This year would be all about road races and as part of my training and preparation for Badwater 135, I decided to sign up this new race in Philippines! Once again, I relied on a great friend's help - Cheryl kindly assisted me to make payment for the race and I was glad she could also accompany me for this trip and run the race. (Interested runners had to deposit the race fees for most races in Philippines as the races do not offer online registration. This was both good and bad - good due to the payment mode (I guessed), race fees were affordable but bad for overseas runners as you either had to get a local friend to help you register, or make a trip to remittance company like Western Union to transfer the race fees.) Race fee for the 60km race was very affordable at PHP1,600 (S$50.80) or PHP1,800 (S$57.20) for late registration. Cheryl also helped me to arrange the traveling to Bulacan and the accommodation there. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like traveling alone and making my own arrangement. Traveling in Philippines was in fact, very challenging and tedious, even for locals. If I could recall, our journey from the airport in Manila, comprised of:
Airport Bus to City (PHP20 = S$0.65)
City Bus to Van Station (PHP30 = S$0.95)
Van Ride to Bulacan (PHP60 = S$1.90)
(Alternatively, you could take the MTR to and from the van station to take the Airport Bus which would cost PHP28 (S$0.90) instead of PHP30.)
It was about 9:30am when we eventually arrived in the city/town of Bulacan, after traveling for almost 3 hours from the airport. Cheryl had arranged for a friend, Katrina, to pick us up at the mall, as we would be staying at Katrina's home. Katrina was also an accomplished runner herself and she was more than happy to meet up with old friend and make new ones. We went inside the mall when it opened at 10:00am to get the food and drinks for the race. Once done, I decided to get something from my favourite fast food in the Philippines - Jollibee, for early lunch. We then hopped onto a jeep (yes, all 3 of us) and the jeep brought us to the race start area to take a look e we would be starting the race at 10:00pm at night. After a quick look around, we continued the journey and arrived at Katrina's home. :) She had 2 dogs - a big one and a tiny one. And both loved to bark at me!
Left: Church Next To The Start; Top Right: In The Jeep; Bottom Right: Jollibee!
As I was extremely tired from taking the midnight flight, and didn't really sleep well on the plane, I decided to take a nap in Katrina's room. In order to reach her room which was 2 levels up, I had to climb to another "dining area" a level up. At this 2nd level, they "duplicate" another set of stove, fridge, etc just in case of flooding from heavy rain or typhoon, which happened previously. I thought it was an ingenious idea to do so. This meant that the family could prepare food if flooding really occurred. Katrina's room was above this 2nd level. Its wall was orange in color and she had a lot of movies posters, and figurines, etc. :) And of course, there were many finisher medals hanging on her wall as well. I quickly changed and went straight to nap. I woke up at about 6pm plus and have a light dinner with Cheryl. Then I decided to go back to nap! And so did Cheryl! :) We eventually got out of bed at about 8pm. Their other friend, Marie, who was also sharing the support car had arrived by then.
We changed and went downstairs to the car. Katrina and her friend (the driver of the support car) were busy getting ready the things that we needed for the race. I didn't know Cheryl actually arranged for a support car. I had planned on running with my hydration belt and all the gels I need (about 5 - 1 gel after every 10km), while depending on the official race support points at every 10km mark. I had done that previously during the Davao 50km so even though Bulacan was 10km longer, I should be fine. Since Cheryl had arranged, I would keep that option open but a lot would depend on how the 3 of us run (if we were too far apart, it would be tough for them to support us). However, I did deposit my sports drinks and spare gels, etc in the car. :p We reached the Start Line at around 9pm. There were many runners already there. Most of them Filipinos. We proceeded to collect our race bibs. At about 9:45pm (thereabout), the Race Director, Joseph Prince, gave a detailed briefing on the race. Unfortunately, I could understand none of it as he delivered them in their local language. Luckily, Cheryl, Marie and Katrina were there to share with me the pertinent points of the race. At 10:00pm sharp, the RD promptly flagged us off.
