This has got to go down as the most EPIC run ever!! Bwahahaha!!
I barely ran this run, for so many reasons:
1. Woke up from a short nap at 3:45 (had to nap as I only had 4 hours of sleep the night before) and was running really late. Not to mention I didn't even wake up from the nap.
2. Traffic at South Super, in front of Metropolis, was horrennndoouuss.
3. One huge, big-ass, black cloud was above Metro Manila by the time I was on the road (ironically, it was soooo hot that morning though.)
Called my bro up to check if it was traffic near Fort and if it was raining. He said, "well, it's raining now." I asked if there were still people going to run, and he said, "yeah, coz, they're all wet already." J, who was driving, warned me that he wouldn't run in this weather because we might get injured and sick.
FYI, this wasn't cute, sprinkly rain. This was big, fat-ass, CHUBBY rain falling on our car man. I told him that I was actually thinking of running in this storm, just for the experience.
When we got to Fort about 15 mins before the start time, the rain was just terrible, with matching lightning.
We parked near the Spa and ran for cover. By the time we reached cover, we were quite wet. We took a peek at the start line but couldnt see anything -- just heard loud drums and a huge roar from the crowd (the 10K crowd perhaps?) I realized that I left our bibs in the car, and we ran back. At this point, we were still undecided, as were the thousands of people standing by the covers of Serendra with confused looks on their faces ("shall we, or shall we just stay here in the shade?").
By the time we ran back with our bibs, we were soaking wet. Hundreds of people were huddled in the shades of Brothers Burger and Krispy Kreme. I looked at the dry crowd with their Ipods on their arms, then looked at J, and we just knew that we would rather be with the wet, roaring crown in the unseen Start Line. So we sprinted towards the line along with a few other people, and before we knew it, we were a whole crowd sprinting towards the start line.
Unfortunately for us the 5K left already while we were putting our bibs on, but no matter, we caught up with them. Damn that was strong wind and rain! First 1K was excruciating. We could barely see because the rain was in our eyes, our shoelaces kept untying themselves from the weight, I saw a lot of people stop before the 1K mark, I'm not sure if for good. But honestly, despite all those problems, I felt good. I stopped several times to tie my shoelaces, because OBVIOUSLY we weren't going for PR here. The crowd was really good, there was a great vibe going on.
I think the best part of the race came after the 2K mark. The stages set-up for the bands were rendered useless (lest we might run risks of electrocution) but there were crowds in them cheering the runners on. It was actually hilarious. Random JCI members or organizers were standing in the rain with the marshalls cheering the runners on and leading us to the drinks. It was entertaining. PLus we saw a guy in KISS costume running the rain, sticking his tongue out and making hand gestures (I don't think he won but he really brought such fun to the race too).
Traffic was horrible as the marshalls really refused to let the cars pass. The whole Fort was filled with beeps of angry drivers (sorry guys). But it really couldn't ruin the spirit of fun in this race.
Honestly, I love running in Rio-organized races, but just because of the rain and the support of different people at different corners, this was just one of the best runs ever. It was definitely the most MEMORABLE run ever.
Positives:
1. Safe. Daming marshalls, daming police. There were complaints daw of people getting lost. Really? J and I ran in parts between the 10K and 5K since we caught up, but we never got lost. Those marshalls were pretty loud. And JCI members were also ushering us in the correct paths and drinks. Grabe daming police, for 4000 runners. JCIs kase, I guess.
2. Such effort. J and I noticed about 20 cars on different corners and different sides of the road at 45 degree angles with lights on, parked. Obviously cars of organizers and JCIs, just monitoring and lighting the road. We really felt safe even if the whole Fort was so dark from the rain.
3. Singlets were so well made. They were light even when soaked, and puzzling, when I finished the race, they were just mildly damp.
4. You could really see the attempt to have an original event. Several media vans were present, and the band setups looked nice and expensive. They spent a lot for the setup, which was a shame that it wasn't used for the original intention.
Negatives:
1. Next time, we would like to get our singlets during registration, not have to go to Fort just to get our singlet. Frankly I think that pissed a lot of people from the get-go, just because it's not the norm.
2. Bigger signs for the Loot Bags area, and the different areas. And more personnel because I heard there was a huge mob in front of it. Please pack the bags before the event next time. I guess most of the race personnel went to assist in the race itself, which is understandable. But also understand the obsession of runners even for the suckiest of loot bags.
3. According to other runners there were problems with the bag registry too, which was caused by the race director. Huge no-no.
4. Sucky loot bags (didn't even bother to get one, just heard). But this is for charity, and I really don't think they promised loot bags, so that's fine.
Can't say anything about the bands not performing. Hey, that's the rain man, that's nobody's fault. No contingency plan can make sure that it's SAFE for us to be watching the bands in the wet puddles. Duh.
We were super happy after the rain. I did not SMACK into anyone from overaccepting of runners, AND I really felt safe. I was NOT killed by oncoming cars of drivers with murderous stares as I slowly trudged across intersections.
Biggest surprise of the night - finishing at roughly 41 minutes. Had I not leisurely tied my shoelaces and waited at intersections, I would have beat my PR! Amazing!
Congratulations to the organizers, for the good attempt for an orginal concept. Perhaps it should be a yearly thing, to hope for rain on their race date. Hahahahaha.
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