Thursday, December 27, 2012

Rescue Run - December 23, 2012

Rescue Run was organized by the Filipino Running Community in response to the devastation brought about by typhoon Pablo in Mindanao. This run was organized in just twelve (12) days. Considering the complexities involved in organizing such an event, I'm impressed!

I registered for this event at the Sin Tax Run - they had a booth outside Starbucks One E-Com center. For a minimum donation of PHP200, you get a race bib. It's a donation because you can give more if you wish. There are two categories: 5K and 10K. I registered for the latter. There are also barefoot categories - I think it's also either 5K or 10K, only you have to run barefoot.

Here's my review of the Rescue Run 2012:


Strengths

The cause - Typhoon Pablo caused a lot of deaths (over 1000), destruction, and loss for millions of Filipinos in Mindanao. Although there were a lot of rescue and relief operations that took place (UNICEFPhilippine Red Cross, among others), this run is the Filipino Running Community's way of helping our brothers and sisters whose lives were affected by the typhoon. I have no idea how much funds were raised because of this event - but I have faith that the proceeds will reach the right people.


Adequate hydration stations - for some reason, I thought there wouldn't be any hydration stations. That's why I decided to bring a Powerade bottle with me during the race. But as it turns out, there was a sufficient number of hydration stations.

Interesting race route - whilst the event was held in BGC (where there's a run almost every weekend), the race itself had a different route. Whether this was due to BGC admin's restrictions or the organizers making this decision, it was a good one. Coming from Mercato area (Start/Finish line), you will head towards the flyover going to C-5 and back. Another twist is that the 10K route is essentially the 5K done twice. This was a cost-saving move on the part of the organizers. Doesn't matter, though - the result was the additional challenge of having to run on the flyover twice!



Fun event - the organizers encouraged runners to come in their Christmas-inspired costumes. And a lot heard and complied! A lot were wearing a Santa hat. I think I saw a couple of girls in their full-blown Santa outfits, too. Plus, the organizers decided to have an awarding ceremony of a different sort - they gave awards to the hunkiest, sexiest, oldest, etc.



AFIs

The 10km distance - according to Adidas miCoach, the entire course was only 9.02 km. Another runner posted in a forum that his GPS registered only 9.2 km. Whilst a variance of +/- 3% is generally acceptable (in this case, 9.7 - 10.3 km), missing almost an entire kilometer is something else. I wonder: how do they determine the distance, anyway? Do they use Google Maps? Or do they try out the entire course for themselves and just use the GPS on their watches or phones? Hmmm...


Other than that, this was a very good run! Talk about a nice way to end my year. I leave you with pictures from the event. 

Happy Holidays!

Pictures from RAD Photography:


Photo credit here

Photo credit here

Here's a picture from the Vampire Runner:

Photo credit here

Here are pics I took from my phone:
Runners at the starting line


Main stage where the Zumba warm-up and awarding ceremony took place


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