The race started at 10:00pm so I would still run into the morning so I should be able to build some mileage towards Badwater. My strategy for the race was simple: break up the race into manageable 10km segments so I had 6 segments to tackle in total. The late start was both good and bad. Good because I didn't need to drag myself out of the bed for the race start but bad because I had to run in the dark for at least 8 hours. Nevertheless, with so many runners around me, and the road was illuminated up by the runners' headlamps and blinking lights, it felt like a party. In fact, I did not even need to switch on my own headlamp! The first segment was along this straight road. I was amazed that at that hour, traffic was still pretty heavy. So we had to be very careful.
Then, I noticed an ache on the bottom of my right foot. I tried to focus on my surroundings and other runners instead, hoping that it would go away. It did. For a while. And came back. I reached the first aid station at around the 10km mark before midnight. As I still had sports drink with me, I didn't fill up my bottle as they only had plain water. But I took a gel with their plain water before I continued running. Cheryl was ahead of me and probably way ahead, while Marie was further back but I couldn't see her. I focused on my breathing and was always on the looked out for traffic. By then, the runners were more spread out but I could still see some runners in front. Before I reached the next aid station, I saw Katrina and the car! I waved on to her to let her know I was good. And they updated me of the change in plan. Since we had the official aid station every 10km, they would meet up with us every 5km in between. What a brilliant idea! I reached the second aid station at about 1pm plus. I took another gel and continued running.
For the next 10km, the ache came and gone. It was the same kind of ache that I felt during the Twilight Ultra Challenge. Could it be due to standing and walking in heels for 2 half days? It could well be the reason as I was someone who took great care of my body when training and racing (unless the pain was due to fall). And the only reason why I had the ache was because I wore heels, which was bad for running. But since I was still making forward movement, and the ache was still endurable, there was no reason for me to quit. But I decided to take more walk breaks in between my running. I met Katrina again and swapped a new bottle of ice cold Gatorade. This period of the run was much quieter with lesser traffic. But the runners were spread out by then. I still had not seen Cheryl and reckoned she was running well and much ahead of me. I was not surprised at all as she had the speed to run fast and endurance to run long. I reached the third aid station slower than the previous 2 segments. I took another gel with water. It was about 4am in the morning.
I told myself that I had to cover at least 45km or even 50km before the sun rose up. But I was perfectly fine if I had to run under the sun too. This was the reason why I signed up for the race. However, I knew that we still had to go back to shower, and travel back to Manila so that I could catch my flight back in the evening. I saw Katrina again and swapped for another new bottle of Gatorade. She told me that Cheryl was way ahead of me while Marie was some distance behind. I guessed that could be the reason why she won't be able to find me at exactly the mid-way point between the official aid stations. This was fine as supporting 3 runners of all different speed was both tiring and difficult. I thanked them and continued. This was the hardest segment as I wanted to sleep and I ended up "sleep-walking" the entire 10km before I finally reached the fourth aid station. Day broke and the air was cool though I knew it won't be long before the sun rose!
It was past 6am and the traffic started to build-up again. Running on the road in Philippines could be very challenging. This was because they did not have proper pavement. We ran on the road shoulders which could be dangerous if motorcycles decided to overtake from the right (Philippines was left-hand drive as with driving in the USA). It happened to me before in Ocho Ocho last year but luckily, I had not met with such an incident for this race yet. However, some of the shoulders were still under construction which meant that we had to run next to the road (when there was no traffic) or run on the under-construction shoulder, which had gravels all over the surface. This made the running and walking painful especially with the ache underfoot. Towards the next aid station, I also noticed that some part of the roads were under construction as well. Hence there would be marshallers at the end of the road to direct the traffic since it was a one-lane, two-way traffic. It was no fun at all. So it was a step at a time to the next aid station.
By the time I reached the fifth and final aid station, the sun was shining full blast on the earth. I didn't meet Katrina but it didn't matter as I still had my Gatorade and had replenished my gel when I last met her. I was reduced to a walk (but more likely a death march as I was by then suffering). Luckily, we were running in and out of the shades of trees. Katrina eventually drove past and I was able to replenish my Gatorade. Cheryl had done very well and had completed her race some time back! (She was either 1st or 2nd Runners-up!) :) They had to go back to Marie as she was much further back. I thanked them and told them to leave as I had everything I need to get to the finishing. Traffic by then had gotten really heavy, especially when I was approaching the road crossing. I wasn't sure if I would make it to the other side of the road as the traffic doesn't seem to stop.
