The Condura Skyway Marathon 2012

Today is the Condura Skyway Marathon 2012 Run for the Mangroves. It all comes up to this event. All those days of half-marathon training - the long runs, tempo runs, hilly runs and core workouts. Today is the day to put all of these together and take it to the road. Prior to race day, I couldnt sleep right away. I was too excited about tomorrow. I slept around 10:30 pm and woke up at 1am. Got dressed, had a few slices of bread, drank water, packed my things, and together with my wife, drove to Jeck's house in Mandaluyong. By 2am, we were on our way to filinvest via EDSA. 2:30 am, parked in the mall, stretched, and met up with JB.



From the parking lot we could already hear and feel the festive mood of the event. 3am, ran 1km for our pre-race warmup.


5mins before the gunstart I had to hurry and go to my "Wave A" group for the 21 km run.
The first 3 km of the race was a sign of things to come. Inclined roads of up to 800 meters.


Running the skyway made me think of running in a flat pavement road, but no, the course was full of long uphills and downhills. I had to be aware of my pace, I didnt want to run too fast to avoid gassing out in the long run. I didnt want to run too slow naman because I want to raise the bar a bit high for me to break on my next half mary. Cant say much for the hydration because there was never an issue regarding this category. The only things missing were bananas and sponges. I was running 21 km. The organizers should have known that bananas and sppnges do miracles for runners in long distances like this. Oh yeah, they gave us a banana all right, but that was when we were claiming our medals AFTER the race! Organizers of this race should've known better. Another good thing is there were also portalets on every water stations after a few kilometers after the starting line.


Then came the U-turn slot in the 10.5 km. I ran a quick check on my status; stamina, check! Hydration, check! Legs and knees, check! Come the 14th km, I started to feel numbness on my right foot. Right after that, because of the numbness, my running form changed and eventually my left knee felt the change and got a little sore from it. On the 16th km, I did a 1 minute walk and 2 minute run while staying near the railings so I can easily stop and stretch without disturbing other runners behind me. I continued doing this tactic upto the finish but I gradually increased the time when running. But before I got to the finish, my left calf was cramping up. So I had to stop and run when its gone, which I blame for getting a 2:31:++. I mean, i was feeling fine that moment. I was recovered and thought that i can still run and improve my pace. Oh well, anyway, its my first 21 km race so what the heck. Ill do better in RU1, I said to myself.



Approaching the finish line, I could hear bands playing. To cheer and motivate you on. I even heard two runners telling each other to run after the last turn kasi daw nakakahiya naman. So there I was running for the finish line, looking for my number one cheerer, my wife, Trixia. I got past the finish line, had my complimentary drinks and cooled down while getting my medal which I think is the coolest medal in a run yet. Then I got a call from Trix asking me to get back near the finish line so she could take pictures of me.





Me giving love to my medal!


Me and my beatiful wife.


Jeck, Me and Jb!

After the race I noticed something quite amusing, most of the people I saw were walking with a limp. Its as if you share a certain bond with them because you can relate cause yours are hurting too. I know 1,200 bucks is a huge amount to pay just for one to join a run. But the Condura Skyway Marathon was worth it for me. It captured the fun factor in a fun run, the race from start to finish was really organized, an abundance of hydration and portalets,



and its not every day you get to run in the skyway with famous personalities like Mr. Fernando Ayala, Mr. Uytengsu, Mr. Concepcion, Ms. Pia Cayetano and Ms. Tessa Prieto. Id definitely put the next condura skyway run on my list again next year!