Group Run, 2010 Amazing Race & 34th Milo Marathon

pTime to update this blog. I finally found the cable to transfer data from my phone camera to my pc and thus, can now upload pictures. This should have been posted several weeks back.

GROUP RUN

Abet Henson called and said his group were coming over for a long run. That was several weeks before 34th Milo Marathon. This was confirmed by Vincent, a cousin of Abet.

Fat Ass finishers Abet, Isko and Jeff (with his wife) came over with the running group of Vincent. It seemed Vincent's group knew two of the members of Tri-Clark who did join us too.

It was a little past 5AM when we started our run in Clark. Some stopped after running 15K and the others at 24k and 32K. The weather cooperated and run was relatively enjoyable. Pictures below.

AMAZING RACE

I was hesitant to join the 2nd edition of this race as it was exactly a week before the Milo Marathon. Obviously, it coincided with the tapering period. Our group was the defending champion in 2009. The mechanics of the race are simple. Read, follow and comply with the instructions and challenges given by the race director and the first team to finish them all wins. There were 12 teams competing including us. 

My hesitation was right. My team was leading the race when I sprained my ankle while running down on a wet and muddy trail. Our team had to run up a steep trail to get the clue and come back down as fast as we could for another challenge. It rained hard the night before and even tough it was a clear blue sky during the morning of the race, there was not enough time for the trail to dry up.

We finished 2nd simply because we took the wrong route to the finish line and ... I was the driver. There was a cycling competition going on at that time and we avoided those parts where cyclists would pass. The champion was ahead of us by less than 3 minutes as they took the shortest way passing through the cycling route to the finish line. We would have certainly won had we taken the same route the champion took. One week of feeeling and asking the proverbial question "What if?". Anyway, the 3rd edition of the race will certainly be challenging again.    

Pictures to follow.

34th MILO Marathon

This has been a controversial topic among the runners on this side of the planet.

This is the first time Milo organizers introduced the qualifing times (MQ = Milo Qualifying) for each age group and while not at par with Boston's, the qualifying time is still posed a challenge to runners.

Well, running it was a challenge for variety of reasons. At the rate I was recovering, it felt as if I ran an ultra. Some of the things we noticed as soon as we deboarded our vehicle was the quality of the air. It was heavy and the humidity was high. Temperature was not conducive to a faster time and the results of the race show it even though the race course was relatively flat (except for the fyovers). I dont know if running near a bay was a bane or boon.

The first 27 kilometers was manageable until I started feeling weak. This is not something new as lows during races are common. Highs normally come after these. Sort of a cycle. But in this case, the lows seemed to linger longer than they should even though my fuel and fluid intakes were spot on. It did occur, however, to me that it could be an issue of low fuel and fluid so I slightly increased both. No good effect.

The last 3 kilometers was a struggle until I crossed the finish line. I barely qualified which for my age of 40, the time is 3:55 or less.

The news, however, of a runner who died after running Milo is tragic. Runners, in my opinion, should refrain making unnecessary and sometimes irresponsible comments and inconclusive personal opinions.

Cheers,

Jon