Baby-sitter Runner (Mandaue City Run 2010 Report)

Race: 3rd Mandaue City Run
Date: May 2, 2010
Route: Mandaue City-Cansaga Bay
Categories: 21K/10K/5K (exclusive for Mandaue residents only)/3K (13 years and below)


A-Boo-boo


1. No Water. The same problem has plagued each and every race that have been organized in the Metro. There was even one 21k runner who unfortunately DNF (did not finish) at km 15 because she was already so dehydrated. By the way, that runner happened to be one of my friends in the dailymile. Cups were already gone in the second or third station. So runners have to drink straight from the gallon of pitcher. By the time we went back, most of the water station ran out of water. Good thing my dad who already finished his 10 earlier, met me up near the Mandaue Gym to give me and my companion the precious Gatorade.


2. Hey, where's my ribbon? My companion and I haven't received any ribbon at the turning point at Cansaga Bridge.


3. Singlet and number. There were still a lot of people redeeming their singlets and number. 


4. Marshalls. Good thing there were no close calls.


EXPERIENCE


This is my third 10K since my hiatus. But what makes this race special is that I was actually pacing the 14 year old son of our neighbor, Adrian. He used to run 10Ks last year, then stopped. The kid is more of a dasher. And since 5K is exclusive for Mandaue residents, so he has no choice but to run 10K.


My strategy for this run was again to do negative splits. And since we will be climbing the Cansaga Bay bridge, I am going to introduce "Chi Running". I kept on telling him not to speed up early on, we must conserve our energy in the final kilometer. There was one female runner who, "zigzag" her way into the crowd. I told Adrian that sooner or later the girl will get exhausted because she spend much of her energy doing laterals. And oh, yes I was right. At even in km 3, she  was already walking.  


As we experience elevation, I thought him the technique of Chi Running as taught by Ms. Abby Ponce. Adrian told me that we were like "brisk walking".On flats, I asked him, "Are you still okay?". He said he is fine. By this time around, we were overtaking fellow 10k runners who seemed to be wilting due to the intense heat and lack of water.

At km 7.5, an elite runner who could have recognize my face, as she went back to check on her ward who could be running 21K, told me that I should run faster. The prospect of an imminent podium finish is good, but i have to ask Adrian if he is fine if we're going for a full mach speed (Well, that would be around 5:50-6:15 mins per km.)? He did not answer. So I told him, let's be at pace, and go all out in the last 500 meters. By the time, we were about 300 km away from the finish,  my dad went back for us. He let me drink Gatorade first, then pass it to Adrian. Now, we were at full speed. We overtook a lady, and I was targeting another lady who was ahead of me. But it was too late. Anyway, I was the 14th female to reach the finish line. Not bad, not bad at all! I did not know my time, but base on the time clock, it was 1 hour and 32 minutes. The clock was timing the 21k runners.

This race marks my first anniversary of running. I ran the 2nd Mandaue City Run 3K last year. It was funny, I was 13th place, and was overtaken by a child in the last 20 meters! Super embarrassing!

That's me and Adrian. The photographer's my Mom.

Post script (PS): i already updated the race schedule. just click on the race schedule tab on my header. please check it out!