Luckily, a police was there and stopped the traffic. I thanked him and continued. It was a few KMs later before I reached another road crossing! The police again, helped stopped the traffic so I could cross safely. He also told me that I was about 2KM away from the finishing line! This was a huge relief as I thought I had walked for a long time! (It was about 10:15am!) My right foot felt terrible though painful was not the correct word. Soon enough, I saw a runner crossing the road not far in front and entered a lane (or building). I pushed on and saw a marshaller directed me to cross the road. Right there, at the front of the building, was Joseph Prince, the RD! I had finally completed the 1st Bulacan 360 60km run! The RD presented me with a medal and trophy! (Every finisher had a medal, trophy, a personalised finisher tee and a packet of food). I was also happy to see Cheryl. Katrina had also arrived and the plan was to drop off Katrina so that she could pace Marie to the end while Cheryl and me would head home for a shower.
Marie was in high spirit when we saw her! We wished her well before leaving. (Turned out that Marie was a very active ultra runner in the Philippines. Though she was slow, she never gave up. Cheryl and Katrina updated me that Marie completed the race eventually.) As for me, I felt fine the next day although the ache remained whenever I stepped off my right foot. I won't say this was a highly recommended race as we were running through the night and through the city. There wasn't much scenery and it was boring. Also, traveling to that area was a daunting prospect! Nevertheless, the race fee was very affordable, considering the many finisher goodies given to the runners. For those who wish to explore that part of Philippines, the race was a good option. :)
We changed and went downstairs to the car. Katrina and her friend (the driver of the support car) were busy getting ready the things that we needed for the race. I didn't know Cheryl actually arranged for a support car. I had planned on running with my hydration belt and all the gels I need (about 5 - 1 gel after every 10km), while depending on the official race support points at every 10km mark. I had done that previously during the Davao 50km so even though Bulacan was 10km longer, I should be fine. Since Cheryl had arranged, I would keep that option open but a lot would depend on how the 3 of us run (if we were too far apart, it would be tough for them to support us). However, I did deposit my sports drinks and spare gels, etc in the car. :p We reached the Start Line at around 9pm. There were many runners already there. Most of them Filipinos. We proceeded to collect our race bibs. At about 9:45pm (thereabout), the Race Director, Joseph Prince, gave a detailed briefing on the race. Unfortunately, I could understand none of it as he delivered them in their local language. Luckily, Cheryl, Marie and Katrina were there to share with me the pertinent points of the race. At 10:00pm sharp, the RD promptly flagged us off.
At The Start Of The 1st Bulacan 360 60km Ultramarathon!
The race started at 10:00pm so I would still run into the morning so I should be able to build some mileage towards Badwater. My strategy for the race was simple: break up the race into manageable 10km segments so I had 6 segments to tackle in total. The late start was both good and bad. Good because I didn't need to drag myself out of the bed for the race start but bad because I had to run in the dark for at least 8 hours. Nevertheless, with so many runners around me, and the road was illuminated up by the runners' headlamps and blinking lights, it felt like a party. In fact, I did not even need to switch on my own headlamp! The first segment was along this straight road. I was amazed that at that hour, traffic was still pretty heavy. So we had to be very careful.
Then, I noticed an ache on the bottom of my right foot. I tried to focus on my surroundings and other runners instead, hoping that it would go away. It did. For a while. And came back. I reached the first aid station at around the 10km mark before midnight. As I still had sports drink with me, I didn't fill up my bottle as they only had plain water. But I took a gel with their plain water before I continued running. Cheryl was ahead of me and probably way ahead, while Marie was further back but I couldn't see her. I focused on my breathing and was always on the looked out for traffic. By then, the runners were more spread out but I could still see some runners in front. Before I reached the next aid station, I saw Katrina and the car! I waved on to her to let her know I was good. And they updated me of the change in plan. Since we had the official aid station every 10km, they would meet up with us every 5km in between. What a brilliant idea! I reached the second aid station at about 1pm plus. I took another gel and continued running.
