to have a running space. It transformed into a chasing game for me from there. But I was very heavy so I failed to really chase as fast as I wanted to. Hehehe. See below picture (Bib #0284).

My lower back cried pain all throughout the race. Sensing the possibility of a DNF, I forced myself not to stop and even limited my hydration stops to only 2. One after the 7Km banner and the next one after the 14Km marker (after the second, I was very eager to finish the race and drink all I want!). The strategy worked as I never drifted from a manageable 5:00 pace. I counted 23 runners ahead of me before the PNR Makati U-turn point. I aimed to overtake 3 runners to finish at the Top 20. By the Buendia Kalayaan flyover, I managed to overtake 6. Then I went pass 2 more half marathoners after a few hundred meters back in BGC. I was then at 16th place but the 15th finisher was nowhere near my sight so I just took it easy from there. A lean runner overtook me and I never fought back. The only time I really stepped on the gas was when Coach Rio started to closed in on me on the final hundred meters of the race. I took 17th place after finishing in 1:45 hours!

Next race would be 10K sometime in late February or early March. I better lose some pounds and start getting right back to fit form.

Meanwhile, training resumes this Thursday. I do hope I start to get lighter as the training progresses.

Team Alpha1 after the Race