Run Early Run: Fila Schools Run 2012

Last Saturday, July 7, my wife and I ran 10K in the Fila Schools Run. Being a teacher, I liked that the proceeds of the run would be used for the rebuilding of school rooms in Iligan that was largely devastated by a recent typhoon.

It was nice of Tey's company to support this cause by giving its employees an incentive of 50% registration discount! The core team of their company org "Sykes Runners" did a good job in promoting this event within their organization. It not only helped build rooms but also advocated wellness among its employees.

Sykes Runners Core Team

Sleeves for Runners

Fila Run Review

I'm not very particular with goodie bags or the program at the run village of any race. After all, it is a run, not a concert. However, if I were to rate the safety precautions of the run, I'd probably give it a pasang-awa grade.
It was an OK run, really, and my wife and I were happy finishing it. Here are some points however that I would want to feedback on and hopefully I myself will learn from these as I am also currently helping out organizing a small race.

1. Baggage Counters. The organizers probably had not planned for a big number of participants because their baggage counters were handled via "Claim Tags" (like in the department store) and not bib numbers or other control with a bigger number range. The baggage counter actually ran out of these claim tags and they panicked for a while until some runners suggested that they use bib numbers instead (although they did not have masking tape or enough pen to write the numbers).

2. Water stations. We have probably been spoiled by bigger races, but we only saw three Pocari drink stations along the 10K route and technically no "water" station at all. To be fair, 3 stations are generally enough for smaller races (1 station every 3K) and I honestly did not need any for the 10K, although in terms of safety, it might have been good to deliver a little above the minimum requirement.

3. Route Management. It's probably because this Fila Run was a "smaller" event than the usual races that there weren't that many marshals/volunteers to assist along the route. There were no road cones to mark the race route, even on roads that are not completely closed to traffic. In addition, in less than an hour of 10K gun start, some of the roads were already open to traffic, and race participants have been forced to run on the sidewalk. And you know that sidewalks are always crowded during a race (especially near the finish line/village), making it difficult to run and potentially hazardous. Also, I noticed the 3K route to cross concrete barriers, making it appear (at least to me) that the route was not planned correctly. In fairness, the 10K route was good (the usual BGC 10K route of many races).

4. Finish Line. About 200 meters before the finish line, a sea of participants is blocking the road. Considering this was a small run, I was wondering where all those people had come from. It was of course not completely the fault of the organizers; runners should have been informed of proper race decorum. However, I did not see at least an attempt to clear the crowded finish line.

+++
Anyway, it's good that I did not hear about any serious injuries during the event, but personally I believe it's always better to go the extra mile in terms of safety, especially that this event is open to the public.

Lost and Found

Partly because of the hustle and bustle in the finish line, my wife had lost her phone before we started the race. Fortunately, there are still good samaritans in our society today and her phone was returned to us after the race. It was found on the ground (and returned) by this guy below.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get his name, but for now I'll call him
"Mr. Pogi Number 2". Thanks a lot!

Strong to the Finish

My wife and I are both happy with our results. It was my one my fastest times in recent 10Ks at 1:03, although my daily mile account showed that the route was longer enough to put me at 5:57 per km pace. Overall, it was a good experience for us and it looks like the event was able to raise its target amount for the school rooms at Iligan.

It was also one of the more "chillax" races because it was a Saturday, when I did not have anything to do right after the run. My wife and I were able to enjoy post-run with a nice stroll at BGC (yehess, parang Luneta lang).