My unofficial time for the 2nd Champion Run was 01:05:42 for 11km. Yup, it wasn’t 10k but 11k. Good thing I didn’t run out of “gas”. That’s an average of 5mins and 58.36 secs per km, as compared to my time in Runnex@25 which was clocked in at 00:59:57 or an average of 5 mins and 59.70 secs per km. I improved by 1 second and 34 milliseconds per km or shaved of a total off 13.4 seconds if it were a 10km race. Not bad for someone who slept late (AGAIN!) and had several drinks the night before (AGAIN!). I never learn, haha!

The race route was mostly flats with some inclines and declines, but not too steep. I just didn’t expect the total distance to be 11km. Good thing I was able to adjust my pace when I overheard people saying that the course was 11k. Also, there were some parts of the route that were difficult to run in since the foot path was muddy or uneven and somewhat narrow, making it also difficult to overtake.

Another thing that we have to work on are the drinks. The drinks were still not cold or the weather is just really hot. I’ll have to give Coach Rio some feedback on this. Iba talaga ang feeling ng malamig na tubig. Another thing I noticed was that there was one water station, I think the 2nd or 3rd one wherein the runners were scrambling for Rush and were kind of shoving each other. The water station was not prepared.

All in all, the race was well managed. The route was ok, but I was expecting it to be more scenic. The last stretch was hot since the sun was glaring directly at the runners who were heading to the finish line.

On my last stretch, I learned from Runnex@25 to let loose of my nitro towards the last 500m. Any farther and I use up all my energy and end up doing a slow jog. So When I estimated the last 400m, I did a sprint, running on tip toes for greater speed. Something Coach Rio taught me last week. Another thing that gave me a boost was Bald Runner who cheered me on. It helped me gain more speed.

Oh, I was able to get a photo with Bald Runner and LoonyRunner 5 mins before the race.

And after the race, I also got to take some shots with Quezon City Councilor Dorothy Delarmente (aka Doralicious) and my former classmates in my undergrad years in Psychology at UP DIliman, Ms. Earth 2006 Cathy Untalan who is now handling the Ms. Earth Foundation. It’s been 2 years since Cathy and I saw each other.

Next weekend, there are three races. Pringles (5k), Market! Market! (5 mi) and the one at ULTRA (5,10k). I’ll pass on those races since I will be going up to Tagaytay. Friday, I’ll be running on campus at UP Los Baños and Saturday, go up to Tagaytay to look for good places to run. Sunday morning, I’ll be doing a 10-15km run together with some friends. My next race will be the DocFit: Takbo Para sa Puso [check out http://runrio.com for details] or that interesting Vertical Run at Makati [see schedules page for details].

I’ll post the pictures soon