For the next 10km, the ache came and gone. It was the same kind of ache that I felt during the Twilight Ultra Challenge. Could it be due to standing and walking in heels for 2 half days? It could well be the reason as I was someone who took great care of my body when training and racing (unless the pain was due to fall). And the only reason why I had the ache was because I wore heels, which was bad for running. But since I was still making forward movement, and the ache was still endurable, there was no reason for me to quit. But I decided to take more walk breaks in between my running. I met Katrina again and swapped a new bottle of ice cold Gatorade. This period of the run was much quieter with lesser traffic. But the runners were spread out by then. I still had not seen Cheryl and reckoned she was running well and much ahead of me. I was not surprised at all as she had the speed to run fast and endurance to run long. I reached the third aid station slower than the previous 2 segments. I took another gel with water. It was about 4am in the morning.
I told myself that I had to cover at least 45km or even 50km before the sun rose up. But I was perfectly fine if I had to run under the sun too. This was the reason why I signed up for the race. However, I knew that we still had to go back to shower, and travel back to Manila so that I could catch my flight back in the evening. I saw Katrina again and swapped for another new bottle of Gatorade. She told me that Cheryl was way ahead of me while Marie was some distance behind. I guessed that could be the reason why she won't be able to find me at exactly the mid-way point between the official aid stations. This was fine as supporting 3 runners of all different speed was both tiring and difficult. I thanked them and continued. This was the hardest segment as I wanted to sleep and I ended up "sleep-walking" the entire 10km before I finally reached the fourth aid station. Day broke and the air was cool though I knew it won't be long before the sun rose!
It was past 6am and the traffic started to build-up again. Running on the road in Philippines could be very challenging. This was because they did not have proper pavement. We ran on the road shoulders which could be dangerous if motorcycles decided to overtake from the right (Philippines was left-hand drive as with driving in the USA). It happened to me before in Ocho Ocho last year but luckily, I had not met with such an incident for this race yet. However, some of the shoulders were still under construction which meant that we had to run next to the road (when there was no traffic) or run on the under-construction shoulder, which had gravels all over the surface. This made the running and walking painful especially with the ache underfoot. Towards the next aid station, I also noticed that some part of the roads were under construction as well. Hence there would be marshallers at the end of the road to direct the traffic since it was a one-lane, two-way traffic. It was no fun at all. So it was a step at a time to the next aid station.
By the time I reached the fifth and final aid station, the sun was shining full blast on the earth. I didn't meet Katrina but it didn't matter as I still had my Gatorade and had replenished my gel when I last met her. I was reduced to a walk (but more likely a death march as I was by then suffering). Luckily, we were running in and out of the shades of trees. Katrina eventually drove past and I was able to replenish my Gatorade. Cheryl had done very well and had completed her race some time back! (She was either 1st or 2nd Runners-up!) :) They had to go back to Marie as she was much further back. I thanked them and told them to leave as I had everything I need to get to the finishing. Traffic by then had gotten really heavy, especially when I was approaching the road crossing. I wasn't sure if I would make it to the other side of the road as the traffic doesn't seem to stop.
Luckily, a police was there and stopped the traffic. I thanked him and continued. It was a few KMs later before I reached another road crossing! The police again, helped stopped the traffic so I could cross safely. He also told me that I was about 2KM away from the finishing line! This was a huge relief as I thought I had walked for a long time! (It was about 10:15am!) My right foot felt terrible though painful was not the correct word. Soon enough, I saw a runner crossing the road not far in front and entered a lane (or building). I pushed on and saw a marshaller directed me to cross the road. Right there, at the front of the building, was Joseph Prince, the RD! I had finally completed the 1st Bulacan 360 60km run! The RD presented me with a medal and trophy! (Every finisher had a medal, trophy, a personalised finisher tee and a packet of food). I was also happy to see Cheryl. Katrina had also arrived and the plan was to drop off Katrina so that she could pace Marie to the end while Cheryl and me would head home for a shower.
Finisher Goodies!
Marie was in high spirit when we saw her! We wished her well before leaving. (Turned out that Marie was a very active ultra runner in the Philippines. Though she was slow, she never gave up. Cheryl and Katrina updated me that Marie completed the race eventually.) As for me, I felt fine the next day although the ache remained whenever I stepped off my right foot. I won't say this was a highly recommended race as we were running through the night and through the city. There wasn't much scenery and it was boring. Also, traveling to that area was a daunting prospect! Nevertheless, the race fee was very affordable, considering the many finisher goodies given to the runners. For those who wish to explore that part of Philippines, the race was a good option. :)
Marie (left) and Katrina (right) Refueling before the Last Stretch!
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