A post birthday half mary

On September 30, there happened to be around 4 races set all on that same day. There was the ADIDAS KOTR, Pangasinan Great Run, Run for Pasig and in fact there was also a scheduled free run (EDSA Run) in Baguio city. We opted to run the PGRHM organized by the 3Urunners in Lingayen, Pangasinan. After much ado, there were only two of us who braved to conquer the PGR HM. Others think they won’t take the heat, others the distance and others were simply too busy… At 2:30 early morning, we hit the roads then off we go to Pangasinan. This was going to be a first time half mary for my buddy, while I was all set to having a post birthday run as I was too busy to have a run during my birthday last September 27.  We were met by heavy rains when we were just one more town away from Lingayen. However, there was no sign of rain as we reached our destination. I was amazed by the grandeur of their municipal hall, indeed, it is one of the most beautiful in Luzon.  All the while, I thought the picture in the registration form was only a prototype.

We spotted some Baguio runners at the starting line. At gun start, I started slow then tried to pick up my pace.   My buddies waited for me and upon reaching the bridge, we spent some time taking pictures as the other runners passed by. I was just glad my buddies were in no hurry to finish nor were they beating time or PB’s. We were simply taking our time and having fun. Surprisingly, it was not so hot as we expected and there were not so much cars along the route. Got ourselves entertained by some kids flying kites, some sheep avoiding my camera, the bananas,  and the bystanders cheering/jeering us on.    

It had been two hours and it seemed the race was still far from over. As we endured the 21K ordeal, we met runners who couldn’t even look at us in eyes since they know deep inside that they haven’t been totally honest to themselves…. Taking a short cut wouldn’t exactly look good on those groups of guys with muscle-abled bodies complete with motorcycle/bicycle support crew.

We arrived 03:00 at the finish line… Definitely not a good time, but it was a lot better than those cheats who cut through the route. We weren’t totally expecting a podium finish but literally there was no crowd waiting for us at the finish line. Nevertheless, we were thankful that the organizers patiently waited for us to arrive then awarded our medals and finisher shirts. This is so far my biggest medal with the highest time…

On our way back home, we visited Rose, a friend of Lay then headed to a nearby mall for lunch. Tokyo-tokyo’s food had not satisfied our hunger but the best part was dipping ourselves in the hot pools of Klondykes along Kennon. . . Thank you for the company, buddies...Till next run…